People Matters Magazine June 2021: Covid-19 Rages on

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The new frontier of D&I

Diversity & Inclusion

Intentionally overcoming unconscious bias

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The People Matters BeNext ‘D&I: Overcoming Unconscious Bias Program’, taking place from 9 August - 3 September 2021, empowers leaders to address biases and build a more inclusive, psychologically safe work environment for all. In this article, we hear from the program’s Lighthouse Keepers to see how they are ensuring inclusion happens at their grassroots, as well as what learners can expect from the upcoming program By Maia Jenkins

The “What” of D&I: An attempt to see another fully

Understanding unconscious bias has been the foundation of much of Dr. Sondra Thiederman’s work. One of the Lighthouse Keepers on the BeNext program, Dr. Thiederman is also the President of Cross-Cultural Communications and the author of four books, including ‘Three Keys to Defeating Unconscious Bias: Watch, Think, Act’. As a Lighthouse Keeper on the BeNext program, Dr. Thiederman enables the learners to see how unconscious bias undermine D&I | June 2021

at every level and what can be done to acknowledge and address these prejudices, assumptions, or thoughts we have about certain groups that lead us to act and make decisions in particular ways. “Unconscious bias undermines all of our efforts,” Dr. Thiderman says, “including D&I efforts, because the bottom line is they keep

us from seeing people for who they are,” adding that, “because we can't see them for who they are, we're not able to promote the right people, because we're making assumptions about what they're good at.” Thiederman adds, “Ultimately, this affects the leaders’ effectiveness. If a leader can't know who his or her

Complex problems require a variety of perspectives to solve and, as we continue to negotiate several complicated unknowns, the business case for diversity is absolutely undeniable


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