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 The Level, you'll hear all about what a belonging environment is, and how you can help create one.
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 second segment, The Level, Alex is going to outline how you can create a belonging environment for yourself, and all the individuals you work with. No one wants to be left out, and it’s often easy for underrepresented groups to feel excluded unless organizations make an active effort to bring them into the fold.
Tune into our next segment, The Foundation, to figure out how to talk about race. And while you might think there are lots of different races of humans out there, you’ll hear the truth from Alex about how alike we all really are. Another key topic that will be covered is unconscious bias, keep an ear out for that one.
Helpful Links:
Construction Dive Special Report
[00:00:00] Alex: Welcome back, my friends to episode three, no Bullshit with Alex Willis, the go-to source for leadership development in the construction industry. We just finished the takeoff when we really jumped into this concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and define diversity really, really well. We're about to expand that concept more to talk about why if you only stop at diversity, [00:00:30] it's bullshit, right?
[00:00:31] Alex: So let's jump into it. Welcome to the level. So, so most companies, my friends, they really begin to say, Hey, we want to be diverse. And they just go after this huge diversity deal. And if I gave you a word, picture, diversity is inviting different people to the party, right? So we're saying, Hey, We are having a banging party.
[00:00:51] Alex: We want different people. We want people to come. We gonna have a good time. Bring everybody. Right now, most companies stop there and if you stop [00:01:00] there, you never get the real benefit of a diverse team. And I love to call bullshit on that. That's like bringing a bunch of different people, different shades of people, different ethnicities, different sexualities, different genders.
[00:01:12] Alex: You rearrange them in all different places and line them up to take a picture on the website and we smile and we say, aren't we diverse? Right? So think about it. That's bullshit. You wanna go to the next level of this? And we're talking about that in this segment of the level. And the next level is inclusion.
[00:01:29] Alex: It's [00:01:30] one thing to have difference. But if we're not including people to bring their experience, to bring their knowledge, to bring their age and wisdom, to bring their upbringing, their philosophies, and their perspectives to add to a shared pool of knowledge for our teams, we're cheapening the whole initiative, right?
[00:01:48] Alex: So, so think about that. What is this thing called inclusion? Well, inclusion is the achievement of a work environment in which all people are treated fairly and equally. Have equal [00:02:00] access to opportunities and can contribute fully to the organization's success. So think about that. We're not just bringing people in, we're bringing them in and we're going to put them in the right positions so that they can really be valuable to the organization and use their gifts and talents to help us out here.
[00:02:17] Alex: Right? If I go back to my word picture here, my friends, it is now us saying, well, we have amazing people at the party. And now it's time to actually ask them to dance. Hey, would you come out here and dance? Let's get out here on [00:02:30] dance floor and dance, right? So inclusion, inclusive leadership. And so that's a, that's level two.
[00:02:36] Alex: But ultimately where you really want to go as a leader, my friends, is you wanna bring different people in. You want to include 'em. But the landing spot is really looking at this thing called belonging. And most organizations never get to this place of belonging. What is belonging? Well belonging is the sense of acceptance and inclusion when a person feels supported and [00:03:00] they feel like they are a part of the team.
[00:03:02] Alex: Think about this for a second. Have you ever been somewhere where you felt excluded? As you're thinking, what did you do? How did you respond in that environment? For most people, they withdrawn. They leave, they give half ass effort. They do just enough to get by. They try to hide to get, go under the radar, right?
[00:03:24] Alex: So if you think about that as a leader in the construction industry, why the hell would you want your people to do that? [00:03:30] You're already pressed for time. High profile jobs. Trying to get the most outta people is very important. The more you can create a belonging environment, the more you can bring people together.
[00:03:42] Alex: But most of the leaders that I work with, they never consider that as part of their job. Right. Of course you have to do the day-to-day work, but the bigger picture of your job is to really begin to create a belonging environment in which players or workers on your team feel like they're a part of the organization, [00:04:00] feel like they're a part of your team, and they're willing to run through brick walls for you, my friend.
[00:04:04] Alex: I want you to think of yourself as head coaches. What's the job of a head coach? Al Davis said it best in the eighties. Win baby win, right? That's the job of a damn head coach to win. So as a leader, if you view yourself as a head coach, your job, my friend, is to win and to be willing to do whatever it takes to bring the best out of your team, the best out of all of these individuals who have these [00:04:30] skills and these talents to pull that together to win baby win, right?
[00:04:35] Alex: So I want you to think about that. To do that best is create a belonging environment where a person can truly bring their best self to work. What do I mean by that? Well, this means that they don't have to hold back. They don't have to shy around. They don't have to try to fit in. You accept them for who they are.
[00:04:53] Alex: You understand that they have weaknesses and talents and strengths and all these other things, and you do your [00:05:00] best to create an environment where they can bring all of that out. So going back to my word picture, if diversity's inviting different people to the party, if inclusion is actually asking that person to dance, Then belonging is when that person gets on the dance floor, oh man, they are dancing like it's nobody's business because they feel comfortable.
[00:05:21] Alex: Even if they can't dance, damn it, they're out there with two left feet doing their thing because they are in an environment that's safe. They feel [00:05:30] trusted, they feel the support of the leadership team, and as a result of that, they give their best effort. So as we talk about belonging, How do you do it?
[00:05:39] Alex: What are some foundational principles that you have to do in order to create belonging environments? And so there are a few foundational principles that you have to do. I like to call these the five rules of belonging that you need to do that we struggle with in construction, if we're being honest.
[00:05:54] Alex: Rule number one, what's the rule number one? Well, there are senior leaders who have, who act as role models. [00:06:00] So senior leaders within your organizations, they actually do it. They're finding ways to reach out to other people. They're finding ways to bring, allow people to bring their best self to work because they understand the power and value of Belong.
[00:06:13] Alex: Right? Number two, uh, employees have a lot in common with senior leaders. Oh, this is tough in our industry because oftentimes my friends, People work their way up through the ranks in construction. They go from apprentice to journey, wireman to foreperson to [00:06:30] project manager, to vice president, to leading the company.
[00:06:33] Alex: And they want people to know it. I'm not where you are. My friend Nick, create this huge separation gap. When you do that, instead of bringing belonging, you bring a great divide. So the better you are at bringing commonality between senior level leaders, mid-level leaders, frontline leaders, apprentices. If I can feel like I have something in common, we can begin to feel that belonging atmosphere, right?
[00:06:57] Alex: And please hear me out on this. I'm not [00:07:00] saying from a lifestyle standpoint, financial standpoint, you have to have commonality there. But there are other things with us being human, simply, family, kids, you can find something to bring that commonality together, right? So three step three. What's the number three to bring this belong, make this belonging environment.
[00:07:18] Alex: It is, there has to be accountability for violations of company policy, regardless of seniority or performance. And this is where we struggle because in construction, [00:07:30] if we're being honest, if you have a front line leader who makes you a shit load of money and who's very productive on your team, oftentimes we overlook bad behavior.
[00:07:39] Alex: We say, well, Fred, I know he can be an asshole and he's harassing people, but damnit Fred makes us a shitload of money. Hopefully nobody is listening today named Fred, and if so, I apologize Fred, for just pinning this on you. But, but think about that. How do we hold people accountable regardless of their performance?
[00:07:56] Alex: And this is a tough one, not only in construction, but it's a tough in sports as well. Because if [00:08:00] you have an athlete who can perform really well, they get chance after chance for violation after violation. And this is where you create exclusion. Versus belonging, right? The last two things, there needs to be a clear cut method of reporting violations if it happens.
[00:08:16] Alex: How do you do that? How do you report? Where do I report that's safe for employees to do this? Then last but not least, companies need to set aside budget money for celebratory events for people to hang out together. This is where we get the chance to hang [00:08:30] out, understand each other outside of the stress and pressure of work, where we're doing team building activities, eating lunch together.
[00:08:36] Alex: The company purposefully bring people together so that they can really begin to understand the differences in culture, the differences in dynamics, the difference in gender, the difference in sexuality, and in a natural way really began to bond. And do what I like to call become culturally curious, right?
[00:08:52] Alex: And as we do that, we create friendships, we create better teams, as well as belonging environments. And that's how you get teams [00:09:00] interacting together really, really well, so that they can create a, an atmosphere of strength versus the challenges that we have. Right? When you can begin to do this, my friends, you really begin to see the power of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
[00:09:13] Alex: So I need you to understand this. The bottom line is, Not just bringing different people together. Not just involving them in your organization, but really focusing in on creating an environment that's safe, where people can be their best self, [00:09:30] bring their best self to work regardless of their beliefs, regardless of their sexuality, regardless of what they look like, regardless of where they're from.
[00:09:38] Alex: Ultimately understand that they belong here, and when you can begin to do that, you will have people running through brick walls for you as you begin to leave. It actually, my friends, makes your job so much easier. But, but why is that a challenge? Here's why. Because oftentimes we come into life with our own perspectives, our own beliefs, our own values, and it's very hard for us to see the other [00:10:00] person, right?
[00:10:01] Alex: So, so we live and look through our filter only, and as a result of looking and living through our filter, it's very, very difficult for us to even consider the possibility. There's another point of view, another way of doing work, another way of living, another, the way of believing. And we say, yep, if it's not my way, that's wrong.
[00:10:19] Alex: And ego gets in the way of us, a lot of times, leaders, and it hurts us and we don't get ultimately what we want. So I wanna challenge you. It's important that you say, ego [00:10:30] aside, clean your eyes and change your thing. Thinking to have a different perspective and just consider the possibility of other perspectives and how that benefits you as a leader of being inclusive and bringing people together.
[00:10:42] Alex: Right? So my friends, you have consultants who come in and they talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, but they never really tell you how to create a belonging environment, right? They tell you, Hey, Check the boxes. Make sure you bring different people in and also create belonging. And you're like, how [00:11:00] they make this shit look like it's mystical and magical and you don't know how to do it right?
[00:11:04] Alex: So don't worry. In the next segment, my friends, we're gonna actually show you how to do it. So we're gonna really talk about the foundation of belonging. What you need to understand, what you need to know, how to understand this thing called race and what you need to know about that, right? And I'm not talking about a sprint.
[00:11:20] Alex: Also, this thing called unconscious bias. And how oftentimes this guides us in a wrong way, and if we can't control it, it really damages belonging [00:11:30] environments and creates great exclusion. When we're really trying to create belonging. So I look forward to checking you in the next segment, the foundation where we really laid out the foundation of how to create a belonging environment.
[00:11:42] Alex: Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to No Bullshit with Alex Willis, the go-to source for leadership development in the construction industry. I wanna just. Encourage you to subscribe via YouTube or your favorite podcasting platform. Please, please, please leave comments and questions that you may have.
[00:11:59] Alex: We would [00:12:00] 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 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.