It's a new decade.
I'd like to invite you – to challenge you – to try something new.
Something that your company won't offer in any of its PD opportunities.
Something that your friends or family or neighbors won't ask you to do.
Something you probably haven't thought about yourself.
I'd like you intentionally expand your cultural competence.
I don't want you to tell anyone you're doing it. I just want you to do it.
I want you to put yourself in new situations. I want you to familiarize yourself with people and ideas and cultures that you are unfamiliar with.
You can do it however you want. Here are some suggestions to help you get started:
Read ten books by and about people who are racially or ethnically different from you
Subscribe to five podcasts hosted by people who have a different gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation than you
Attend five events where your are decidedly not the target audience
Befriend five people at work, school, the gym or other social settings who come from a different background than you (i.e., political, religious, nationality, generation, etc.)
Do this with intentionality and curiosity and equanimity and empathy.
Do it and see what happens. I bet you'll like what you see.
And so will others.