The World is Forcing DEI to Change. That's Good.

When this newsletter began, it was a simple copy-paste of our weekly newsletter. Today, that changes. And while you can still subscribe to our weekly newsletter, expect this space to be more reflective of my perspectives on the landscape of workplace fairness, the XM work we're leading at Living Corporate, and my personal reflections as I continue my leadership journey as a founder and CEO.

I was a manager at a global consulting firm and was thrilled to finally get on the Chief Diversity Officer's calendar with the goal of joining their team. I figured my own experience in change management, sharing thought leadership with their team they would go on to use as their own, and my own side-hustle made me a great candidate. After we exchanged pleasantries, the real talk began. “So here’s the thing, Zach, I’d love to know your thoughts on this.” They continued in a gingerly tone, “Of course we know this diversity, equity, and inclusion stuff is important, but we have to figure out a way to do it in a way that doesn’t make our white senior leaders uncomfortable. After all, they generate revenue for the firm. I’m thinking maybe we should emphasize the areas where we are all alike to minimize how we’re different. What do you think of that?” After explaining that all  growth demands some degree of discomfort, even if it is small, the discussion faded to small talk and ended. 

This exchange encapsulates why corporate “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” has yielded such meager results: DEI often exists as performative, PR window dressing that is uninterested in driving fairer business outcomes for its employees. And, while many current talking heads may lead one to believe that this is an exclusively right-wing position, many employees from marginalized communities have long found this work to be hollow. Even in the best of circumstances, DEI is led by well-meaning but under-sponsored, overworked, under-empowered, and under-staffed leaders who are executives in title, but individual contributors in practice. Often enough, employees will voluntarily take up the mantle, leading Employee Resource Groups and other initiatives, only to be left burned out and even more disillusioned than they began. Coupling the exhaustion from this (often unpaid) labor to change the very systems they are being actively harmed by, they leave. In my resignation letter to the CEO and other leadership of the aforementioned firm, I stated that “In my nearly three years within this practice, I never once had any assurance or encouragement that I belonged here. Like most overachievers and one of the “only’s” in a majority white space, I took on an unhealthy amount of accountability for this. I aggressively networked within this practice and beyond it, sought coaching in and outside of the firm, developed and commercialized a DEI digital solution in the course of 6 months, designed new client delivery methodologies, published thought leadership, led several teams, coached partners, spoke on behalf of the firm on matters of DEI and change management, led oral presentations, staffed myself on engagements that I won, created my own development plans, proactively met with my supervisors, coached and mentored dozens of staff, took on additional training, and more, all with the audacious dream to belong.” I also shared that “a group that blocks internal equity initiatives and DEI discussions with clients while also being toothless in holding Partners accountable in the name of white comfort is not an office focused on diversity or inclusion, but on self-preservation and maintaining the status quo.” My experience and sentiment is not at all rare.

The next interaction of this work, to be meaningful, demands a reevaluation of the framing. Corporate America is a capitalist venture and recognizing that it is not only intellectually honest, but the only strategic start to meaningful impact. As such, embrace the fact that concepts such as “dismantling white supremacy”, “eradicating capitalism," “decolonizing work”, “confronting your white privilege”, or anything of the sort are not going to be championed by executive leaders. Instead, what has historically been called DEI must prioritize fair experiences for employees and positive experiences for customers. Effective employee and customer experience cannot be driven by fireside chats or book clubs, but instead by a cross-sectional analysis of an organization’s compensation, performance, representation, sentiment, recruiting, customer experience, and revenue data for holistic insight that connects the criticality of employee experience to go-to-market success. This work demands engagement from experts who not only understand the science of data analytics, but also the art of reading between the figures to articulate the implications from an experience perspective for customers and employees alike and make sound recommendations.

I have hope that this approach is tenable because not only have I had countless discussions with executives who are asking for this level of intention and framing, I am seeing and leading it myself with organizations that understand that irrespective of the economic landscape, political talking heads, or social media trends, employees want to be treated with respect, and customers want positive brand experiences. It is that reality that empowers me not only to dream for something better, but know it is coming.