The research is clear: investing in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging contributes to your bottom line. I hate to be so crass about a topic that should just be something we care about as humans connecting with other humans, but with all the recent backlash about diversity and equity initiatives, we have to get executive attention somehow.

Today, you will hear about what’s driving that backlash and how we can fight against it through empathy and understanding. And why quite frankly, exclusion is bad for business.

My guest is the charming Michael Bach. Michael shares how he got into this work, the stereotype of DEI practitioners, how to think about disability, the more dangerous role of apathy in fighting back against exclusion, the difference between diversity and inclusion, and he gives us a short primer on the Alphabet Soup of LGBTQ2+ initialism.

To access the episode transcript, please click on the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com 

Key Takeaways:

• If you’re trying to create any change, you need to understand how the organization operates from the inside.
• Disability is not one thing - there are hundreds of disabilities under the umbrella term. It needs to be considered as a range, not just one form of accessibility.
• It is not a competition. If we’re creating safer environments for everyone, regardless of how they identify or what they need, it creates a safer more inclusive environment for everyone.
• There is a big difference between having diversity and being inclusive. The company is the soil that needs to be right for the seed of talent to thrive. 

"It's very difficult to quantify, but if you just look at it simply you can figure out that exclusion is just bad for business. And the reality is that most employers have figured that out." —  Michael Bach

About Michael Bach, CEO. IDEA Hub Consulting, IDEA thought leader

Michael Bach is an author, speaker and thought leader in inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA). He has worked globally in the IDEA field, including as the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International. He is the founder of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), CCDI Consulting and Pride at Work Canada.

He is the author of the best-selling and award-winning books Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right and Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+ Inclusion at Work.

In 2023, he was named as one of the 10 Most Influential DE&I Leaders Revamping The Future by CIO Views Magazine.

Connect with Michael:

IDEA Hub Consulting: michaelbach.com

Books:

Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right

Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+ Inclusion at Work

New book: All About Yvie: Into the Oddity

X: twitter.com/themichaelbach

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/themichaelbach

Facebook: facebook.com/themichaelbach

Instagram: instagram.com/themichaelbach

Threads: threads.net/@themichaelbach

Join the community and discover what empathy can do for you: red-slice.com

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Connect with Maria:

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

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LinkedIn: Maria Ross

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