Learning inclusion from my teenagers
Simple as it sounds, my teenage’ kids have helped me in the last months to go the extra miles necessary to be more aware and with more sensitivity towards inclusion.
Quite often we have conversations at home around the topics of gender diversity, the richness of the cultural differences they are confronted with, and all the social movements around the world revolting for a more equal, fair, and inclusive society.
Together we go deep in this learning journey, but I have to admit that on several occasions they are far ahead of me and this is more visible when they have corrected me on some occasions when my language and reflections have not been completely inclusive.
They follow some progressive and very activists’ profiles in social media that contribute to their growth, openness, and understanding of topics such as racial injustice, disparities, gender diversity, inclusion, and many of the critical social unrest happening around the globe. By the way, I’m following some of those profiles thanks to my kids and yes, I’m learning a lot.
What is more interesting is that inclusion and acceptance of the differences are something they experience every day, isn’t mere rhetoric or social posture. And this is due mostly to be confronted in their daily life to diversity.
That’s one of the reasons why we decided to move one year ago, in the middle of the pandemic, to live in The Netherlands as here the kids would be surrounded by a more diverse, equalitarian, and progressive society.
And this is something we witness first-hand a few nights ago when we went to the final activity of the summer improvisation workshop that they were enrolled in.
They were in a truly diverse and inclusive group where expressions of gender fluidity, non-binary, trans, people with this-ability, different origins, cultures, religions, and social spectrum were present.
It was, from my perspective, astonishing in a positive way to see how naturally the kids were able to be part of such a true expression of the richness that diversity brings to our lives. The creativity flew by tons, the laughs and camaraderie among this diverse group were a refreshing moment for my journey.
My reflections went farther than my family context because I started to imagine how much different, creative and productive the organizations, enterprises, and businesses, in general, would be if they will embrace the diverse-social-realities of the XXI century.
If we all will make inclusion a core value of our companies & organizations and decided to heavily bet and invest in bringing diversity in our teams at all levels, we would start a real transformation not only inside our business environment but a much wider one.
And this is something I’m going to keep putting as a priority on my agenda, personal and professional.
I’m going to keep (and strengthen when possible) the challenging tone and attitude with the people I accompany in their transformation journeys because I believe it is possible to contribute to creating a better world by breaking paradigms, going out of the comfort zone and beyond the “traditional” business environment.
I want to keep helping building teams full of creativity with similar dynamics as I witnessed among the improvisation group of my kids: inclusive, rich, free, natural, full of emotions, and very, very diverse.
I wish to have companions along this road of inclusion and diversity, people willing to build, to co-create better futures. Let me know if you are interested or know somebody who may be interested in walking this path.
inclusion and acceptance of the differences are something they experience every day, isn’t mere rhetoric or social posture.
