5 Things / Connection First
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This week I met with a keynote client that found, when they issued return-to-office mandates last year, that productivity was higher when people worked remotely. As a result, they backtracked on the mandates and now the vast majority of employees work at home. Now employees who were hired during the pandemic are reporting a lack of belonging – and many employees are burnt out, or close to it – because they work longer hours and don’t have the separation that comes with a commute. It’s a Catch-22 – is the trade-off productivity for belonging?
I certainly don’t think that it has to be that way. I’ve noticed, in my Zoom meetings over the past 6 months or so, there’s been less random “water cooler” type chatter at the beginning of meetings, compared to the first year of the pandemic, when video conferencing was more of a novelty than a norm. I’ve noticed more people blurring their backgrounds, myself included. I’ve noticed less personality.
A few years ago, I met a woman who shared that her team was committed to "connection before content", deliberately building in time for short individual check-ins at the beginning of every team meeting. This could be as simple as asking everyone to share one thing that’s going right and one thing that’s a struggle this week. If the struggles warrant further discussion, those conversations should happen 1:1, leader to team member, or peer to peer. Inclusion requires intention – those conversations may not happen without making time for them to happen. I’m looking forward to addressing this and other ways to create a culture of inclusion and normalize allyship, during my keynote for this client. Please reply if you’d like me to bring this conversation to your company!
This Week's Good Vibes:
To Celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Mattel Is Introducing a Doll Based on Hollywood Pioneer Anna May Wong
Barbie is back in 5 Things again this week. This time, for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Mattel has released a new Barbie doll to honor Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film star back in the early part of the 20th century. Wong’s niece was involved in the creation of the doll and is helping to keep her legacy alive. This matters because the contributions of Asian Americans are largely left out of history books, and the lack of representation leads to stereotypes and a lack of possibility models.
Ben & Jerry’s Co-founder Starts Cannabis Nonprofit to Support Social Causes
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s, has a new cannabis company that was set up as a nonprofit organization. 100% of its profits will be donated to organizations that fund Black-owned cannabis companies or those that help get people released from prison on cannabis charges. This is amazing given that the racist war on drugs put many Black and Brown people in prison in disproportionate numbers to white folks. Cohen himself has benefited from this racism. So have I.
MrBeast Calls Out Transphobic Backlash to Chris Tyson’s Hormone Therapy
My 12-year-old son is a super fan of the YouTuber MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson, one of the most popular YouTubers on the planet). I’ve reluctantly watched a bunch of the videos myself and even bought some MrBeast chocolate bars as stocking stuffers. I was recently surprised to learn that one of his childhood friends and regular co-stars Chris Tyson came as transgender and began hormone replacement therapy…and then I was delighted that MrBeast was super supportive and that Chris will continue to appear in videos. In a wonderful display of allyship, in response to transphobes, MrBeast tweeted, “Yeah, this is getting absurd… All this transphobia is starting to piss me off.” This story matters because, as I’ve discussed here many times, trans people are under attack globally, and all allyship matters.
Smartsheet Is Now Giving Logo Space to Various Nonprofit Organizations in F1 Racing
The tech company Smartsheet is a sponsor of Formula 1 Racing (F1) which gives them prominent logo space on McLaren F1 cars. Instead of their logo, Smartsheet is now giving that space to various nonprofit organizations in a project they call Sponsor X. At a recent Austin race, the spot went to The Hidden Genius Project, a nonprofit that trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills. Smartsheet’s also raising money for organizations and providing them with the software, training, and technology to run themselves more efficiently. I love this story because it shows a holistic approach to supporting community-based organizations – visibility, money, and technical support – and all of that can ultimately contribute to greater equity and a reduction in the racial wealth gap. (h/t to Karen Catlin for this story)
Democrat Angie Craig Has Joined Other Employers Rejecting the “Paper Ceiling” Blamed for Limiting Millions of Workers
U.S. Representative Angie Craig from Minnesota became the first Congressperson to no longer require degrees to get a job in her legislative offices. 70% of new jobs nationwide require them. This is called the Paper Ceiling which disproportionately affects BIPOC folks who are less likely to have degrees due to systemic racism and discrimination. Removing degree requirements can expand the talent pool and provide more lower-income folks access to well-paying jobs.
Call to Action:
I see everything as an experiment and have the sticker to go along with it, so I found this article interesting and a worthy read: “Why You Should Start A/B Testing Your DEI Initiatives."
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