Diversity: A Gratitude Post

Image by Edson Rosas.

I didn’t always understand the critique of the corporate DEI era as “diversity washing.” 

Sure, it might be imperfect, I thought, but it’s a start.

Band-wagony? Yep.

Often perfunctory—even disingenuous? Sure.

But, hey! At least it’s getting people talking and thinking about other people's experiences.

Recent dynamics help me (begin to) fathom what others have never had a choice but to know:

How it hits when the topics for debate surround your family structure or your skin color or your country of origin. When you have to wonder what will happen to your work environment, your job, your career—your basic safety and security—once the mainstream loses interest in the “inclusivity” trend and turns. Hard.

Forget the weaponized buzz words. 

As a practical, applied reality, I value diversity.

Getting to be around people not-like-me makes my life better. It makes me better, as a professional and as a human being.

This was true long before the DEI bandwagon rolled into town. It’s still true now that the bandwagon's been set on fire and shoved off a cliff.

My trans and nonbinary colleagues and friends remain some of the sharpest, funniest, most creative and genuine people I know.

My authors come from different countries, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. They are immigrants and refugees, survivors and combat veterans.

They are non-traditional leaders who have worked hard to break into the industries they now enrich, uplift, and transform.

Their books empower all people to overcome odds, step out of prescribed lanes, and find their true voices.

I am so, so grateful for the gifts they bring.

More of that, please.

You’ve Got a Book in You. Let’s Get it Out.