5 Things / community
This week my friend Rhodes Perry invited me to join in conversation with his Belonging Membership Community. Rhodes is a fellow DEI consultant who's built an incredible community of DEI practitioners (internal and external) who learn together, share with each other, and uplift one another. It was wonderful to spend an hour with that community, and a reminder for me that this work cannot be done alone. Changing the world can sometimes feel lonely.
This week my friend Rhodes Perry invited me to join in conversation with his Belonging Membership Community. Rhodes is a fellow DEI consultant who's built an incredible community of DEI practitioners (internal and external) who learn together, share with each other, and uplift one another. It was wonderful to spend an hour with that community, and a reminder for me that this work cannot be done alone. Changing the world can sometimes feel lonely.
I've been reflecting on community lately because it's been a beautiful and humbling experience for me to bring a book into the world with so many supporters behind me. Community is everything, and I'll never take that for granted again.
If you find yourself lonely in this work, consider joining Rhodes' community, and always know that you can email me and get a real response.
Here are some of the good vibes I learned this week:
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month here in the U.S., and it's fitting I had a great conversation this week with John Samuel, founder of Ablr, a disability inclusion consulting firm. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about disability inclusion. I loved learning about Ablr's free program to train visually impaired and blind people in tech jobs--specifically to be digital accessibility analysts. This matters because it's led to well-paying jobs at companies like McDonald's and CVS, and yes, it also increases diversity in the workforce.
The law firm, Baker Botts, has pledged to link practice group leader and partner compensation to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They are one firm of 50 to commit to Diversity Lab's "Do Something Hard" initiative, which asks firms (among other things) to include at least 50% lawyers from historically marginalized groups, share equal origination credit with these partners, and retain "diverse" lawyers and non-diverse lawyers equally. This matters because these public commitments lead to accountability and this structure provides resources to support the success of the programs.
In 1924, the Bruce family owned a popular beach resort in Manhattan Beach, California, that was a popular spot for Black residents. That year, the property was taken away by eminent domain, supposedly to build a park that wasn't built for 30 years. This week California Governor Newsom returned the beach to the Bruce family. This matters because the county taking the land had a devastating effect on the Black people in the area. To this day, less than 1% of the population in Manhattan Beach is Black. This law is one small attempt to make up for a legacy of the U.S. government taking away land from people of color.
WNBA players will now receive fertility support as a benefit. The program aims to break the assumption that women athletes can’t have kids until they retire. This matters because it is one way to "normalize" parenthood among these athletes, who shouldn't have to make a difficult choice of family vs. career.
Finally, Canada has made repeated, intentional misgendering of transgender and non-binary employees a human rights violation. This matters because it further legitimizes the importance of pronouns and correct name usage, and sets an important precedent that protects people who may feel disrespected and dehumanized when misgendered.
Image by Joel Muniz
5 Things in 15 Minutes / Ted Lasso with Patti Flynn
From Ted Lasso to Denny's, Bernadette discusses positive vibes and lessons in this week's 5 Things in 15 Minutes. She is joined by Patti Flynn, Senior Consultant of Equality Institute.
From Ted Lasso to Denny's, Bernadette discusses positive vibes and lessons in this week's 5 Things in 15 Minutes. She is joined by Patti Flynn, Senior Consultant of Equality Institute.
Image by bamagal
Badass Women at Any Age Podcast / Intentional Inclusion with Bernadette Smith
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Badass Women At Any Age Podcast with Bonnie Marcus!
Take a listen as we talk about my personal story, imposter syndrome, mindset work, and the power of inclusion.
“It’s my responsibility to lift others up who have fewer advantages than me.”
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Badass Women At Any Age Podcast with Bonnie Marcus!
Take a listen as we talk about my personal story, imposter syndrome, mindset work, and the power of inclusion.
Learn more about Bonnie Marcus at https://bonniemarcusleadership.com/.
5 Things / lessons
Sometimes I feel like being a leader means I’m in a near-constant state of asking myself, “OK, so what can I learn from this?”
I often look at work (and sometimes life) as an experiment. I’ve been a business owner for over 17 years now and it’s impossible to get it right all the time. And it’s certainly impossible to be all things to all people. My work, whether it’s writing, or speaking, or building and leading a team, is constantly being evaluated, tweaked, and adjusted along the way. But one thing being a business owner has taught me is to focus on progress over perfection.
Sometimes I feel like being a leader means I’m in a near-constant state of asking myself, “OK, so what can I learn from this?”
I often look at work (and sometimes life) as an experiment. I’ve been a business owner for over 17 years now and it’s impossible to get it right all the time. And it’s certainly impossible to be all things to all people. My work, whether it’s writing, or speaking, or building and leading a team, is constantly being evaluated, tweaked, and adjusted along the way. But one thing being a business owner has taught me is to focus on progress over perfection.
Your work towards creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization is also an experiment. There is no one way to do this work. Mistakes will happen and you might even accidentally offend someone. It's unrealistic to expect otherwise. But self-reflection, tweaking, and adjusting are (or should be) part of the process. I often say in my talks, “what matters is how you recover.”
Will you stall out or keep moving forward?
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Here are some good vibes I found this week:
There are some great virtual Pride ideas in this article which focused heavily on ActiveCampaign. Among other things, they had a drag queen read the children's book A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, and made an effort to involve the employee resource groups for parents. AC's Pride group was inventive this June and there are some good ideas in this article you can file away for next year. This matters because virtual employee engagement can be challenging, and AC showed real creativity in how it builds allies.
L'Oréal USA became the first company to achieve certification of pay equity across gender, race, ethnicity, age, ability, and LGBTQ identity. The company used a global third-party auditing company to certify the results. For L'Oréal, this is not a new initiative - they got started in 2011. This shows a real commitment and matters to the underrepresented employees who will benefit from equal pay for equal work.
The abortion law that recently passed in Texas is the strictest and most archaic in the U.S., and most companies said nothing. The dating app companies Match and Bumble, however, created relief funds to help people affected by the law. Uber and Lyft said they would cover all legal costs for any of their drivers who get sued for driving a customer to an abortion clinic. This matters because those companies used their influence and power to speak out against a law that is abhorrent and will affect thousands of people.
Speaking of Bumble, the woman-led company unveiled a fantastic new employee leave policy which includes, among other things, 20 days paid time off for victims of domestic violence and 15 days paid time off for grief. This matters because employee wellbeing matters and a generous employee leave policy is a signal to employees that they matter.
The Football Association of Ireland is now paying equal match fees for its men and women's teams. There was previously a €2000 disparity. The men's teams willingly took a pay cut to create pay parity. This matters because it shows allyship on behalf of the men, and because equal pay for equal work is just the right thing to do.
Image by Chaos Soccer Gear
5 Things in 15 Minutes / if not now with Seema Jain
Join Bernadette and Seema as they talk about the 2020 US Census, inclusive lawmaking, and more. Remember to join Bernadette Mondays on LinkedIn Live for 5 Things in 15 Minutes!
Join Bernadette and Seema as they talk about the 2020 US Census, inclusive lawmaking, and more. Remember to join Bernadette Mondays on LinkedIn Live for 5 Things in 15 Minutes!