Did that just happen?! Expert advice from two psychologists working in DEI.

Did that just happen?! by Lauren Wadsworth and Stephanie Pinder-Amaker

I came across Drs Stephanie Pinder-Amaker and Lauren Wadsworth,
in a post by Charter, where they talked about their ADDRESSING identities framework where you assess your actions in DEI against this framework and your own identities.

Thanks to Charter for providing such informative posts!
https://lnkd.in/gb-uUfMc

I love guiding frameworks so I was intrigued.
It led me to their book Did That Just Happen? Drs Pinder-Amaker and Wadsworth, have different identities which brings an important intersectionality to their work. They also have worked in medical academic environments where the intransigence of the institutions is often stronger than in corporate settings. Lessons from making progress there would be robust in any setting!

They have two terms that they wish others to update:
“Rising identities” instead of historically marginalized.
And “identity related aggressions” instead of microaggressions.

Other new concepts I learned from them were empowering listening and empowering apologies.

In empowering listening you:

• you don’t express surprise or emotions at the aggression – this shows your privilege and directs attention away from the victim

• you express empathy for the experience – but don’t make comparisons to your own

• you don’t make excuses for past failure

• you don’t jump to problem solving from your own perspective

• you express gratitude for the person sharing their experience with you

The book is full of helpful case studies of daily identity related aggressions and suggestions for how to respond appropriately.

I also appreciated their definition of being anti racist “Being anti racists results from a conscious decision to make frequent consistent equitable choices daily.”

This definition intersects with my approach as a behavior scientist. Fixed labels such as racist result in shame or defensive actions which do not address the problem. Rather than labels, describing the alternative behaviors we want to see helps move us into positive action. And the choices we make everyday are the ones that can change systems.

But they also remind us that trying to make changes against a backdrop of previously not listening, not solving problems, but now asking what is needed is going to be challenging. They also remind us that 'one size does not fit all', not everyone in your organization will need the same training. Many will have come from identities where they long ago learned about the problems they face on a daily basis which lead to burnout.

#deitraining #leadership #empowerment #intersectionality