DeepSummary
The episode features Jennifer Brown and Rohit Bhargava discussing their new book 'Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World.' They share their perspectives on creating a more inclusive world, highlighting key learnings from the book on topics like storytelling, retail, and leadership. They also reveal personal moments of growth and learning that helped them become better allies.
Brown and Bhargava explain the motivation behind writing the book, aiming to reach people who are not diversity professionals and showing why inclusivity matters not just for moral reasons but also for business impact. They discuss the structured and intentional process of incorporating diverse perspectives through contributors, sensitivity readers, and the summit that inspired the book.
The authors share insights from specific chapters, such as the importance of consuming media and stories that challenge one's perspective, the role of diversity in retail innovation, and the concept of the 'glass cliff' faced by underrepresented leaders. They also reflect on humbling experiences, like ensuring correct pronunciation of names and the responsibility to create space for others' stories.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The book 'Beyond Diversity' aims to reach a broad audience beyond just diversity professionals, showcasing the business impact and real-world applications of inclusivity.
- The authors intentionally incorporated diverse perspectives through contributors, sensitivity readers, and the 'Beyond Diversity' summit to create a well-rounded and inclusive narrative.
- The book explores inclusivity across various domains of life, such as storytelling, retail, leadership, and personal experiences, offering a multi-faceted approach to the topic.
- Consuming diverse media and stories that challenge one's perspective is a crucial step in broadening one's understanding and becoming a better ally.
- Diversity plays a vital role in retail innovation, from product development to marketing, as diverse teams bring different perspectives and cater to a broader range of consumers.
- The concept of the 'glass cliff' highlights the unique challenges and lack of support faced by underrepresented leaders, even after breaking through the glass ceiling.
- Small actions, such as correctly pronouncing names and creating space for others' stories, can have a significant impact in fostering inclusivity and respect for diverse identities.
- The authors' personal experiences and humbling moments during the writing process helped them grow as allies and reinforced the importance of continual learning and self-reflection.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “One of the big audiences we were writing for was the people who aren't doing this every day, you know, the people who are not Dei professionals, the people who are, you know, in college, taking the one diversity course that they will take in their four years at college, and wanting to give them a background in why this exists as a topic and why it matters.“ by Jennifer Brown
- “The short answer is almost every chapter and something like that. We talked about culture, identity and family, and that was kind of this set of understanding yourself and understanding the ecosystem of where you live. And a lot of my work, like Jennifer, has been in companies, in corporations, where you talk all the time about leadership or entrepreneurship or innovation. You don't really talk as much about culture, identity and family.“ by Rohit Bhargava
- “This chapter in particular, the retail chapter, is a great example of how we could take one element and explore multiple dimensions of it, because the consumption side of it, which Jennifer was talking about, is huge in terms of how we decide to spend our money and the statement we make by spending our money with some vendors or in some places versus others.“ by Rohit Bhargava
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Episode Information
The Will To Change: Uncovering True Stories of Diversity & Inclusion
Jennifer Brown
12/17/21
This episode was originally recorded on the Leading with Empathy and Allyship podcast with host Melinda Briana Epler.
In the episode Jennifer and Rohit Bhargava, discuss their new book Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-Obvious Ways To Build A More Inclusive World. Jennifer and Rohit share their personal experiences and perspectives on creating a more inclusive world; present key learnings from their book on storytelling, retail, and leadership; and reveal their own educational moments from writing the book and how those moments helped them grow as allies.
To order your copy of Beyond Diversity, or get the audiobook or ebook, visit: https://www.nonobviousdiversity.com/