DeepSummary
The podcast episode features a conversation between host Jennifer Brown and her guest Lisa Kenney, CEO of Reimagine Gender, about expanding our understanding and language around gender identity and expression. They discuss how younger generations, particularly Generation Z, have a more fluid and expansive view of gender that goes beyond the traditional male/female binary.
Lisa shares insights from her work at Reimagine Gender, highlighting the importance of creating a fundamental vocabulary and framework for understanding gender in organizational contexts. She emphasizes that silence and lack of understanding around gender often leads to missteps, and that companies need to tie their efforts to business objectives like recruitment, retention, and customer engagement.
The discussion covers practical suggestions for leaders and organizations, such as the significance of sharing pronouns, acknowledging the potential fluidity of gender identity over time, and providing safe spaces for employees to navigate gender-related concerns. Overall, the episode advocates for greater empathy, education, and inclusive practices to create a sense of belonging for all gender identities in the workplace.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Younger generations, particularly Generation Z, have a more fluid and expansive understanding of gender identity that goes beyond the traditional male/female binary.
- Organizations need to create a fundamental vocabulary and framework for understanding gender diversity to avoid missteps and tie their efforts to business objectives like recruitment, retention, and customer engagement.
- Sharing pronouns, acknowledging the potential fluidity of gender identity over time, and providing safe spaces for employees to navigate gender-related concerns are practical ways for organizations to foster inclusivity.
- Cisgender individuals and leaders have a responsibility to educate themselves, use inclusive language, and create psychologically safe environments for gender diversity to be expressed and valued.
- Approaching discussions around gender identity with empathy, kindness, and a willingness to learn can help normalize these conversations and create a sense of belonging for all gender identities in the workplace.
- Gender identity and expression are deeply personal and nuanced experiences that defy oversimplified categorizations, and organizations must evolve their language and practices to reflect this understanding.
- Addressing gender diversity is not just about inclusivity but also a business imperative, as it impacts talent management, customer loyalty, and brand perception, particularly among younger generations.
- Open conversations, education, and consistent messaging are key to creating a culture where employees feel comfortable disclosing and expressing their gender identities without fear or judgment.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The biggest problem organizations have today is the silence around gender, and that's generally because they're afraid. Some of the people in the organization are afraid to say the wrong thing, either because they don't want to offend or because they don't want to look, you know, ignorant on this topic.“ by Lisa Kenney
- “So it is. Pronouns are really important, I think, thing to do, to just designate or just to demonstrate, you know, just respect really, for one another. But they can be a little bit tricky.“ by Lisa Kenney
- “We all know within our own gender identity that there's tremendous diversity. So it's a really such a blunt instrument.“ by Lisa Kenney
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Episode Information
The Will To Change: Uncovering True Stories of Diversity & Inclusion
Jennifer Brown
11/20/20
Lisa Kenney, CEO of Reimagine Gender, joins the program to discuss her diversity story and the work that her organization is doing to help all people realize their potential by addressing and expanding limiting concepts of gender.