Catherine Garrod’s Post

I’m finalising an inclusion diagnostic report and reflecting on the waves of energy I experience through the process 🌊 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 (𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟭-𝟱) 1.   Excitement at all the learning to come 2.   Overwhelm at all the reading to be done 3.   Anticipation for meeting people who’re experts at what they do 4.   Joy in being made so welcome 5.   Snacks to maintain my energy 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝟲 -𝟳) 6.   Panic at the start of report writing 7.   Pride in avoiding procrastination (sometimes) 8.   Belief I’ll get through it 9.   Reassurance during the validation phase 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 (𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟴) 10. Optimism at equipping organisations with practical actions for each team, related to purpose and ambitions It takes a lot from me. It gives a lot to me. And it’s always worth it. The inclusion diagnostic verifies whether culture, products and services work well for everyone. And if not, the process identifies the actions needed to close any gaps. It takes eight weeks to complete and clients typically see a 15% improvement in 18 months. Find out more here https://lnkd.in/eVd3DU_q #ConsciousInclusion #Diagnostic #Energy #Leadership Alt-text - video features one emoji for each of the 10 emotions

When the AV team tells you they enjoyed your keynote, you know you’ve done a good job 💃 “I really enjoyed your keynote, as it was so practical. I’ve heard a lot of speakers and so many just skirt round the issues” Grateful for this feedback. And grateful to all the AV teams who make the magic happen behind the scenes 💫 #KeynoteSpeaker #ConsciousIncusion

Inclusion is both broad and complex. But it’s also simple when organisations are deliberate about it, and the people working there are guided to understand their part to play. Read my article in the The World Financial Review for five principles any organisation adopt. 1)   Encourage respectful disagreement 2)   Embed inclusion into design standards 3)   Disaggregate data (no more averages) 4)   Build deliberate diversity into research, design and testing 5)   Widen the gates for hiring and career progression Every team can (and should) do something 💫 #ConsciousInclusion #Leadership #RemainRelevant https://lnkd.in/e7_tdgmp

There’s three things I find most organisations struggle with when it comes to inclusion:   𝟭) 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹   When organisations come to me, they usually have plenty of people passionate about advocating for change, but they're struggling to know if their efforts are paying off.   And that's because those people don't typically have the responsibility or experience of guiding an organisation through culture change and tracking progress. 𝟮) 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻   Most often data is reviewed by looking at averages of the whole group. But to understand if culture, products or services are inclusive, you need to look at feedback and success metrics for each demographic group.   This will help you see who is being overserved, underserved and not served at all. Then help determine the action you need to take to close any gaps.   𝟯) 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴   Over the last few years I've seen lots of focus on communications, events and networks, which are all strong foundations for creating an inclusive organisation.   But to create sustainable change, conscious inclusion needs to be embedded into everyday work and decisions. And be an active part of research, design and testing.   Without that focus, teams tend to develop one-size-fits-all approaches, which is the opposite of inclusion.   --- I love getting questions like this at the end of my keynotes, as they're a signal I've built trust to provide a thoughtful response to an engaged audience.   This was how I responded to a question about whether all organisations struggle with the same things. I make inclusion feel doable 💫   Find out more here about my keynotes here https://lnkd.in/eY_h_pxz   #ConsciousInclusion #Leadership #Keynote

Create a stage for the modern age is one of the 99 decisions described in my book.   Here is an extract:   "If you consider the last three industry events, town halls or global leadership meetings, who were the people that made the announcements and shared updates? Who was the compere? Who were the experts?   Unless you’re deliberate about it in planning, the line up of speakers is often a bit similar, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. If that’s the case, next time you’re planning to host an event write down everyone you can think of that would be excellent to put on stage and see if you have a diverse mix. If not, ask those people you first wrote down to recommend and sponsor someone with a different demographic that would also be excellent, and perhaps hasn’t had their first shot yet."   ---   Get your copy of Conscious Inclusion: How to 'do' EDI one decision at a time 🧠   Buy here https://amzn.to/3HrcDzT or search 'Conscious Inclusion Catherine Garrod' at your favourite bookstore or audio platform 📖🎧   #ConsciousInclusion #CompellingCulture #Equity #Inclusion #Leadership 

Hey LinkedIn gang, can you recommend anyone to help me with Mailchimp? I love writing the Crown Jewels and Whoopsie-Daisy newsletter, but I’d love someone to do the build, test and schedule in Mailchimp. Here’s the kind of thing I need once a month: ·      Feedback on content and approach ·      Sourcing images ·      Checking formatting ·      Proof reading ·      Being proactive with Mailchimp updates Please share any recommendations 🙏 PS is there a hashtag for help needed?

“Deliberately seek alternative perspectives” is my favourite habit for conscious inclusion. And it came from a big realisation and personal learning. I was guilty of being in a hurry, going to the people who already knew my work and how I liked to receive feedback. And I probably only really wanted them to suggest the odd tweak, as the work was nearly finalised. They all gave me valuable feedback, but they usually shared a similar work and demographic profile, which was limiting my ability to check how work would land in multiple teams and with a broad mix of people.   When I started deliberately asking people in other teams and with different life experiences, I got much richer feedback. This is a habit I still practice and it continues to make my work better every time. Over 20 people with different industry, career and life experiences read the BETA draft of my book Conscious Inclusion. I deliberately asked people who aren’t immersed in the work of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and don’t have the same career backgrounds as me. And their feedback is something I’m hugely grateful for, as it led me to restructure the book and better explain things, to produce the empowering and practical guide I wanted it to be. To develop this habit yourself, develop your ideas to 60-80%, then seek a broad mix of people to provide feedback. And ask these questions: ·      What works? ·      What resonates most? ·      What’s missing? ·      What haven’t I considered? ·      Where do I need to put more focus? Deliberately seeking alternative perspectives is one of the five simple habits I share at the end of keynotes, and it applies to people in every organisation at every level. Find out more about my keynotes here https://lnkd.in/eY_h_pxz #NationalInclusionWeek #ImpactMatters #ConsciousInclusion

September edition arrives in mailboxes tomorrow. For all the people I've connected with lately, I'm often asked which organisations we can learn from when it comes to inclusion. And my (monthly-ish) newsletter highlights three recent examples, along with one mini case study for learning. The Crown Jewels (good stuff) this month feature:   👑 Equal parental leave 👑 Attracting over 50s 👑 Live TV with a deaf presenter And the Whoopsie-daisy (what we can learn when it goes wrong) features a dehumanising experience at a train station.   Sign up here https://lnkd.in/dK_jWcbu #CompellingCulture #Inclusion #Leadership #Equity #ConsciousInclusion

Thanks for all the love cheersquad. My book didn’t win but I had a ball 🥳💃 And SO much fun with the winner - ‘Revolting Women’ by Dr Lucy Ryan and all the rest of the Practical Inspiration Publishing party crew 💫 Big love everyone and happy Friday 💜 #ConsciousInclusion #BBA2024 #RevoltingWomen

Tonight's the night 🥳 Outfit ready, and I'm excited to see all the other Practical Inspiration Publishing shortlisted authors at the Business Book Awards. Can't wait to cheer each other on, celebrate our achievements, and build on my reading list. My book is 'the how to' book of inclusion, and I wrote it to be empowering, practical and pragmatic. If you've already loved it, yay! And thanks for telling me - those messages make my day 💫 If you've yet to read it, it's available in print, e-book and audio on all your favourite platforms 📖🎧 Wish me luck 💫 #BBA2024 #ConsciousInclusion #PartyTime