🧠Weekly Mind Sweep #125 | What’s On My Mind | Inclusivity
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In 2009, I was recently divorced and re-entering the workforce after a four-year gap. I was grateful to find a flexible retail job that fit my schedule as a mom of twins. My intent at the time was to do my job, get a check, and go home.
But that isn't how I'm wired.
I'm passionate, driven, and determined to do well. Once I learned how this business worked, I found ways to use my creative and cognitive skills to work with our team and significantly boost sales, exceeding the owners' expectations.
I proudly asked for raises to compensate for my hard work, and I was grateful that I could do a job I was passionate about with the flexibility to work during daycare hours.
Until I wasn't.
Despite my ability to drive revenue and manage a team, I was repeatedly passed over for management positions because my responsibilities as a mother prevented me from staying late.
And so I left.
I recognized the bias in business processes that overlook the needs of working parents—a bias that, regrettably, persists in 2024.
This month, I began our Curated Conversations by asking, "Is it humanly possible to be unbiased?" The answer is yes, but in our conversations, we've learned it's not our default mode.
It takes:
Noticing
Pausing
Consideration
and then taking intentional action to interrupt our automatic response.
You don't have to look far to find bias in our news, social media feeds, communities, and beyond.
Inclusivity will take work.
Brains are wired to be biased, and impactful change will require systematic interruption of unconscious processes to break the biased learning cycle.
It's going to take practicing intentional action. The human brain will benefit from noticing our reaction, pausing, and considering what we should do next, just as the power of pause does. Simple, not easy.
Bias will take work.
Each brain works differently, and we can enhance collaboration by embracing cognitive diversity. Creating safe environments that facilitate fairness, cooperation, social support, and trust will reward the brain.
Our brains shape our actions. To foster true change, we must prioritize and practice inclusivity, diversity, and equity in our personal lives and businesses. Making inclusive practices habitual allows us to form new neural pathways that lead to automatic, equitable behaviors.
At the human level, we must consider what might be needed and meet them where they are.
This month, I've learned that when things get too big and basic human needs are lost, I see human behavior I'm not fond of. It's outside my values and how I choose to show up in the world. As businesses and organizations grow, I've witnessed them quickly lose touch with meeting individual needs.
To quote myself from Week 40 of the Weekly MindSweep:
A fundamental difference exists between a network, an audience, and a community.
Your network connects you to others. You meet someone who knows someone who might be able to support you in your efforts.
An audience will listen to what you have said.
A community will hear it. Feel it. Understand it. And actively participate in its intentions, values, and goals.
The concept of community is holding space for people to listen to their needs, understand their feelings, and come together in a cohesive and powerful way to take action. [1]
Especially when it comes to pushing against the norm.
This isn't just about business; it's about life choices and the less traditional path. It's about values and intentions. It's about supporting people and what that truly means. [1]
Sometimes, doing things as they've always been done can be valuable until it isn't. Until that moment when we learn something new, we wake up to opportunity, and we see that there is a better way to do something.
This is all true when we consider inclusivity. Look at how much we have learned together over the last 125 weeks.
Let's continue this journey together, making inclusive practices a habit transforming our communities and businesses.
Reflecting on your own experiences, can you identify any biases in the entrepreneurial space or community that need addressing, and what steps do you think can be taken to create a more inclusive environment?
What spaces are using the word “community” but acting like a network or audience?
Reply and share with me!
The answers you need for your business are already within you.
If you’d like support in pulling them out to build a business you are proud of, I’m here to help.
Are you a like-hearted entrepreneur ready for support? Let's connect.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[1] The original text from Week 40 said, “It’s about supporting women,” and in Week 125, I’ve grown to use more inclusive language.
Collaborations!
For 2024, we'd like to make a focused effort to support you and your business. For June, we'll discuss:
Guest Speaker: Jeff Coleman of Four Factor Consulting to discuss Running Google Ads... Profitably
Google makes it easy to set up a new Google Ads account, but that does not mean it will give you a good return on investment (ROI). If you are curious about whether Google Ads could work for your business, or you have started a campaign and want to make it more effective, please join us on June 7th. Jeff Coleman, owner of Factor Four Consulting, will show you:
Why starting with a "bullseye" keyword phrase makes your campaigns more effective
How to work with the algorithms and not against them
Why negative keywords are a positive force for your success
Jeff has been running Google Ads for the past 19 years (16 with his own agency) and managed tens of millions of dollars in ad spend for 75+ clients -- several have been with him for more than a decade. No matter the size of the budget, his primary focus is driving profitable results for clients.
Learn more about Jeff at https://www.factorfour.com/
Agenda:
Join Shannon Dalton Giordano of Serendipity Social Media and me of Chickbook Creative for this two-hour interactive business community experience.
We’ll discuss ways to cultivate business through Sales, Marketing, and Communication methods that support relationship building, showing up authentically, and connecting deeper with colleagues and the people you serve.
9-10 am - Jeff Coleman, Four Factor Consulting
10-10:45 am - Open discussion, community support, brainstorming ideas
10:45 -11 am - Clear and actionable takeaways to start your month in forward momentum
Join us to meet business owners in our community. Leave with new tools in your toolbox to help you make connections and build your business!
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: https://bit.ly/MWCoCJune2024
In other news…
Feeling #FOMO about Curated Conversations? Join us!