Editor’s Note: Welcome to SM Novel Ideas! It’s the book club for ideas to connect and inspire meeting professionals and others in the industry. New topics will be presented each time, and we encourage your feedback. Let us know what you would like to read about in the future!
Being a leader is a multifaceted position. It isn’t only about leading the way in a business sense, but also about being a leader in how we interact with team members and others in our work roles every day. It’s about creating strategies to effectively promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and being not only a leader in business, but a role model for inclusiveness.
This month, we’ve gathered literature on how leaders in the workplace—meeting professionals and others—can recognize and appreciate differences as an advantage.
The Advantage of Other: A Leader’s Guide to Building an Equitable, Dynamic and Productive Workplace
–by Nancy Geenen
This book meets people where they’re at—we all want DEI to be an important part of workplace operations, yet some do not have the education or training to implement DEI policies effectively. This book acknowledges that the subject might feel overwhelming, unattainable or difficult to understand. In a very approachable fashion, Geenen gives tools and guidelines for people to succeed in DEI goals and shift company culture to maintain them.
Read More: United by Passion: Female Hospitality Leaders Lift Everyone Up
Geenen outlines her book with what she has deemed the “five pillars of organization.” The word “pillar” ignites the book’s alliteration, with the pillars being people, presence, pipeline, partners and profits. Geenen offers guidance for how to ensure that DEI is carried through each of the aforementioned areas in a way that is easy to understand and practical to implement. Not only can the book be a guide for meeting professionals to be more DEI-conscious in their professional endeavors, but the lessons taught can easily be taken home to enrich personal lives.
Words from the Author
“The hardest conundrum that an executive faces…is now you’re gonna say, ‘We’re going to fix our diversity statistics’ by bringing in a person of color, an immigrant, a veteran, or a member of the LGBTQ+ [community] to lead.… You want to do more with diversity, but you also need to look within your organization.
“You have to ask questions like, what’s important to us? Do we have an engaged workforce? Do we have teams that are high-performing? Then, build out a plan that hopefully makes sense and advances the company’s mission, profitability, and productivity on top of the well-being of every person in the company.”
The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within
–by Minette Norman
Norman is not about quick fixes or easy answers. Her award-winning book focuses on each employee’s need to feel included, corporate teamwork that celebrates diversity and unique ideas and, most importantly, leaders taking responsibility for setting the example in creating a culture of true DEI.
DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing it Right
–by Lily Zheng
Zheng critiques the underdeveloped strategies corporate entities often use to promote DEI, claiming that while the intention may be altruistic, the implementation may cause more harm than good.
Read More: The Diversity Among Us
Written from the perspective of the marginalized people that DEI strategies are meant to empower, Zheng explains the frustration that can fester if a leader’s attempts at improving DEI are insincere or demonstrate a misunderstanding of the issue. Zheng argues that true systematic change takes much more than cookie-cutter DEI strategies.
This article appears in the July/August 2024 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
