Leadership and Inclusion are two of my special interests. I’ve been learning how to lead people for more than 40 years. Yes, I started learning about leadership while I was a young teenager, as an Air Cadet. I continued to learn more during my military career. Now I’m an entrepreneur and I call myself a Thought Partner.

One of the lessons that I’ve learned, and share, about being an effective leader, is that people pay more attention to what you do, than what you say. If a leader invests their time and money into creating an inclusive workplace, then their team will become more inclusive. This can be as simple as showing up for an event to promote equity and STAYING for the entire event. When a leader stays and interacts with people, rather than leaving to do “more important things” after saying a few welcoming remarks, the leader's choice demonstrates that they genuinely believe in creating an inclusive workplace. I will be forever grateful to Becky Groves for teaching me that lesson when I was a Major.

Over time, I’ve learned that Inclusion is much more complex than striving for gender equity and welcoming people from different backgrounds. I’ve learned that to be truly inclusive, I must also recognize that there are many different ways of learning and processing information. Being inclusive is a life long journey, one that I’ll always be able to improve upon.

This June, I’ll be launching an online course using Thinkific and Zoom. I'm trying to make the course as accessible as possible. Over the last few months, I’ve sought feedback from Canadian entrepreneurs including Sarina Cormier and Natalie Minnema from Two Canes Consulting, Brooke Woboditsch from CCS Inc., Leah Riddell from Signable Vi5ion and others.

This post shares what I plan to do with my course. I’m looking for your feedback to help me provide the most inclusive course that I can.

Here’s an outline of the structure for the course, focusing on accessibility features.
8 group sessions, with professional closed captioning, recordings and transcripts provided after
2 individual sessions, with closed captioning, ASL or LSQ interpreter (on request) through Zoom, may be recorded on request
Participants choice for cameras/audio being turned on/off, and may use chat to participate in all Zoom sessions
Handouts in different formats including two versions of slides available the day of group session, pdf and a plain text version including all words on the slides
Homework assignments, in pdf and plain text versions
Options on how homework is completed for example: journal style, vision board, audio or video format

I would love your feedback, so I can make adjustments as I build the course over the next few weeks.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

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Many people imagine that the only way to grow your network is to go to events and exchange business cards. While this might have been true in the past, technology now offers dozens of ways to meet and connect with people from literally around the world.

Since I started my business in 2012, I’ve met and worked with many people who I’ve never met in real life (IRL). We “meet” by phone, video and email.

For example, in 2014 as I was researching a project for another client, I came across a company now called Indigenous Link. I’ve been developing and delivering training for Indigenous Link ever since.  Among other things, they’re great marketers, they find me audiences from across Canada. I get to concentrate on doing what I enjoy most, sharing information through online webinars to help people achieve their goals. I’ve only met one of the Indigenous Link team IRL, he joined the team after me!

In the last year, meeting people online has become even more important. I’ve met and connected with people from around the world. Several have become valued professional contacts.

Many people use social media platforms to grow their networks online. The four applications (apps) I’d like to tell you about are the ones I’m most familiar with: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I use each of these apps for a different reason.

LinkedIn: for professional networking and learning, and for getting the word out about issues I care about, including my business!

Facebook: for friends, the occasional post about my business, and networking with like minded entrepreneurs and other groups in a more informal way.

Instagram: for connecting with people in a very informal way, while still being professional. This platform is new to me, I resisted joining for years, because I’m not a visual thinker. I originally joined to follow entrepreneurs who I wanted to support, then I realized you can microblog on Instagram!

Twitter: for micro learning opportunities, particularly for learning from people whose lived experiences are vastly different than mine.

A great place to get a lead on people you’d like to network with is to attend free online learning sessions. Many people will share their full name, and some even share their social media handles in the chat. If you meet people whose comments resonate with you during these trainings, jot down their names (carefully copying the spelling) and any other identifying comments, like where they live or work. Then look for them on LinkedIn or your preferred social media app.

Caution: Do not use information gained during an online learning session, or found on a social media app for dating. There are dating apps for that! As a middle-aged woman who’s been happily married for more than 20 years, I find it really irritating when people try to connect with me romantically on social media. Seriously, stay in your lane.

Here’s a story about appropriate networking from the shared experience of an online learning session, using social media. I recently moderated a morning of online learning for one of my professional associations, HRPA. During the breakout sessions I met and learned from others who were attending.  As I was writing this post, I remembered that I meant to connect with these people.

I skipped over to LinkedIn, found everyone who'd shared their full name, and sent them personalized connection requests.  The personalized messages reminded them where we met and included something about the experience. Before I finished writing the first had already accepted my request. Within 24 hours of sending the invitations, all had connected.

We all voluntarily decided to invest our time in the webinar, we met for 10-15 minutes through Zoom audio in breakout rooms, and now we’re connected. This is potentially the start of long-standing professional relationships.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:
 
Social Media and Networking
Creating a Sense of Community Online 

You may also be interested in getting a copy of my new e-book, "Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces." Its hot off the digital presses! You can find the link in the Contact page on my website.

Spring is the season for new beginnings.

New beginnings can range from extreme radical change to tiny adjustments to how you live your life.

Deciding to become more fit, by adding a few extra stretches into your day, is a new beginning worth celebrating. Signing up for an online course, on a topic that interests you, and has absolutely nothing to do with your current role can also be a new beginning. Choosing to do something creative like colouring or doing jigsaw puzzles can be enough of a change to re-energize you. (Thanks to Ashley Lamothe, Creative Kwe for the last two suggestions.)

This spring, consider creating your own new beginning, by doing something you’ve been thinking about, but haven’t gotten around to yet. Trying something new often opens you up to possibilities you weren’t aware of. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, try something new and fun, just for you. “A change is as good as a rest” is an expression I remember from my youth. I interpret this to mean, that much as people are creatures of habit, most of us enjoy some change in our lives, as long as we get to pick what that change will be!  Change can be restful.

One of the new things I’ve been trying this spring is microblogging on Instagram. It’s a lot of fun! Unfortunately, microblogging has influenced my writing, to the point where writing longer blogs is somewhat of a challenge. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t been blogging as regularly lately.

Another reason that my blogging has been inconsistent is that I’m collaborating with a bunch of creative and smart experts to bring my very first independent online course to fruition. I’ve set a goal of naming the program by April 20, and launching it before spring 2021 ends.

Coordinating all the moving pieces for a new course takes a fair bit of energy and creative thinking.  Next week I’ll be participating in a demo for the Learning Management System I’m leaning towards using. I have some questions about accessibility…

As someone who believes in Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) I am consciously investing in getting outside help to make my course as accessible as I can. Will it be 100% Platinum standard first time out of the box? Probably not, because I’m human and I’m bound to make mistakes.  And that’s OK, I’ll be able to learn from my mistakes!

What new beginnings are you looking forward to?
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If you enjoyed reading this post, you may also enjoy:
“Mercenary” Partnerships and Trust https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/mercenary-partnerships-and-trust
Respecting I Can’t https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/respecting-i-cant
Learning from Failure https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/learning-from-failure

​I believe that everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

My parents taught me that everyone, regardless of what career they have, where they’re from, or what their belief system is, deserves to be treated with respect.  My parents taught me that the person who cleaned and maintained my school, was just as important as the most famous person I would meet.  They taught me to show my gratitude to everyone who helped me.

I was also taught that people who are communicating in a second or third language, are often less articulate than when they speak in their first language. I was taught to show them respect by listening patiently so that I could be sure I understood what they were sharing. 

While I was attending Military College, I learned that a nice second order effect to treating people with respect, is that they are more willing to do what you ask them to.  About half way through university, I realized that the kitchen staff would customize my meal order, giving me whatever foods, I asked for, as long as it was somewhere on the menu. My friends asked me why I could get whatever I wanted when they had to stick to the set menu choices. The only difference between us that I noticed, was how we communicated with the kitchen staff. I generally made small talk, and thanked the staff for the work they’d done preparing my meal.

Over time I learned that a large part of treating people with respect is learning how to communicate with them, in a way that they understand. Investing the time to understand how best to communicate with people is worth the effort. Especially if you aspire to be a leader.

Showing respect goes beyond words. As I matured my understanding of respect became even more inclusive. As a leader I realized that everyone on my team, had something to offer, that we all have gifts to share. That when people share their gifts and support each other, we all thrive. My understanding of respect grew to include learning what others were interested in, their aptitudes and strengths, and then assigning them roles that leveraged their gifts.

In 2020, my understanding that the planet and all living beings on this planet, are deserving of respect, crystalized into actually apologizing to spiders as I disturbed their homes, while weeding a garden patch in my front yard. I also got in the habit of thanking the greens and herbs as I harvested them to eat. I credit this deeper understanding of respecting all life to reading, and starting to absorb, the lessons in “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Increasingly in our world, people are so “busy” that they try to find short cuts to “save” time.  I urge you to invest your time in communicating respectfully with everyone you interact with. This can be as simple as showing up for meetings prepared and on time, or choosing to ignore a ringing phone while you’re meeting with someone.

One practical way that you can show that you respect someone else’s preferred mode of communication, is to ask them how they’d like to meet. During a pandemic most meetings take place virtually. Many people enjoy meeting by video, some prefer a simple phone call, and others prefer to communicate in writing. All are great ways to communicate! If you’re having a virtual meeting, you can let participants know that turning on their camera is optional, as is writing responses or questions in the chat.
 
If you enjoyed reading this post, you may also enjoy:

Creating a Sense of Community Online https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/creating-a-sense-of-community-online

Content Triggers That May Surprise You https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/content-triggers-that-may-surprise-you

What Exactly is a Thought Partner? https://www.empoweredpath.ca/blog/what-exactly-is-a-thought-partner