About the certification
The Equity, Inclusion and Leadership Practitioner (EILP) will be equipped to play a critical role in supporting DEI in the workplace. EILP certified executives and leaders will learn to be responsible for setting the tone and direction of company culture, policies, and practices, and can make or break the success of DEI at an organizational level.play a huge and impactful role in creating a more inclusive, equitable, diverse, and innovative workplace culture. This, in turn, can lead to greater creativity, better decision-making, and improved business outcomes.
The 7-week certification program will provide you with the knowledge, skills, abilities and enhanced tools to be inspirational, motivational and influential in leading the DEI journey in your organization.
Your
7
Week Roadmap
Duration
28 hours
Accountability
Your Resources and Tools
Overview
The intersection of Emotional Intelligence and Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Emotional intelligence drives the behaviors we use to engage and interact with people around us in a way that is open and curious, equitable and inclusive, accepting and celebratory. Participants learn and/or re-evaluate the impact of their emotional intelligence and identify the tools needed to implement DEI principles in the environments they lead. If DEI is the goal, the journey, then Emotional Intelligence is the pathway that will get us there. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is about understanding and being intentional about the behaviors that we, and those around us, exhibit.
As leaders drive DEI strategies and activities, their emotional IQ will help them to understand their and others emotions and to build productive relationships. It also cause them to explore, to confront and to ask, whose voice is missing from the table when decisions are being made? Whose perspectives are not being considered? Whose norms are being used to govern the whole?
Identifying barriers to successful DEI implementation
- Understanding the need for leadership buy-in
- Identifying change management principles to utilize
- Developing change management and communications protocols
Understanding the importance of psychological safety
Psychological safety is employees feeling safe to be their authentic selves at work, as much as they choose. It is about people feeling safe to voice opinions, thoughts, or ideas in an accepting and collaborative atmosphere. In a workplace with psychological safety, team members are not automatically punished for making mistakes. Historically people of marginalized communities may not have felt safe to take risks, and may have felt less comfortable discussing concerns, especially when it comes to harassment or discrimination because they didn’t feel valued or respected in the workplace.
An important part of psychological safety is valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion and people feeling able to be their whole selves, which means they can exhibit their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and any other part of their identity without judgment. Intertwining psychological safety with DEI efforts and having a diverse workforce improves employees’ productivity, increases innovation, and fosters a more positive, open-minded, and better-performing workplace.
Inclusive leadership principles
In a growing diverse and complex business environment, culture cannot simply be defined as “the way things are done” — it is more about understanding the common set of behaviors, beliefs, and underlying mindsets that shape how employees interact. But what makes people feel included in organizations? What makes people feel that they are treated fairly and respectfully? What makes people believe they are valued and belong? It is mainly the beliefs and actions of their leaders, and the practices and policies that support inclusion and belonging. We find that what leaders say and do makes up to a 70% difference as to whether an individual reports feeling included. And this really matters because the more people feel included, the more they speak up, the more they collaborate and the more they positively engage within the organization and with others. Inclusive leadership includes:
- Being commitment: Authentic commitment holds yourself and others accountable, and shows that you have made equity and inclusion a personal and organizational priority.
- Awareness of bias: They are aware of and/or willing to explore their personal blind spots. They also look for biases in the systems and understand how they support inequities.
- Humility: They are modest about capabilities, admit mistakes, and create the space for others to contribute.
- Genuine interest in others: They demonstrate an open mindset and deep curiosity about others, listen without judgment, and seek with empathy to understand those around them.
- Cultural intelligence: They are attentive to, and accepting of others’ cultures and adapt as required.
- Emotional Intelligence: Understanding your beliefs and emotions toward the differences of people who are different than their own social identities, and especially about marginalized communities of people.
- Collaboration: Inclusive leaders empower others.
Ensuring an anti-racist workplace
- Understanding the historical impact of society’s racial divide
- Systemic bias and its impact on the workplace
- Identifying and implementing anti-racist policies
Coaching, mentoring, advocacy and sponsorship foundations
- Understanding the lifecycle of supportive and inclusive environments for your staff
- Unhinging barriers that may exist for learning and growth opportunities
- Creating a pathway for employees to strive and thrive in their careers
Driving accountability at every level of the organization
- Exploring a DEI accountability model
- Identifying accountability gaps and corrective measures
- Holding accountability as a core value within self, and the organization
