Organizational Culture Consulting with Beth Ridley

“When we think of diversity in the United States, we tend to start and end with the visible things that we can see, race and gender, which are really important. But I think if people really want to get the most out of your people, you’ve got to really appreciate everything that makes people unique,” explains Beth Ridley, organizational transformation consultant, speaker, author, and CEO of Ridley Consulting Group. Today, she talks about organizational culture consulting and DEI.

In order to create a culture of belonging in the workplace, leaders need to be intentional about diversity, equity, and inclusion. When there’s a true culture of belonging, employees will feel all four C’s, comfort, connection, contribution, and commitment. In order to create this culture, leaders have to get the ball rolling by being an example and sharing what makes them unique. Everyone is diverse in their own ways. And when you can think of diversity from this perspective, it becomes more relatable for all employees. There is more to DEI than just looking at race and gender and when leaders can incorporate that, more employees will feel seen and understood.

Authentic leadership is the foundation of a sustainable DEI strategy. From childhood experiences to the fun hobby you enjoy, you should be sharing what makes you unique. When you open up and are willing to be fully authentic, employees will feel safer to be brave and speak up about their own experiences.

• “When we think of diversity in the United States, we tend to start and end with the visible things that we can see, race and gender, which are really important. But I think if people really want to get the most out of your talent, you’ve got to really appreciate everything that makes people unique.” (3:45-4:03 | Beth)
• “What we can do is broaden our definition of diversity to make sure that everyone appreciates that everyone is diverse, there's not some diverse people and non diverse people.” (11:18-11:28 | Beth)
• “Sometimes caring for others starts with just being more self-reflective.” (26:51-26:55 | Beth)
• “It really takes those first couple of folks to come in and not expect that they're going to fit into the culture, but really create a culture where they're proud to stand out.” (31:10-31:20 | Beth)
• “The only way to be a little bit more savvy about cultural context is to broaden your data points around the human experience. The more people you know and learn from, you can start to minimize some of those blind spots around the cultural common context and at least, replace it with a little bit more empathy and understanding.” (55:19-55:41 | Beth)
• “Authentic leadership is really the foundation for a sustainable diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. And it really starts in the most simple way of you deciding to be more authentic in sharing who you are and what makes you unique at work.” (57:00-57:21 | Beth)