And then it all came Together

Holidays 2020. This one is for the records. I'll want to read this later. Ha. As I look back, there are tendrils of all the themes that smushed together in 2020. A pandemic, Black Lives Matter, a recession, ongoing recovery from my hip surgery, slow and long. And in my ongoing attempt to be a fully fledged adult -- financially take care of myself -- a furlough, re-employment and a misalignment of values that catapults me into another realm of positioning my self and what I offer at work. On some fundamental level, I made a decision, one I want to stay accountable to long term -- to Post Traumatic Growth (rather than Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) A key to that is Integrity. That requires developing a personal statement of values. Those values require that I let go promptly any relationships that corrode or mismanage my values. Yup, that can mean I have to let go of a job, core relationships etc, and that's just what I've chosen. Life is too short to spend my time in relationships or work that do anything other than -- inspire, motivate me, help me bring my best self and drive and inspire others to be and bring their best selves. When I fail or others consistently show failure to be positive forces in my life, it's clear time to let go and move on. Gallup celebrated at the top of the year the 35% of Americans are engaged. It was a new high. I want to be there too. I want to be a worker who cares about the company. I want work to be a place where we thoughtfully consider and agree -- this is how we treat each other. It's not an afterthought quick hashtagged, but a -- "we the people." Of course it's in service of what we do! All I'm insisting is that who we are is connected in a meaningful way to the purpose of the company. It's math really -- it's the people who make it happen. I spend most of my waking hours at work -- even if remote. In fact, when I work from home, that means the energy of work permeates the space where I live. It directly impacts my husband, the cats, our home. And that means our neighbors in the way I am with them, our neighborhood, my family when I talk with them. My work impacts who I am and my viability as a human concern on Planet Earth. I want to work in healthy workspaces. In my profession, my role/my function is responsible for influencing and shaping how the workplace impacts all my coworkers. That, is culture. A key part of culture is how we treat each other. Ideally, those values that undergird culture are the shared values of the people at work. That means that my integrity -- is a keystone to workplace culture. Deep huh? The personal values of the HR person catalyzes the values of companies all around the world. And company values impact a most significant part of the human experience. The weight of that hit me this year with BLM. HR was put center stage as we helped leaders respond to a reckoning. We're asking the question again about what we're doing in response to first choosing to have Blacks work for free picking cotton to help build America as a superpower in the world, and how we're really values-based going to address the challenges that decision back then has on how we form Black equity in current companies in 2020. American law and Corporate practice have made many strides. Rules are in place. The rest seems to center around how we will practically apply values. Will companies voluntarily choose to go beyond legal requirements to apply treating Blacks humanely in workplaces? The consideration goes beyond the Black/white issue -- continue in this thinking means all people are treated well, deeper employee engagement, better Profit and Loss statements, a stronger American economy, a better world. What does Goldman and Sachs know that most of us are ignoring? They believe companies are more profitable as a function of diversity. We also know that Diversity needs to be supplemented by Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Equity is pretty much math and makes sense -- equal pay for equal work, etc. Give applicants a fair shot. Inclusion gets interesting as you consider the cultural differences. And if you look at Black culture, you open the doors to looking at Asian, Native American and other cultures. You see value in looking at how transgender folks might see an application form. Facilities teams consider signage for bathrooms in offices. Companies start to think about reproductive justice. We start to be more human and consider our impact on the communities from which we gather our greatest asset -- the most expensive item on Profit and Loss sheets -- human capital. We think of them less as slaves, and more as First Amendment recipients of the right to freedom, autonomy, justice and humane care. I was talking to an expert in the very young function of Diversity Initiatives in organizations and he said the most fascinating thing. The blocker for the progress is fear -- a deep fear that approaching this challenge fully brings up allyship in a way that is categorically uncomfortable for beings whose success thus far has been connected to the American ideal of competition and "market forces" vs a more collective, holistic and mutual win-win collaboration to raise all boats. Corporate Social Responsibility is still young, but younger workers as they ascend are more and more interested. B Corporations are starting to be a force in the world. It's quite possible that to be on "the right side of history," this needs to be as much a focus as winning the next client, minimizing expenses, responding to recession, natural disaster planning, recruiting the very best to win at company goals. To unfocus on DEI and Belonging in companies might soon signal unviability for those companies. I'm thrilled that my lifelong focus on values will soon become treasure, because it's also afforded me ongoing clear conscience, reduced the damage I've caused those I love in the world, my footprint on the Earth and brought me peace, love and joy. Especially, it's afforde me the invaluable ability to look myself in the mirror and say -- I love you.