Creating a purpose-driven, values-led organisation from day 1 was important for Nudge Forward’s founder, Sally Dhillon. Diversity is a core value of the new leadership coaching business. Putting our core values at the centre of everything we do provides:
- authenticity
- transparency
- a guiding moral compass
- commitment to service excellence.
Read more about another of our core values – our value of Compassion here
Diverse teams provide many advantages over non-diverse working groups – such as:
- better innovation
- ability to represent and reflect customers and wider society
- bring different perspectives and experiences
- greater unity.
We believe it’s important to acknowledge, accept and celebrate our differences and focus on what makes us unique.
Our unique superpower
Afterall, our uniqueness is our superpower – but only if we can be brave enough and courageous enough to share it with others.
Our dominant expectation of a leader continues to be a white, heterosexual, able-bodied, well-educated, Christian, middle-class man.
Anyone who has one or more of these as differences are likely to have had, and continue, to face real and perceived barriers to progression in their workplace and in their career.
As a female leader, Sally certainly has.
Slow change
Times are changing but at such a slow rate of change.
For example, in the case of women’s equality – at current rates of progression -it’s anticipated it will take another 135 years to achieve gender parity globally. That’s the year 2157!!
Enacting our value of diversity
The way we live out our value of diversity at Nudge is by:
- Respecting each individual for their unique background, presence and potential
- Regular education and learning about bias – helping to elevate our unconscious bias into our conscious awareness
- Regular coaching supervision
- Attracting clients and suppliers from diverse backgrounds
- Accepting and celebrating our own unique differences.
Celebrating our unique differences
As the founder of Nudge, here’s a flavour of some of Sally’s unique differences:
- She’s a female entrepreneur
- She’s currently experiencing the menopause
- She was born and raised in a northern, working-class mining village
- She was the first person in my family to get a university degree
- She’s a mixed-race, mixed-faith marriage
- She’s an adoptive parent
She’s experienced micro-aggressions relating to each of these. Each of these sets her apart from the ‘norm’ and has impacted her ability to achieve success as measured by what is considered to be normal. Having smashed through barriers, perceptions and expectations herself puts her in a strong position to support other people (regardless of difference) to find their own success.
Smashing through barriers
Breaking through barriers can be hard – but it is absolutely possible …
… and necessary to pave the way for others – our next generation.
As part of Sally’s own continued education on diversity matters, during the week of writing, she’s been fortunate to discuss experiences with some awesome diversity champions, including:
Egbe Manton – Lawyer – on the challenges she faced in becoming a lawyer as a British black woman and how she now mentors black graduates to pave the way for others to follow.
Sionice-Louise Phillips – Global VP, DEI Barclays – sharing how she turned her childhood pain of being born a boy, through her transgender experiences into her superpower – the power of individualness.
Mark Rawlinson – Non-Executive Board member, Ministry of Justice – sharing his experiences of allyship for women in a Magic Circle law firm.
Leadership Coaching Model
Key components of our Nudge leadership coaching model include support for building your self-awareness, celebrating your unique differences and developing strategies for engaging with others.
Seeking out your key influences and experiences that have shaped you to become YOU and how you communicate and influence other people – your team, your manager, your family members and so on ….so that you can create extraordinary outcomes.
CJ, one of our coaching clients, says:
“Through coaching, I’ve learned that I’m wired differently than many others, I learn and adapt to situations very quickly, so when some individuals can’t, I’ve learned it’s not always due to lack of drive or work ethic, its because their experiences just haven’t shaped them in the same way.”
This new-found awareness releases a lot of frustration and conflict. It introduces empathy and compassion for the people that CJ leads. This, in turn, has had a positive impact on what he achieves – achieving extraordinary outcomes – across his portfolio leadership career which includes being the founder & CEO of an award-winning social enterprise as well as leading numerous arts, education and mentorship projects.
So here’s a nudge for you …
1. How do you differ from the ‘normal’ expectation of a leader?
2. What characteristics make you unique?
3. What has held you back from achieving the success you deserve?
You’re welcome to hit reply with your responses.
If you’d like to explore how you can use your unique differences to enhance your leadership capability and smash through some more barriers, why not book an informal call – there’s time before we all wind down for the festive season … and enjoy a well-earned rest.
Take action today.
If you’re curious as to how we can help you to achieve extraordinary outcomes for you, your team and/or your organisation book a call
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