Think of what we lose when we don't intentionally create inclusive cultures of belonging.
The loss of creativity and innovation and productivity and collaboration and. . .
When people use extra energy to cover part or all of who they are because they don't feel safe bringing their full selves to work.
When managers don't show that they care and that they understand we have interests and needs and lives outside of the office.
When the gay man doesn't come out because he's heard too many homophobic slurs in the break room.
When the single woman downplays her motherhood because she doesn't want people to think she's not dedicated when she leaves early to take her son to soccer practice.
When the Black man doesn't speak up in meetings because there are no other people of color on the team and his White colleagues talk over him.
When the person with invisible disabilities acts as if everything's normal because it's just too hard to explain.
We all have different lived experiences that we bring to work.
If we don't feel our lived experiences are validated and valued, we suppress them.
When we suppress who we are, our mental energy is taken away from our work.
When our mental energy is taken away from our work, our work suffers.
And that hurts us all.