Create an Inclusive Environment to Grow your Business.

Do your Vision and Values reflect your embrace of diversity and inclusion?

When developing your marketing campagins and communications don't be affraid to share your personal culture and diverse background. Whether your heritage is of one culture or another, whether you are disabled or not, whether you have experienced a unique circumstance that sets you significantly apart from others... all of these areas reflect your own personal diversity.

Being open about your own diversity opens the door for others to be comfortable in sharing their own unique circumstances, values and experiences. The more we know about our audience, the better we can address their unique perspectives.

In turn, there is an inherint opportunity to engage with others, identify solutions, build relationships and open the door to trust without fear from your audience.

Shape your future by envisioning it.

If anything were possible, what would your business look like in the future? What would have to happen for this vision to be realized?

Model inclusive, respectful behavior that doesn’t prejudge people. By including a variety of people in your world, you can serve a model to others.

Create conditions in which everyone will feel safe, appreciated, valued and engaged.

Hear from all voices, leverage all skills and encourage all talents in your communications.

Learn about your clients and partners.

You may find that people have views and skills that you didn’t know about that could help you solve a problem or identify a solution you hadn't previously considered.

Ask others to describe how they could their unique talents and perspectives to contribute to improvement of performance or growth.

Constructive Criticism and Constructive Feedback.

I believe with the topic of Creating an Inclusive environment we also must consider the diversity aspect of our audiences. In this respect giving constructive feedback is as important as giving constructive criticism in a way that doesn't offend the giver or reciever of the feedback.

Considering "constructive" and "non-defensive" when we address feedback and openness in our discussions will place the author in a position to be mindful of sensitivities and build respect, trust, integrity and those things that open others to feeling "safe" in what is shared and how it is shared.

EXAMPLE: An individual created a blog post about achieving a personal goal and focused communications "right to the point." There was no mention about what was driving the author toward this goal, so it was a bit tough to follow what the author's drive was.

The post indicated the author's desireto achieve this with the explicit request from the audience will you vote for me to achieve this... the feedback and comments ranged from suggestions to the author to take some time to do additional research as it appeared the individual did not clearly understand what achiving the goal meant to blunt opinions from others stating "my experience with you has been a failed response rate to comments, therefore my trust that you would be a good fit for this goal at this time is low", to "your responses have been rude if you don't like my answers at times you have deleted my responses to you rather than provide clarification"....

Note that in my example above, others provided constructive criticism and feedback to the author, however the author did not thank the feedback provider nor ask questions to clarify what was meant to understand the criticism and allow herself an opportunity to both learn and build relationships. Rather her responses were either non-existent or simply defensive, which does not breed a safe environment for discussion.

Topics for Discussion:What could a person do differently to respond to constructive feedback? Alternatively, is there something different in how one might provide feedback that could lend a sense of security to others and help them not be defensive in their responses, but open to learning?

• If anything were possible, what would your business look like in the future? What would have to happen for this vision to be realized?

• What could a person do differently to respond to constructive feedback?

• Alternatively, is there something different in how one might provide feedback that could lend a sense of security to others and help them not be defensive in their responses, but open to learning?

BONUS TOPIC ON DIVERSITY & INCLUSION FOR BUSINESS PLANNING

I would encourage you to use the discussion forum below as a means of opening a door for diversity and inclusion types of commication examples... I will be begin.

I am an single mother of four children, who is also a disabled military veteran. I have earned my MBA and have been blessed with a 20+ year career in the field of Program Planning and Integration within the Aeronautics Industry and am a sole-proprietor for my online business.

Can you pinpoint my personal areas of diversity?

1. Female and single mother
2. Educated Female
   
3. Military Veteran
4. Health Disabilities
5. Long Term Career
6. Business owner

Note that there are feelings, cultural beliefs, problems and solutions for each of my personal areas of inclusion listed above.

From a business owners perspective each diverse area could relate to specific niche and host of problems to solve or products to provide.

From a marketing perspective, each unique item could drive a separate marketing campagin or communication opportunity.

From a consumer perspective, each personal area of inclusion is a potential problem I may need a solution for and as a consumer, I would look to an organization that I can not only trust, but ins some respect, also relate to, relative to the specific area of diversity in question.

Therefore, in modeling inclusive, respectful behaviors that don't prejudge people we place ourselves in a position to learn about your clients and partners; thus building trusting relationships with integrity others can rely upon and opening the door to place ourselves in positions to help far more people than we ever thought we would.