An Apology, and a Commitment

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted to this blog.  Those few weeks have been a time during which I’ve reflected, interrogated myself, learned from new mentors, and come to some new understandings about Diversity and Inclusion (D&I).

In late November, two weeks after the U.S. Presidential election, I was giving a presentation to some of my HR colleagues.  The topic was LGBTQ+ diversity, and the materials I’d prepared focused on some definitions related to gender identity and sexual orientation.  The content also touched on how legislative changes related to LGBTQ+ rights are impacting the benefits that our company provides to employees.  Based on the content I’d prepared, the session had great potential as an opportunity to build awareness and create discussion.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go down like that.

Over the last year, D&I has moved from being a topic of interest to a full-fledged passion of mine.  And the great thing about passions is that they can inspire commitment and action.  But when they’re allowed to go unchecked, they can spin out of control.  And they can undermine our most well-intentioned efforts.

In this case, I was presenting information about something that really matters to me, and I allowed myself to speak from my heart.  I began to editorialize.  I threw in a few comments that were more clearly political than what I’d intended.  I was on a roll.  And I rolled right over things that are foundational to my role as a learning leader and a D&I professional.  I forgot my audience.

In the process, I created concern for some of my colleagues.  Concern that D&I would mean that they would be forced to choose between a new set of corporate values and their own beliefs.  Concern that the idea of inclusion only includes those whose beliefs match mine.  Those are real issues, and when I stop and reflect on the session I delivered, I regret that my words created those concerns.

The fact is, D&I at Joy Global is fundamentally about bringing a diverse set of perspectives, thoughts, and experiences to bear on the business challenges that we face – together.  The last year has been one of intense political and social division in the U.S.  And it would be foolish to expect that we leave the beliefs that define us in our personal lives at the door when we clock in each morning.  But when we look at D&I, the common ground that we share is our very real commitment to making our company and our customers successful.  The business case for D&I is, and must be, our common ground.

During that presentation, and at times in my writings on D&I, I veered away from that basic principle.  And I’m sorry for that.  I’m sorry if I’ve created undue concern about what’s meant by D&I at the company where I work.  I’m sorry that, at times, I’ve prioritized declaration of my personal point of view over a more well-reasoned discussion about how we can best move the D&I strategy forward at Joy Global.  I can do better, and I’m committed to doing just that.

I’ll continue to have my opinions.  I’ll continue to be passionate about D&I because I fundamentally believe that creating a culture where people are encouraged to be their authentic selves is intrinsically good and right.  I also happen to believe that it’s good business.  I believe that D&I can drive innovation, and employee engagement, and more effective cross-cultural interactions. 

What I don’t want to do, however, is to create confusion about the intent of D&I at my company.  Our intent is to make our company better by bringing a diverse set of perspectives to the table.  Our intent is to be more efficient and more effective because we’re engaging with each other in ways that reflect a commitment to cultural curiosity.  And our intent is to always act in accordance with our values – Respect, Integrity, Diversity, Teamwork, Performance and Reliability.

So we’ll respect each other.  We’ll value diverse points of view, while each maintaining our own integrity.  By doing this, we’ll collaborate and perform at a high level on behalf of our employees, teammates, and customers.  We’ll do all of these things consistently, and reliably.

With all of that in mind, I’m looking forward to getting back to a more regular schedule with these posts.  In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing about inclusive leadership, the power of introverts, and other topics that I’m excited about digging into.  I hope you’ll join me.