Free Resources from Zena Consulting to Boost Your Inclusion Skills

Indie Business Roundtable

AMIBA's (American Independent Business Alliance) mission is "building a strong local economy that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable."

Lee facilitated a conversation with business alliances, indie locals and local economy partners. Ask how we help your organization be more inclusive.

Diversity &Inclusion for Start -Ups 

Lara Merriam-Smith, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services, at Northwest Innovation Resource Center talks with Lee about balancing the demands of starting up or running a business for leaders who prioritize DEI. ​

COVID & Change Management

The pandemic forced dramatic and rapid changes on us all. The decision to 'go hybrid' or depends on what works for your stakeholders. It's a process that begins at the top, with curiosity and conversations. This webinar explores innovative and employee-friendly responses to COVID and provides an organizational culture framework to reduce misunderstanding and conflict.

Leading in the New Abnormal

Economic Alliance Snohomish County hosted our 2021 presentation, moderated by CEO Garry Clark, (with Lee) on "Tools to Navigate COVID Conflict & Re-entry." Click on the image or listen to the webinar here.

Leaders Never Stop Learning

Yesterday's traditional brick-and-mortar workplace is rapidly becoming multicultural, multi-generational and hybrid. This new reality requires better communication skills, more flexibility, and less hierarchy. 

Deloitte's inclusive leadership model has six traits:
-  Curiosity
-  Cultural intelligence
-  Collaboration
-  Commitment
-  Courage
-  Cognizance

Diverse Teams Perform Better

Everyone is diverse. Interpersonal Skills are part of your IDENTITY. They help us get along with others, influencing everything from communication to behavior. Having high emotional intelligence is increasingly a prerequisite for career growth.
ASPECTS OF IDENTITY
  1. Primary- aspects you can't control, such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability and sexual orientation.
  2. Secondary- communication and working style, class, religion, family, geographic location and education; aspects we usually can control.
  3. Organizational- industry, status, level, tenure, etc.
  4. Cultural- power and authority, body language, time, space, flexibility. Primary cultural is learned from family but, over time and with effort, we can learn about and adapt to other cultures.
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Click for link to read about Diverse Teams at Work

Changing USA Demographics

Second Languages by State
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Click for the full report from Rider University.

Listening is the Core of DEI

Listening is the bedrock of emotional intelligence. Diversity brings the challenge of working with people from other cultures, many of whom who speak English as a second language.

While understanding people's accents can be difficult, much "cross-cultural" USA business is with native speakers; where communication gaps and mixed signals aren't linguistic. This Mind Tool diagram shows the time-tested basics. Learn more.

Types of Culture Defined

The Spring Institute offers these helpful definitions for related but not interchangeable words. Each reflects different levels of engagement with other cultures:
-  MULTICULTURAL refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups. 
-  CROSS-CULTURAL deals with the comparison of different cultures. 
-  INTERCULTURAL is a community in which there is a deep understanding and respect for all cultures.

Leadership Made Simple

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Click to see an overview of the Diamond Mind Playbook
The Diamond Mind Playbook is a simple and effective tool to help you make decisions easily, get unstuck, and flow.  Author Tom Rosenak, is an executive coach and certified Blanchard trainer. His proven growth process includes 4 dimensions:
  1. Clarify your intentions
  2. Make a plan
  3. Manage your agreements
  4. Ask for what you want
Repeat these steps as needed in your work or personal life. Learn more about Tom's leadership development services at: Diamond Mind.

Communication & Culture

Here are some tools to help you tackle DEI:
​-  Learn Cultures, Not Languages, by Ian Brenner
-  Racial Equity tools
-  Developmental Assets Strength Finder tool from Search Institute, available in English or Spanish. While this (free to social profits) template ​was designed for youth, it applies to all former children.
1. PSRA (PR Society of America) Tool Kit.
​2.  Building D&I into Your Small Business- a SCORE webinar by Stephanie Felix.
3.  Strategic Communications Planning- a template developed by The Spin Project.
4.  Build a  DEI  Initiative- by SHRM, (Society for Human Resource Management.)