Diversifying Leadership | Dawn Brockett | Key Takeaways

DIVERSIFYING LEADERSHIP EPISODE ONE

KEY TAKEAWAYS

GUEST: DAWN BROCKETT

HOSTED BY: WILLIAM PENTICOST

SPOTLIGHT PROFILE

DAWN BROCKETT MANAGING DIRECTOR, HEAD OF COMMUNITY AND PARTNERSHIPS CNS SUMMIT

Dawn Brockett is an author, keynote speaker, professor, advisor in the research and treatment of anorexia, and the Managing Director of CNS Summit.

Dawn was published alongside the powerful stories of many extraordinary women in What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, in 2021. In 2023, she released Unrestricted: How I Stepped Off the Tightrope, Learned to Say No, and Silenced Anorexia—a deeply personal story of how one woman stopped disappearing, started listening to her own voice, and claimed her rightful place in the world.

We felt like Dawn was the perfect person to kick-start this series based on her personal journey as well as the value and advice she could share with our network.

KEY INSIGHTS THE DEPTH OF ASSUMPTIONS WHAT DOES ‘SMART’ REALLY LOOK LIKE? We all have unconscious bias; however, we need to be honest with ourselves about what they are, and understand them so we can improve how we engage with our biases on a day-to-day basis. Dawn highlighted that a key way to do this is through self-education: be confident in learning about diversity and asking questions!

Dawn has also been affected by unconscious bias in the past, which propelled the need for a deeper conversation to be had around the topic:

You know Dawn, you’re a lot smarter than you look.

“When he read what I had written he said, ‘You know, Dawn - you’re a lot smarter than you look!’ I paused, blinked, and said, ‘you’re going to have to tell me what you mean by that’. The pause and the response were enough for him to realise what the issue was and realise how ridiculous it was, but it begged so many questions around previous perception and perception of where my strengths lie.” | Dawn Brockett

The example Dawn gave during her conversation with Will is a clear demonstration of how unconscious bias got the better of her colleague, and also how common unconscious bias is regardless of the experience, empathy, or intelligence of the biased individual in question.

How can organisations implement better practices for understanding unconscious bias?

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS TRAINING Investing in D&I-based training for your team is paramount to how they interact with each other, but also how they interact with external suppliers and individuals.

Unconscious bias training can cover a range of areas, from blinding CVs and using inclusive language, to how we can challenge our unconscious bias once it becomes conscious.

KEEPING EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE Dawn's example is one of many that all of us may have experienced at some point in our careers. Whether it was an assumption due to how we look, express ourselves, or how we communicate, bias has undoubtedly affected us all. However, in a work environment, accountability is crucial to ensure that we don't allow our biases to take over and perpetuate discrimination or inequitable work environments Addressing issues such as the language someone uses or how they interact with someone is important to create a safe environment, but also an environment whereby people are self-aware and self-accountable.

HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO PUSH YOURSELF INTO A LEADERSHIP ROLE. Becoming a leader isn’t everybody’s goal, however, if you know that the path of leadership is for you - Dawn had some incredible advice that she shared with us:

BE UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOURSELF This may go without saying, but it’s always a piece of advice that we’re given by leaders regardless of age, gender, or race. Being you and bringing your personality to work is important for your day-to-day happiness, but as a leader, it’s even more crucial to show up as you are and humanise yourself to people in your team. Figure out what is important to you and ensure that those values are passed down to people in your team.

ENCOURAGE MENTORSHIP If you’re in the process of becoming a leader, what additional steps should you considering to support yourself for the role?

Engaging in mentoring - Whether it’s through an official programme or unofficial, by helping someone in a more junior position, not only is mentoring a great way to up-skill yourself but also encourages a culture of mentorship, where everybody can benefit.

Being a mentee is also beneficial at all levels, and once you've gained experience, transitioning into a mentor role becomes a great step towards leadership.

BE THE VOICE THAT HIGHLIGHTS CHANGE Leadership is more than just inspiring people within your team and maintaining performance and standards. A true leader is someone who inspires change and intends to better the team and organisation that they’re a part of.

Do it because it’s the smart thing to do.

“Don’t do it because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do. Do it because it’s the smart thing to do: because it’ll improve your organisation. Do it because the conversations that you’ll have around the decision-making table will be better, broader, and most likely yield better results”

Dawn Brockett

What can organisations do to ensure they’re approaching D&I in the right way?

Sitting around and waiting for Diversity to happen organically in a business that is inherently not diverse can leave many organisations in a place of stagnation.

However, there are arguments suggesting that intentionally creating diversity can lead to a lack of authenticity.

We unpacked this with Dawn as it can be a common barrier that hiring managers face, especially when they have a genuine desire to foster a diverse team but are unsure where to start. Dawn highlighted that it’s crucial to deliberately open the door for people. Especially in an organisation where diversity is scarce, opportunity has to be made for diverse individuals to grow and have a seat at the table.

The bottom line is your intention and why you want to create diversity. If you’re doing it from a genuine place to create a fair and equitable team, then you should never feel guilty for encouraging diversity and actively hiring to improve your team.

WHAT STEPS CAN YOU ACTIVELY TAKE TO MAKE MEANINGFUL CHANGE?

Create landmarks for diverse colleagues/team members to help them get to where they need to be.

It’s important that the path to success, especially for diverse hires, is reviewed regularly and agreements are honoured. This doesn’t mean that there should be one rule for a diverse hire and one rule for someone who isn’t considered “diverse enough”.

Instead, it’s about recognising that diverse hires haven’t been given opportunities, which is why there is an imbalance in so many organisations.

So, recognising the barriers that they’re faced with and ensuring that you’re there to face them together is important.

For example, the gender pay gap.

Statistically, women are paid less than men, and statistically, women are less likely to ask for a pay rise. Therefore, creating those checkpoints to encourage that conversation and ensure that there is equity as well as equality is an example of creating landmarks to get people to where they need to be.

“I think creating landmarks and check-ins with diverse hires to ensure that conversations remain open and the path to progress is uncluttered. Conversations around potential are realised, and people’s requests are listened to.”

Dawn Brockett |

“I think diversity is important in every industry and at every level because there’s a gap, and something needs to look different. It’s a matter of representation and ensuring that we are meeting our goals and improving opportunities for humanity in general.”

Dawn Brockett |

Representation matters Achieving a level of diversity within any organisation takes time, and it’s important to have representation throughout all layers of an organisation to ensure that diversity isn’t just happening at a junior level.

For example, let’s look at ethnic diversity - how many people within your organisation are ethnically diverse? And, is that relative to the location in which your organisation is based? For example, let’s say you have an office in a city and an office outside of the city, your ethnic diversity, by default, should be higher in the location that has the highest ethnic diversity. It’s important to research and ensure that you have the right representation across each of your locations and that your organisation doesn’t look homogenous.

Ensuring that there is representation is key to making meaningful change.

Have difficult conversations "While no organisation is perfect, it is critical to strive for equitable representation at all levels of an organisation, including at the highest levels of leadership. Team composition change should not be used as an excuse for dropping the ball on D&I. However, to continuously improve your diversity, you must be willing to have difficult conversations.

Dawn highlighted that it’s the “White Males” within Life Sciences that should be kickstarting these conversations, instead of being paralysed by fear of saying the wrong thing.

Any majority group within an organisation should be championing a minority, and being open to having challenging conversations is the first step. As long as your intentions are good, and you are genuine in your approach, the rest will follow.

Finally, you can’t treat diversity as a trend.

For fair representation, you must have consistency and you also must ensure that it comes from a place of genuine care, not because you feel like you have to. Authenticity is key in any organisation's D&I journey.

Our Diversifying Leadership series will continue throughout 2024, welcoming guest across the Life Science industry, if you have any questions or topics that you would like to hear discussed on the podcast please email our marketing team here. Or if you’d be interested in being a part of the series, we’d love to hear from you.

Click here to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

We are also working with a number of clients on their DEI strategies and how we can support them as an agency to make a true difference to their hiring.

To learn how Apsida can support you or your organisation, please click here.

WILLIAM PENTICOST

Head of Vendor Services +44(0) 203 854 4604 William.Penticost@apsida.co.uk