Another week, another report telling us everything we already know (well those of us that have the courage and tenacity to work in an equality, diversity and inclusion role!)
I’ve stopped reading full reports, head to the key points and you know you will already be doing everything it recommends. yep, EDI leads all over it and this is proof they speak truth to power. power needs to listen and act, having EDI in your job title gives the misapprehension it is you alone that will set the organisation on its path to being truly inclusive and lead the way in best practice…and HSJ awards!
As the Messenger report says this is everyone’s business and every person meeds to do this work to do me out of a job….bring it on I say, happy to divert my career pathway knowing all the reporting, presentations, action plans and interventions have worked.
And lets recognise, this report talks about the NHS and public sector, it applies everywhere. commercial business have th3 resources to put the positive spin and invest in programmes to keep their market share and shareholders happy.
The NHS is owned by the people, every single one of us. Time to work together for positive change, the healthcare is outstanding, lets look after our people with as much care and attention and do this right. there is no second chance.
Purple Light Up tomorrow and its more important than ever to acknowledge and support the millions of people every day across the world living and working with a disability.
My own physical health has taken a dive on recent months and having to face the reality of doing things differently or not at all is hard to accept. I marvel at those around me who deal with so much more disabling conditions with positivity and a determination not to be defined or confined by things they cannot change.
Gratitude is my way through this, grateful to be alive and made it to past 50 when others havent. grateful for having the joy of two beautiful daughters, who have their challenges in life and live for the moment, not planning ahead and hitting societies expected milestones, liv8mg their way their rules.
A beautiful and loving partner who has seen me at my best and worst and loves me even more (and same in reverse).
So for Purple Light Up I will stand proudly with my family, friends and colleagues as we celebrate global recognition of everyone who lives and works with a disability and makes the world a better place for being here. we are all unique, thank goodness not another me to contend with!
we are still in lockdown, still struggling across the globe to grab back control from this wretched virus, still trying to find good deeds to balance the reality of inequality that surfaces every day.
A small treat today to discover a chocolate brand with a strong commitment to being serious about people above chasing a profit. I’ve never seen Tony’s Chocolonely brand and its been a delight to see honest statements on their values and mission as a company to end slavery in the chocolate trade. Is that something we even think of when we are buying our chocolate or cocoa products? Seeing the word slavery is shocking to think that still exists in 2021. And they demonstrate inequality in the product by not having equal sized chunks in the bar. How cool is that, simple messages, visually represented and living their values through the products they produce and sell.
So while I am enjoying this chocolate and all it stands for I think its time to look a little deeper into shopping with purpose and looking beyond the reactive statements for authentic intentions.
Its surreal at the moment…planning and waiting for the corona virus to rage its worst through our communities. Never in my lifetime have I experienced such an overwhelming sense of unease at what is to come. Trying to keep going with the day job gets harder and harder, how can I keep talking about diversity and inclusion when others are talking about how to keep a hospital running in a major incident scenario.
And then I find myself in meetings and discussions where inclusion is at the heart of everything we need to do to get through this wretched pandemic. Including everyone as much as we can in discussions and plans. Including our patients in testing out a new way of running appointments. Recognising the needs of different staff groups and what drives their fears and anxieties. Recognising a one size solution does not fit all. Understanding what matters to people, what being valued really means.
Its a positive reminder of the cultural journey our team has been on for the last five years.
Looking at my blog page today its a shock my last post was in Match. My blog posts since then have been journal entries, after spending all day moving into virtual platforms for meetings and calls my fried brain couldn’t cope with more technology at the end of each day.
Time to reconnect.
At the start of 2020 I was focused on meeting deadlines, report writing, refreshed action plans and Brexit and an organisational merger was front of mind for all of us. all seems a walk in the park compared to our covid world that erupted into our lives in March.
I’ve always described working in diversity and inclusion as a rollercoaster ride, highs and lows of positive actions, hard to hear lived experiences and the frustration at the time it can take to bring real improvements to those who feel the least heard or most under valued. Well I think we can all agree that 2020 has been the most terrifying roller coaster of all time, catching us out with its speed, its ruthless disregard for life and the twists and turns of daily briefings, lockdowns, tiers and circuit breaks.
Not sure I recognise the person I was at the beginning of the year…did I know how adaptable I needed to be, how every day would be different and no knowing what walking into the workplace would bring. Did I expect a hospital I know every corner of would become a quiet echoey building with closed areas behind which people were fighting for their lives and clinical staff battling an invisible enemy and fearing for their own lives, with ethnicity adding to the risk. Did I know the realism of the levels of racism in our society before events thousands of miles away shook the world awake and spawned a social movement to challenge every one of our beliefs and values that we thought made us the generation of fairness and equity. Did I truly understand the lived experience of valued colleagues and their daily experience of micro aggressions and slights.
Fair to say the answers are…no. Our world has changed, our lives have changed, I have changed. I see unfairness all around me I didn’t see before. I question more, challenge more, be more curious. I am stronger in defending the right thing to do to those who are misinformed or who are just downright prejudiced. I can hold difficult conversations and work through grievances and perceived hurts with a deeper level of compassion and understanding. I have learnt more in the last 9 months about my organisation than any other time and yes structural racism exists and is present. I’ve heard conversations from reverse mentoring that have raised the question of privilege…and it has hurt.
So it is time to reconnect with my reflective self, to use everything learnt to be the very best ally I can be, to advocate for those who are not being heard, to listen, hear, to act. To take nothing for granted and seek views of others as experts. All the things I was doing pre-covid…this time with greater understanding and emotional intelligence. 2020 will not be fondly remembered….but it should be recalled as the year the world woke up and said enough.
After a stressful few weeks a fun evening out was much needed. We headed to the cinema. Jojo Rabbit looked an interesting watch. Not entirely convinced a film about hitler youth during WW2 was going to be the most restful film to see whilst your brain was busy and cluttered from sorting out major events in your life. But boy was it a refreshing tonic. The nonsense of hate fuelled by misinformation, old hurts, myths and stories handed down that have been misheard through generations is played out in this film with humour and heartwarming acting from two young performers. Everyone in the cinema was laughing and then you could hear the uneasy pause when we checked ourselves….”should we be laughing”?
What was our unease? We felt uncomfortable…..The absurdity of any form of hatred, its ability to cause devastation and irreparable damage to people, cultures, race. And maybe we could see how easily this all could happen again, with recent events and irresponsible media whipping up reactions and strong feelings with fake news.
It’s time to think about what We can all do to be good citizens, good neighbours, good friends. It’s not enough to say I understand. its time to say I walk beside you, I’m here to listen, I will not be a bystander. I may have privilege, that doesn’t mean I cant learn and educate others and work with you for change to happen.
So I’m going to stop apologising for laughing at JoJo Rabbit. In fact I may watch it again. Sometimes humour is a great way of allowing us to check in with our beliefs and behaviours. And..thankfully….the cluttered brain was cleared!
I enjoy attending our induction sessions, a great opportunity to meet new healthcare staff and the conversations are always different. Talking about diversity and inclusion is second nature to me now and I feel comfortable sharing my own vulnerability to bring examples to life.
Today was a reminder that this subject is all about feelings. Language and terminology can trigger strong emotions and buried memories that suddenly come to mind. A single word was hard for one attendee to hear and they briefly shared their feelings about this, the pain and hurt they had suffered as a result of this act. The support and compassion from their colleagues was wonderful to see, many of them probably wondering how that could happen in this modern world of awareness and education.
We talked briefly about bias and paper cuts, those small acts of judgement against you that at the time you may have shrugged off and now on reflection seem unfair. Being able to share this in a group setting takes guts, sometimes your emotions break cover for you and you have no choice. Either way the more we talk about the reality, lived experiences, the impact of discriminatory behaviours I hope will gives us all the courage to challenge and channel the negativity into learning and constructive feedback.
A timely reminder for me today to give time and space in diversity and inclusion sessions, don’t rush through anything. Acknowledge when we hit an emotional touchpoint and give space to everyone to process their own thoughts and feelings. This is tough stuff.
I love this photo. on a wild wintry evening I am missing the warmth of this place and the weird and wonderful sculptures on the Bondi beach trail. art has no boundaries, free expression. everyone has a talent. I loved this installation, that all the doors are open, they are not barriers, you can see through and beyond, travel through many openings. in a perfect world this could be an expression of life for everyone…no closed doors, no barriers, no constraints. we can believe we all have the same chances, the same luck, the same pathways to do what we want to do in our lives. we don’t….sometimes our own barriers prevent us from taking chances, the opportunities, taking a risk and getting lucky. recurring barriers can wear you down so you no longer try, whats the point if the outcome is always the same. those of us that believe all doors are open for everyone we have a duty…..to listen. really listen.
. the doors may be open but if you are too scared, too anxious, too worn down by systems that don’t work for you getting over that threshold may be a step too far…..feeling excluded in a world that shouts inclusion for everyone…but you
what an amazing couple of days I’ve had in London. I attended the first two days of a course which will enable me …finally….to gain a recognised qualification in diversity and inclusion, a personal goal for me.
I’ve loved my journey through the NHS, learning as I go, self development on health centric courses and skill workshops. Its one of the few perks of the job, continuous development opportunities, for which I am truly grateful. And yet its created a CV of experience and knowledge very specific to the health sector and its hard to break out from that mindset, its a comfortable place to be.
Working this week with colleagues from other sectors, public and private, has been inspiring. There are many differences in how our organisations are structured and funded and yet its the diversity that unites us….. we all have the the ups and downs of d&i work, being referred to as the diversity police, the fixer, the one who can answer all the questions and queries and be the go to problem solver so reputations are intact. Chief plate spinners, innovators, difficult conversations.
The learning in this role never stops, always so much to share and bring back. Its been so refreshing to work beyond the NHS this week and be able to reflect on how far my personal journey has been the last 2 years. Its been a bumpy ride and I doubt it will get easier, its the self belief thats changing. Time to break out of the comfort zone.
Since talking to Paul B about privilege and what that means for my diversity and inclusion work its something I have been focusing on. What is privilege….such a broad term. When I use this word its in a positive frame, feeling honoured to be part of something, to be able to support others and listen, as I am trusted to manage my time and workload. To be humbled by conversations with work colleagues I know by sight, trusting me with their deeply personal stories as I hand them a rainbow badge representing inclusion.
recognising out of work what this means too….
To have time to be patient in a queue when an elderly gentleman at the front is struggling with coins to pay for his shopping , desperate to maintain his independence and not ask for help.
Being able to attend a yoga session beside a river, enjoying the peace and tranquility and warm summer breeze.
Being grateful for where I live and yet missing a garden of my own. the reverse privilege…no gardening responsibility!
I’m currently reading a lovely book received as a birthday present – wabi sabi – Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life. lots of reflection for me on how we experience the world by truly being in it. if we judge from the sidelines how can we be compassionate and sensitive to others and their lived experiences.
what I am learning about privilege is it means many different things to all of us, at different times of our lives. we shouldn’t apologise for what our privileges are, equally never assume everyone has the same opportunities. share our knowledge, be compassionate and above all be our authentic selves. be prepared to see the world through the eyes of others and take a glimpse into walking in their shoes.
An intentional Inclusionista’s thoughts, views, musings and rants 