What are some tips for raising awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion?

By: Bill Van Eron Wednesday April 3, 2019 Tags: Bill Van Eron

By Bill Van Eron

Ecosystem Value Strategist

Headwaters Marketing & Innovation

I recall when we celebrated Type A personalities -- often associated with success -- yet as a dominating personal achievement. Today, a Type W (we) mindset as more indicative of 21^st century success as a collective system creating alignment to values, diversity and equality. Better definitions & commitments to diversity, equality & inclusion are vital today. People-powered, value-connected, and a positive transformation.

Conscious leadership is a journey we each have to embark on as employees & markets have long arrived at what matters. For me, it was the outcome of growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, NYC as I was immersed in diversity; every idea benefitted by it and inclusion, thus we were all equal to the task of survival, shared values, empathy and a positive outlook we all felt connected to. Then as a designer, it was immediately clear that synthesizing value follows attention to others, purpose and attitude. In an ironic way, without that immersion, we seem to focus on our differences versus applying them as a better representative whole. Today, success absolutely requires this.

It’s less about pushing awareness to those who resist it than showing how leadership enablement of these & other values is the only path to success, so all can embrace it to adapt to thrive. That performance and universal values-in-evidence creates powerful pull so that these and other values, such as trust, an enabling open culture, and far greater internal & external relevance are supported as follows:

1. The most successful way to shape a business, organization, community, government, & accountability to values that connect us versus divide us.
2. Recent coverage proves that companies that have a strong social footprint, purpose and healthy internal & external ecosystem - all outperform companies that don’t, likely stuck in 20th century mindsets.
3. People-powered organizations are essential for success. Their values and needs have been clear, as have the values and needs of most markets. It’s all about building value bridges between internal and external sources. Greed and control are the next dinosaurs.
4. Left-brain dominated organizations dominate today. E., tech, science, medical. These cultures tend to struggle to see beyond those strengths to create relevance today & into the future. To make values-based connections with markets, employees, stakeholders and influencers -- skills mostly attributed to right brain strengths, as I did notably for HP -- complete the total value. Look at their executive staff and personnel, you will notice an absence of enabled right brain strengths. We can change to gain a major advantage where leaders embrace their success ecosystem values.

Look at younger generations for clues:

1. An overwhelming majority want to be or work in entrepreneurial environments. They see large corporations as places where ideas die. Large corps say talent recruitment is their top priority - an example of crippling dysfunctionality that stronger commitments to values would address.
2. Most families struggle beyond reason to make ends meet and shape lives and work that matters. 78% live paycheck to paycheck. Why not a better roadmap & support ecosystem as all win.
3. Over 70% of global workers feel emotionally disconnected from work. Flip that around and all types & sizes of organizations, communities win big.
4. A growing percentage of people are concerned that technology without guidance will eliminate many job categories as more work is defined as repetitive, versus connected to enabling our humanity, trust, creativity. Likewise, new data-backed, system-based insights show that device addiction is eroding our humanity, relationships, reasoning, problem-solving and creativity, all when these will be most vital to achieve the goals we care about most.

Circling back to the three values put forward:

Diversity: Accept that diversity in gender and ethnicity are gifts to help us relate better to a world we need to represent better. The under-tapped potential to open dialog so that a diversity in viewpoints, attributes & new thinking greatly increases the strength of ideas, actions, relevance, buy in & purpose.

Equality: “All people are created equal” is the cornerstone of our nation and world. Sadly, this lesson seems to be the hardest for many to embrace as unchecked greed & self-centered agenda’s divide us. Those that seek to limit others and control things are now clearly the biggest impairments to success. I believe we are entering an age of dynamic interdependence and shared success that all people conscious to it can champion.

Inclusion: We all go through stages in life where we have to measure up to standards set by others. As we discover what really matters - and I say it is a more enabled humanity as a system e all trust - we gain the capability to shape lives and work of value, that matters and that we feel part of. That sense of inclusion inspires us to be and do our best.

The power of a Conscious Collective: It’s no secret that the needs of the many need to have priority over the needs of the few, despite that being in severe contrast with our nations governance and how we see growth in dictatorships. Ironically, when we visit countries, we experience shared values among the people that connect us beyond those who would limit us. The power of a conscious collective is in the attention & accountability we can shape to what really, with values defining actions and supportive accountability. As organizations join this path, we collectively reward them as a unified force for change. Technologies combined and guided to aid in this reality suddenly meet their promise to enable humanity versus distract us from it. A new generation of shared leadership, more representative to our diversity, inclusion, and trust then creates that world we only could dream about.

We may be at that intersection of willful destruction by the few of most or all that we value, including planetary health. We can choose a greater willful connection by the many to our ability to reason, synthesize values and apply them to make life, work, communities & the world better through trust, equality, diversity & inclusion, as that is who we are.

About the Author: Bill Van Eron

For Bill Van Eron, life & work are all about conscious observation and earning our needed humanity high bar. Whether Bill was an art director or lead designer in NYC, the most demanding marketing environment, or shaping a more relevant brand for soon to be major companies in Denver, or across his 25-year career in HP, as its champion for progressive enlightenment, diversity, inclusion and the highest relevance, which followed every project, Bill stays inspired to help others shape a better world, lives & work as connected to greater attention to our humanity, creativity and value-creation. All as vital to any organization's greater success. Bill now is championing the first and most conscious innovations that resolve challenges to our planets environment, as well as business and government realizing each’s greater purpose and brand value. Tired of conventional approaches and willful ignorance, Bill was recruited as one who can champion each solutions authentic relevance. Bill hopes Colorado and Fort Collins can open up and get in flow, as a community Bill & his wife only wish the best for as also enabled with a view all others benefit by, whether they see it initially or not.