A Year of Inclusioning

As I reach the end of my first year of being a full-time Inclusioner (Inclusioneer?, Inclusionist?), I thought it might be interesting to reflect on what I’ve learnt over the last 12 months. Over the next few days, I’m going to share a few stories of my experiences this year.

Before we get started, I would like to make one thing clear. Even though I now spend my professional life helping others to develop their inclusion muscle, I have to confess that I am far from being the perfect Inclusionist (let’s go with that) myself. Being inclusive does not come easy to me, and I continue to make mistakes. We are all learning here and for everyone I have worked with, socialised with, learnt with, this year, I apologise for all the times I have got it wrong and not been the positive role model you would like me to be. I will keep trying to do better.

The last 12 months have been one of the craziest of my near 40 years of working life. It has taken me into multiple boardrooms (with and without boards in them), several trading floors, three different locations in Central Europe, two universities and the vaults of a British Embassy. No partridges or pear trees, sadly, apart from the pub in Fulham near my house. I’ve spoken at the United Nation’s Women’s Centre of Excellence in Seoul, in the House of Lords (twice!) and the Birmingham NEC. I’ve made my first TV appearance, been on the front page of a newspaper for the first time in my life, and even been invited back to the places where my journey on this subject began (thank you JPMorgan and BP).

It’s been at times exhilarating, depressing, scary, fascinating, exhausting, tedious, mind-blowingly complex and ridiculously simple, sometimes all in a single day. However, my overriding emotion as I look back at the last 12 months is pride. I am so proud of the work that Mark, Alana, Tara and I have done at Men for Inclusion this year. We are a purpose-driven organisation and I would like to believe that we have made a difference this year.

I am also incredibly proud of all of our partners in this endeavour. From all the people in our workshops or who listened to or watched our events through to those who try to lead in a different way – in an inclusive way. There are so many people doing wonderful work to try make the world a more equitable and inclusive place, there are way too many to call out, but you know who you are. I applaud you every day. I feel honoured and energised by being part of your network and I am so glad you are my accomplices on this huge undertaking.

So what have I learnt about being an Inclusionist in 2024 – a year that has tried its darnedest to make every small, incremental gain feel like the toughest, hardest yards of your life.

Clearly, it being that type of the year, it has to be a list.

1. There are no easy fixes. Building a culture that is both inclusive and also resilient takes time. Re-imagining belief systems based on gender, race, sexuality, disability, age that have been built up over millennia takes some doing. We cannot do this just as a sheep-dip awareness approach. It takes detailed conversations about a deeply nuanced subject – changing the world one conversation at a time.
2. This is a long-term play. Despite feeling like there are headwinds at every juncture, the direction of travel remains a positive one. Everyone we talk to about inclusion will speak about how much better their workplace culture is compared to five or 10 years ago. However, improvements day to day remain harder to detect and a single change of leadership, organisational structure or company strategy can often feel like it is moving the company culture backwards. This not only requires us to be resilient and continue to push progress, but also to plan for the longer term. A lot of organisations do not have that long-term view on what culture they would like and how to measure it so that they know where they are on the journey.
3. No one is done. No organisation or sector is massively ahead on these topics. Decisions based on stereotypes, bias and prejudice remain, even in very well-intentioned people. The ones that are making the most progress however, are those who continue to see inclusion as a strategic programme with an expectation of ongoing investment. They are also thinking about how they reward those who role model the inclusive behaviours and values they aspire to. Rewarding people not just for what they do, but also how they do it.
4. We are all still learning. Everyone gets things wrong, everyone makes mistakes. Organisations, teams, individuals. Especially when it comes to being inclusive. It’s hard sometimes to do the right thing. We must have the mindset that it’s ok to get things wrong, as long as we assume good intent and we are willing to learn from our mistakes. Let’s not unnecessarily cancel people, let’s listen to what they have to say and then see how we can find common ground and learn together.
5. We need to pivot. The strategies that we have previously worked, those focused on diversity and representation, are no longer delivering the outcomes that organisations want. They may have been the right things to do 10 years ago, but not any more. We have to stop thinking that we need to “fix” those from under-represented groups. To enable them to fit in with the majority culture. Our strategy now must change to focus on fixing the culture and changing the mindsets of the majority group. That is often straight white men, not just them. A lot of groups are resisting the change to an inclusive culture, most likely because they are now thinking that diversity is divisive. We need to pivot towards inclusion and we need to listen to those resistant groups, try to understand their concerns and support them through this massive change curve too.

However, the most important thing I have learnt is that I really see that change is possible. Over 430 people have attended our Inclusion Champions workshops this year and over 70% have said they will implement changes in their team to create a more inclusive culture. I think that is worth celebrating.