DEI Leadership Institute: Taking Innovative Approaches To Diversity, Equity And Inclusion With Maria Putnam

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Truly innovating and solving problems often require us to rethink and try new approaches. The DEI Leadership Institute takes a new approach to issues we’ve been working on for longer than anyone’s been alive: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this episode, the Institute’s founder Maria Putnam joins Stephen Jaye to discuss how we can adapt a mindset that not only addresses this hot-button issue, but also opens us up to new experiences and has the potential to enrich all of our lives. Listen in and learn why DEI isn’t as straightforward as it seems and why everybody needs to pay attention to it now. --- Listen to the podcast here DEI Leadership Institute: Taking Innovative Approaches To Diversity, Equity And Inclusion With Maria Putnam We’re all aiming for something in this world. We’re aiming to do something to make some improvement. Some of it is personal such as fixing a bad habit. Some of it is larger-scale societal issues that we’ve been dealing with for a while. One important part of that whole process is being willing to change course and taking a different approach when it becomes necessary. Being open to that will often lead to a better result. My guest, Maria Putnam, the Cofounder and Principal of the DEI Leadership Institute, has an idea about how we can find a more effective course of action around some of our most pressing problems right now. Maria, thank you for coming to the show. Thank you so much, Stephen, for having me. “We are going in one direction where we feel comfortable. Let's be uncomfortable. That's okay. Nothing is gonna happen. It's gonna be just fine. We're gonna survive. Let's just jump on it." I want to start off by getting everyone oriented properly. DEI is a term that’s commonly used in the business and the corporate world. What does it stand for and what is the ultimate aim of a lot of the DEI Initiatives going on in the world? DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Some of the companies are using DENI. The ultimate goal for this is awareness. As we do this work more, to begin and start with us, to be more aware, to become better people and better human beings. When it comes to that, what is the ultimate goal for people who are involved in the DEI or hear about DEI training at their own companies? Is there a societal need around fairness and equality, or is it mostly all stemming from this idea of becoming better people and better communicators? The ultimate goal is to create a better world where there is equity, everybody has a voice, there is an appreciation of everybody at the workplace. The DEI work cannot be effective if we as people don’t do our own DEI and if we don’t face our own bias. That’s where the work starts and by working in ourselves, we could become better people. You cannot apply something that you don’t believe yourself. Before we get into the specifics of your story, what are some of these other benefits? Let’s say we improve ourselves as human beings and give everyone a fair voice. There are some other benefits. It’s not just about having certain makeups on your board or something like that. There are other intangible benefits. Tell us a little bit about some of these other intangible benefits and how we’re all improving through this. For example, let's focus on the workplace. What benefits do we have when we do the DEI work well? There is higher retention because people feel a sense of belonging. There is a lower turnover. One of the things that I hear in the business and some of the people in the companies that I work with is they spend a lot of money in the process of hiring. The turnover is high. Overall, you’re going to have more committed people. If we’re going to talk about the financial part, you’re going to save a lot of money. That’s what I’m talking about in the workplace. Let’s back up to your story before starting the DEI Leadership Institute. You’ve lived in a lot of different places and had a lot of your ...