Today, Alex is covering a widespread problem in the construction industry and arming you with the tools to combat it. The problem? A lack of belonging environments and of knowledge surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion, or EDI for short. In our final segment, The Frame Out, it's time to learn how you can practice your skills every day to combat bias and exclusion.
We’re sure you’ve heard the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” But when you really think about it, do you know exactly what each of them means, especially as it relates to working in the construction industry?
In this week’s episode, Alex is going to outline the building blocks of DEI and he’ll unpack how critical it truly is to our everyday lives. Drawing from his own experiences and in-person trainings, Alex will cover how big the problem of racism actually is, and what you can do to have a positive impact on every member of your team.
You might not agree with everything you hear from the episode, and that’s okay. Just remember, at the end of the day, as Alex says, what’s most important is trust and respect.
What to look out for in today’s episode:
In our final segment, The Frame Out, you’ll find out what four tools you can practice with to combat unconscious bias and exclusion. Alex wants you to think about these tools as if they were weights you’d lift at the gym. In order to get better in your daily life, you have to workout with them daily. Time to get up for the challenge!
Helpful Links:
Construction Dive Special Report
[00:00:00] Alex: Hey, welcome back, my friends to episode three of No Bullshit with Alex Willis. Uh, when we are talking about framing it out, how do you do all the things we've talked about, uh, in this episode, such as creating a belonging environment, challenging your bias? As well as being able to bring people together to get the best out of the [00:00:30] team, right?
[00:00:30] Alex: By broadening that definition of diversity. So four tools that I want you to think about that you have to actively practice, similar to athletics. If you don't practice, you're not going to be good. That's the bottom line, my friends, right? Uh, you gotta practice to keep going. And so those foreign tools, tool number one.
[00:00:48] Alex: What's tool number one? It's, it's simple but not easy. Tool number one is this. Ask questions. Uh, don't make assumptions, ask questions. The more we begin to become culturally [00:01:00] curious and use this tool of asking questions, we really begin to have great dialogue with people and we can begin to understand them better because we're not assuming making assumptions, we're asking those questions, right.
[00:01:14] Alex: So that's tool number one. Tool number two, what do I want you to do? Well, tool number two is you must be willing to challenge assumptions, right? So first thing I'm going to do, I'm gonna ask more questions. The next thing is, instead of just jump into assumptions, I'm gonna challenge all of my assumptions.
[00:01:28] Alex: Now, hear me out on this. This [00:01:30] is difficult because all of us have what we like to call confirmation bias. Yeesh, what's that? Well, confirmation bias is when you get an idea in your mind. Your mind is looking for ways to prove itself, right? So you're going to look for everything possible to prove that thought in your head of what you thought about that person.
[00:01:53] Alex: So I wanna challenge you, how do you get over that? Well, challenge that assumptions. Look for ways to prove yourself wrong, right? And say, [00:02:00] Hey, listen, well, maybe they didn't mean anything by that. Well, let me ask more questions. Use the first tools, why I, those assumptions that I have about the person, about the individual.
[00:02:10] Alex: And by doing this, you can begin to create space. To then fill in that space with real information by asking the questions. But if you never challenge your assumptions, you'll never get to asking questions because you'll go on your own information. Oftentimes making an ask of yourself versus pausing, creating [00:02:30] space to then fill in that gap with the questions and the responses from the person themselves.
[00:02:35] Alex: Right? So what's, what's tool number three? Well, tool number three, my friends, is the value of seeing the other person. Seeing the other person. What do I mean by that? I, I, I challenge my leaders all the time to lose that comment that people say, Hey, I don't see skin color. Hey, I don't see gender. That's bullshit.
[00:02:57] Alex: You have to, right? Because by [00:03:00] not seeing it, you discredit that person's experience in the world. Let me give you an example. If you don't see gender, then you really don't understand the challenge that women have in the construction industry. Please understand. Oftentimes they're there by themselves.
[00:03:15] Alex: They're working with crews where there's one or two women to a thousand other guys there. And so when I don't see that I discredit that experience and I don't understand that, that made me challenging for them. By pausing and seeing the other [00:03:30] person, it allows me to offer a little more empathy and compassion.
[00:03:34] Alex: It allows me to step outta my shoes and step into their shoes to see what they're experiencing and what they're going through. To then be able to see how can I challenge my assumptions, ask more questions, and try to bring that together to help build a belonging environment for that individual, right?
[00:03:51] Alex: So what's tool number four? Tool number four that I want you to practice is know when and how to speak out. This is tough, [00:04:00] my friends. This is scary, actually, right? Knowing when and how to speak out. So first and foremost, I want you to understand that. You have to be safe, and I want you to be in a safe environment, first and foremost.
[00:04:11] Alex: But oftentimes as leaders, it's important for us to speak up when we see things going wrong. If you tuned in to the takeoff of this episode, then, you know, we talked about Construction Dive magazine, where we gave crazy, crazy stats about, uh, the construction industry where 65% of people said that [00:04:30] they've witnessed a racist incident on site and they've seen racial graffiti, all these crazy numbers and stats.
[00:04:35] Alex: And the shocking thing is no one was willing to say anything. Oftentimes we sit back and we assume someone else is going to do it, and I wanna challenge you to speak up. So how do you do that? Well, You don't have to be rude and aggressive. Oftentimes it's pulling the person aside by themselves one-on-one, not even embarrassing them in front of others.
[00:04:55] Alex: And it's really what I like to call you as the leader falling on the sword, my friends, and saying, Hey, listen. [00:05:00] I know you probably didn't even realize you did this or said this, and I know you being a great leader, you would never intend to do that or harm people. But when you said this, it was kind of interpreted this way, right?
[00:05:12] Alex: So understand you're pulling that person aside, not embarrassing them in front of the whole group, not calling them out. That way you're really having that one-on-one conversation. And here's what we find oftentimes that's enough to really bring about change in the workplace. It's when we don't say anything, my friends, That we allow those [00:05:30] behaviors to go on, right?
[00:05:31] Alex: If we're being open and honest, all of us, what do we want? Well, we wanna be able to work a great job and a great atmosphere and a great environment, and really provide for our families. Well, that's some commonality that we all have. So when we pull people back to that common ground, that commonality, we can really begin to do a great job of building belonging as a result of that, right?
[00:05:52] Alex: So, so, so how do you overcome this stuff called bias? It's practicing those four tools. Those four tools will help you overcome bias. [00:06:00] They'll help you be a better team leader, be a better teammate, as well as Build Better belong. So as a reminder, what are those tools again? Well, number one, ask questions.
[00:06:10] Alex: Number two, challenge your assumptions. Number three, see the other person. And last but not least, know when. And how to speak up. Thank you so much for being here. Practice those tools. Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice 'em, the better you'll be at them. The quicker you'll know how to pull 'em out, putting up that mental stop sign so that you [00:06:30] can build phenomenal environments of belonging.
[00:06:33] Alex: Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to No Bullshit with Alex. Well, it's the go-to source for leadership development in the construction industry. Uh, I wanna just, uh, encourage you to subscribe, uh, via YouTube or your favorite podcasting platform. Please, please, please leave comments and questions that you may have.
[00:06:51] Alex: We will love to hear your feedback about the show. And if you're having a leadership challenge, I wanna remind you, we are here for you. Please, please, please write that in [00:07:00] so that we can begin to do some research and talk about that subject so that you can go out and be the best leader possible.