A DEI Playbook for Leaders: What I’ve Learned Leading Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at My Company

Note: A short version of this essay was originally published on December 29, 2020 by The Portland Business Journal.

Amid today’s rapidly shifting societal landscape, leaders are scrambling to navigate the waters of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). I started doing the work to build a more equitable and diverse company five years ago, when 13 of my 18 staff members were male and only one was BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color). In a rare epiphany, I realized workplace homogeneity was a problem and I committed to addressing it. This was us in 2015:

Marmoset staff, November 2015.

My business is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, where about 73% of the population identifies as white. Statistics in Portland’s business community are more staggering, where higher paying and more sought after roles lack diversity. A cliche excuse I often hear expressed by local business leaders is applicant pools are mostly white. My answer: Yes, status quos (and systemic power structures) are hard to break.  

After five years, Marmoset is now 61% non-male and 34% BIPOC, with even greater diversity in leadership and highest paid positions. While systemic white power structures run deep in Portland, my story is proof that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce is possible. 

I’ve learned some lessons along the way. And I hope by sharing them here, framed within my own journey, it might help other leaders find their way. 

Lesson #1: Know why you’re doing the work. 

Why do you want to do DEI work? What does it mean to you and what are you looking to achieve? While it can evolve over time, first and foremost always know why you’re doing the work.  

My why is I love my community and I’m committed to making it better. I’m here to change the way the Portland business community shows up, change the way it looks and feels, and how it’s experienced by all. 

My why is to dismantle systemic racism and destroy a 2000+ year patriarchy that’s holding back our community, our industry, and so much more. I’m committed to leveling the playing field and creating more equitable opportunities at my company and in my industry. 

Lesson #2: There are no shortcuts. DEI work takes time.

There have been moments I wanted to do all the work as quickly as possible. It’s uncomfortable having so many eyes on me, wondering why the leadership team is so white and what’s taking so long. Thankfully, I’ve learned from more experienced folks to take the long road to get it right. Doing the work takes a long-term vision, discipline, and more time than you’d think. 

Lesson #3: Assemble a trusted team of advisors.

Five years ago I sought out two people to help me start learning and developing my long-term vision on DEI. One is a business leader who started his equity work a few years prior. Thank you, Ryan Buchanan. The other is a leading DEI expert whose candor, brutal honesty, and unparalleled professional experience has given me more understanding than I’ve found anywhere else. Thank you, Serilda Summers-McGee. I’ve added more peer mentors and experts along the way. 

Having a qualified, trusted team to advise and walk alongside you is especially helpful when the work gets hard and uncomfortable. Peer mentors are there to guide you, pick you up, and help you remember why you’re doing the work in the first place. And it’s critically important to differentiate between who’s actually doing the work with you vs. who’s throwing criticism down on you from the cheap seats. The “Man in the Arena” speech can be helpful in these moments.  

Lesson #4: Develop a long-term roadmap and define success. 

There’s no finish line with DEI work. There’s no consultant or workshop that checks all the boxes. It’s a never-ending commitment to learning, transformation, and impact. It requires a long-term vision and plan, similar to that of a business strategy. 

Start by selecting a date 3-5 years out. Paint the picture of what success looks like. The best goals are set to a timeline with specific milestones along the way. Make your plan SMART.

Working with Serilida back in 2015, these were the long-term goals we set:  

• Achieve diversity representation better than the demographics of our city/community. Knowing Portland is about 27% non-white, we had to do better than that. This was our first major milepost. And to maximize impact, I wanted that representation to be true at every level of my organization, especially the most sought after roles: creative roles and leadership roles. 

• Increase the diversity (race and gender) of the artists and the music we represent.

• Work with more BIPOC and women owned businesses for projects and work where we enlist contractors, advisors, vendors and consultants. 

• Provide ongoing training and education for leaders and all staff. 

Reflecting back on these now, I wish I would’ve made the goals smarter, more measurable and timeline-based. The best goals are always SMART ones. 

Once long-term goals are set, work backwards, cutting it up into smaller chunks -- similar to how you might approach a business strategic plan.

Lesson #5: You will fail. And you absolutely must keep going. 

This may be the most important lesson of all. This work is hard, and without exception, everyone will misstep and fail from time to time. There’s no avoiding it. 

While it pains me to admit, I too have failed. People have suffered systemic racism, bias, and discrimination at my company too. No doubt about it, we have failed some of our people along the way. And despite our failures, we are committed to learning from our mistakes, and getting better as we go. 

I also accept the fact that I too have exhibited racist and patricarchical behaviors, and at times I have been part of the problem. I’m working on myself -- working to learn about and process the dark parts of our communities and of our history. It’s impossible to do this kind of work if I’m unable to wrestle with my own identity and dissect my own ego.  As they say, acceptance is the first step of recovery.

Lesson #6: Stay focused. 

You’re held to higher standards when you commit to doing this work, and will therefore receive more scrutiny and criticism. Learn to receive it. And say thank you.  

That said, it’s unfortunate society has devolved to cancel culture, where anonymous critics and disingenuous bystanders so quickly tear people down in a public setting. While I support increased accountability, we can do better than drive-by Yelp reviews for humans. 

All the more reason to stay focused on the work. Don’t get distracted by critics, cynics and trolls working against you. If your values, track record and reputation are strong, your community will know that, no matter what’s said about you. 

Blind spots

It’s recently come to my attention that communication has been a blind spot for me. To be vulnerable here, talking about DEI within my own company is something I’ve struggled with at times. At my core, I’m a “talk is cheap” sorta person. So until we’ve achieved some pretty big, meaningful results, I wasn’t too keen on talking about it. I never wanted to be the CIS white, privileged CEO guy standing up in front of a bunch of people (smart people!), talking about all of the diversity work I’m doing. So I put my head down and did most of the work solo or alongside just a couple of my colleagues and advisors, mostly working behind the scenes.

Because of my own discomfort in talking more openly about it, I now see and realize I’ve missed some meaningful opportunities for broader dialog, engagement and alignment within my company. The downside of working quietly behind the scenes is my staff didn’t always know what I was upto. It’s possible some didn’t know if our progress was happening by accident or on purpose. Moving forward, I’m learning to embrace the notion that our staff wants to know what I’m upto -- especially on topics of DEI. And ultimately, they need to hear their CEO and leaders are all-in, leading the way. 

Impact

Five years into the work, Marmoset’s staff demographics are better than Portland’s by every metric. Eight of our top ten highest paid employees are women. Five out of the top six are BIPOC women. There are no pay gaps at my company. Full stop. And the good news: if we can do this in Portland, Oregon, anyone can do it. 

For the people in the back: If we can do this in Portland, Oregon -- anyone can do it.

And for any business leaders out there who may be wondering how DEI impacts the bottom line, know this: Marmoset as a business has never been stronger or healthier than it is today. We’re at our peak right now in nearly every imaginable business metric: cash, resources, profitability, sales, expenses, people, morale and vibes, brand, innovation, momentum and upward trajectory. That said, I buried this fact a little bit because it could be a distracting headline. Doing DEI work to boost the bottom line is shitty… or disingenuous at best. Do it for the right reasons and you can rest assured, the results will follow. Research supports this.

What’s Next? 

Because the work is never done, we continue to raise the bar with our long-term goals and plans. Our staff and Marmoset’s DiversiTeam have gradually taken on more of the work, and have developed several new goals and strategies spanning all teams and functions. For instance, we’ve made good strides in terms of the diversity of the artist roster we represent. Currently, one of our goals is improving the diversity (race and gender) of our top royalty earners. 

Another important long-term goal for me is to one day replace myself or split my role with someone who doesn’t look like me or think like me. Someone who can bring new ideas, with new expertise and experiences, to help take the company to another place. 

I am so grateful our staff has stepped up in big ways over the past couple of years, now much more invested in helping carry the responsibility of DEI with me. I am especially thankful for my colleagues, Nicole Hooper and Jené Etheridge, Marmoset’s DiversiTeam, and many others, for their collaboration and commitment in doing this work. 

The work is endless. And yes, it’s all worth it. 

RW

Note: An condensed version of this essay was originally published on December 29, 2020 by The Portland Business Journal.

*This is yet another essay in-part inspired by my friends Mario and Chris — please check out their work too. We believe the process of public writing helps us learn, grow and improves our lives too. We call ourselves the Western Writers League and someday we might make hats with a cool logo.

Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life…is bullsh*t

Recently, a friend of mine, Brianne Mees — brilliant leader and co-founder of Tender Loving Empire — shared something with me that’s been on my mind ever since.  She explained that, in her opinion, the popular saying, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is bullshit. It’s a fantasy and a lie that’s misled and confused an entire generation of young people — many of whom are entering the workforce right now. Brianne explained that to truly find, pursue and live one’s passion, there will always be a counterweight of pain and suffering. It’s unavoidable. If you’re able to find your passion, and if you’re able to actually do your passion as your main gig or career, or even as a side hustle, you’d sure as heck better expect there will be some suffering, storms, a LOT of hard work, and some seasons of deep, dark adversity, too. 

This counterweight concept Brianne shared has no doubt been true in my own life. And I’ve yet to read a single biography or hear from someone I know who’s successful and “loves what they do” that doesn’t have the ever-present counterweight of suffering as a constant factor in their story. There’s no way around it.

Thinking on more of a meta-level, I wonder if any measure of greatness or success is achievable without the counterweight? I ask this because I’m surprised by how often I encounter people who seem to expect to achieve success or greatness without the counterweight. It’s as if they truly believe that silly saying.

I see it most frequently in 20-somethings navigating the beginnings of their career, who after a year or two in an entry-level role, complain that their work is mundane or unsatisfying, and express frustration when a promotion doesn’t happen as quickly as they want. They either get impatient and jump ship after a year or two… or sometimes they just get increasingly louder, voicing their complaints and frustrations more and more until it breeds negativity and some kind of intervention is needed.

While I truly love the drive and the fire in the belly these types of people exhibit, I’m fascinated by the on-demand, instant gratification mindset and pain-free expectations so many seem to live by. It’s as if some can’t fathom the thought of taking two, three, or more years to learn, develop, and deeply master a role before moving on to something else. There’s a desire and expectation to have it all right now, unwilling to slow down to take the time and walk through the fire and experience some adversity — these are prerequisites to grow and rise to any real level of success and achievement. It’s as if some weren’t anticipating any pain or discomfort along the way. They’re unaware of the counterweight. My colleague at Marmoset, Rachel Schmidt, likes to remind me of this quote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Edison

The truth of the matter is, there are no shortcuts. There’s no express route or fast lane to achieving great things, whether in a career or a side hustle. And there’s no way to avoid the pain and suffering that happens along the way either — which sometimes means enduring a role for a while that may feel mundane or isn’t very challenging. It’s all connected and part of the journey. This is the nature of life. The uncomfortable part that may be frustrating or painful is often, in hindsight, a necessary chapter in everyone’s story. It may not make sense while you’re in the middle of it… but upon reflection years later, I almost always find that there was something beneficial that needed to be learned, no matter how painful or how dark the experience may have been. That’s my story. And as a leader, I see too many young people start out on their path, and when the journey gets long… when it gets hard and isn’t fun… when pain and suffering occur… they so quickly get bummed-out, frustrated, discouraged and impatient — and don’t have reasonable expectations about what it takes. They haven’t prepared for the counterweight, so they hit the eject button.

Even worse — after you hit the eject button a couple of times, you risk losing the power of resiliency — the most critical power to develop and master in order to achieve what you want to achieve in life.

My friend and peer mentor, Mario Schulzke, recently shared an essay about his passion project. You can read about it here. Most fascinating to me, he reflected upon the ten years he’s been pursuing this particular passion, and he confessed it’s been about 51% fun and about 49% terrible. Whoa.

Mario explained how mundane and hard his passion project has been, and how at times he’s felt completely stuck. Yet he sticks with it and he finds a way to appreciate, and sometimes even love the process. Mario knows the counterweight quite well. A German immigrant raised by a single parent and meager means, he’s been mindful of the counterbalance concept his entire life. In fact, I know Mario is always expecting it — he’s anticipating it and always preparing for it.  In Mario’s words, “Giving up is easy.  You need time. You need staying power. You need to keep going when things get hard.”

I agree with Mario. And I agree with Brianne, too. “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” …truly is bullshit. Life’s counterweight is real.

How you prepare for it and how you respond to it is what ultimately determines the arc of your story. It defines who you are.

- RW

--> This essay is part of a series published in collaboration with The Western Writers League. Take a few minutes to explore my peers’s work as well.

The Steelhead Bath by Chris Corbin

How To Keep Going On Your Side Project When Things Get Hard by Mario Schulzke

Magic Popsicles and the Importance of Taking Breaks

A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on August 8th, 2019

My family and I recently enjoyed three nights at a Japanese onsen resort on the bank of Lake Chuzenji, tucked away in the mountains of Nikko National Park, Japan. This onsen, and others like it, exist because of the natural hot springs in the region. The water from these hot springs — which has long been believed to have healing and rejuvenating properties — is piped into pools for resort guests to enjoy. These pools are known as onsens.

Lake Chuzenji, Nikko National Park, Japan

Steeped in tradition, Kai Nikko is a place where people go to rest, relax and rejuvenate in the water from the hot springs. I was deeply struck by how simple and minimal the place was — yet so beautifully ornate and full of meaning. The pace is intentionally slow, and the vibe is wonderfully quiet, contemplative and mellow. 

Upon arrival, they showed us where to store our shoes and gave us a yukata and sandals to wear for the duration of our stay. The pace is intentionally slow and the vibe is wonderfully quiet, contemplative and mellow throughout the resort.

Kai Nikko Resort, at Lake Chuzenji, Japan

While staying at the resort, we enjoyed the ritual of visiting the onsens three times a day, for 10 minutes at a time, each occasion providing a welcome break in the day. There’s something special about a ritual of interrupting the day to soak, rest, be quiet and delve into a relaxed, meditative self-care experience. It really spoke to me — it was so simple, yet such a powerful experience. And at the same time, it was such a foreign concept to our daily lives back home.

Typically onsens have gender separated soaking pools, sometimes indoors and sometimes outdoors, highlighting unique Japanese design aesthetics. The pools are about two feet deep and vary in style and design. I was surprised to learn people traditionally soak for only about ten minutes at a time. Custom also dictates a quiet, almost meditative kind of experience. No devices. No talking. No splashing around. Just a time to relax and be still.

An onsen at Kai Nikko Resort at Lake Chuzenji, Japan

This particular onsen includes a surprise for guests in its lounge area outside the dressing rooms. Adjacent to the giant pastel-colored beanbag chairs that are scattered about on a slightly elevated platform is a small, unassuming wood-paneled freezer full of popsicles. I’ll never forget that little freezer of popsicles. 

As I peeled the plastic wrapper off, holding the small wooden stick in my hand, I fell back into an oversized beanbag chair. For a moment, I was in a dreamy, childlike state, and I wasn’t alone. As I looked around, I saw people of every kind — children, parents and even seniors — all reclining in beanbags while enjoying a popsicle with pure delight on their faces. So many smiles. So much joy.

Reflecting on the experience, it would’ve been too easy for people to exit the pools and just return to their busy days. But the resort has created an unexpected opportunity with the beanbag chairs and popsicles. It’s as if they created a portal to a magical place where busy, focused, highly productive adults rarely venture.  

The freezer full of Magic Popsicles at Kai Onsen resort in Japan.

The magic popsicles call out, like sirens to Ulysses, beckoning passersby to slow down, sink deep into the chairs and do nothing but enjoy a simple treat. Somewhere amidst the simplest of life’s experiences, I discovered a little something for my soul. And maybe a life lesson for all leaders and high achievers.

Consider this: How often do you go for a midday soak in a pool? How often do you sink deep into a comfy chair to enjoy a popsicle? How often do get up from your desk to create a little break in the day? What’s holding you back? What’s the story you’re telling yourself? 

According to Psychology Today, “working for long stretches without breaks leads to stress and exhaustion.” When I stop to think deeply about it, I wonder if maybe we’ve all gone mad. I traveled halfway around the world to experience the revelation of a 10-minute midday soak. I crossed more than half a dozen time zones to encounter a freezer of popsicles. I don’t think it should be this hard. 

As I type this, the sun beckons me to step outside and take a short walk to a juice truck parked down the street. When I quiet my mind, I notice a subtle, mysterious force reaching out to me and encouraging me to take a little time amidst my busy day to unplug and reset. Time to walk. Time to sit and be still. Time to close my eyes and daydream. 

When’s the last time you intentionally daydreamed? What’s stopping you?

Why do we sit at our desks so much, staring into glowing screens? Why do we let bottomless email inboxes give us stress and hold us hostage? Why do we hold so tightly to our cell phones all day? Why does it seem impossible to take a break and go for a short walk? Why does a popsicle break sound so ridiculous?

More importantly, what if we didn’t live this way? Are we evolving or are we devolving? What if we made more time for walks, soaks and popsicles? How might it impact the quality of our work? How might it improve the quality of our lives? 

One writer summarized the benefits of taking breaks in this Scientific American article: “Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life. … Moments of respite may even be necessary to keep one’s moral compass in working order and maintain a sense of self.”

I have two hourglasses in my office: a big one and a small one. The big one lasts for 30 minutes, and I’ve found that most projects and meetings can be accomplished in 30 or 60-minute intervals. The hourglass provides a tangible, visual gauge of how much time I have to work with. Sometimes I game-ify things, hustling to accomplish my work before the sand runs out, which always feels good. The smaller hourglass lasts for 10 minutes — the perfect length of time for a short break between tasks.

So how can you get started on incorporating more downtime into your day? I’ve found that establishing a regular time on the calendar (with a reminder alert) for a daily walk can create a reliable structure and rhythm to lean into. It’s also helpful to have an accountability partner, a colleague or perhaps a friend, along with a regular destination, like a juice truck or a cafe, to help create a daily ritual. Once it becomes a ritual, it can evolve into something habitual — and that’s when it sticks. That’s when transformation can happen.

I also have a colleague who set-up a #Meditation channel on our company’s Slack app. Periodically whenever anyone is feeling that internal call to disconnect and reset, someone will post an invitation to the channel and organize a little impromptu 10-20 minute meditation session. Everyone is welcome and anyone can join, and I’ve found sometimes there’s an added human/spiritual effect by doing it with a small group of friends or colleagues. We’ve got a couple places around the office quiet enough for meditation, in addition to one dedicated medication/yoga/stretching area, outfitted with mats, bolsters and poufs for folks to use.

As you can see, there’s many different possibilities for low impact, easy to access opportunities for breaks — which when you think deeper out it, these are actually daily opportunities for improved health, increased performance, growth and transformation. 

I also just ordered a small freezer for the office. It’s big enough for about 100 popsicles.

-RW

A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on August 8th, 2019

--> This essay is part of a series published in collaboration with The Western Writers League. Take a few minutes to explore my peers’s work as well.

I Have Flaws by Chris Corbin

Disclaimer: My Life Is Not Perfect by Mario Schulzke

Keywords: worklife , company culture, work/life , work-life , work-life balance , start-up , start-ups , taking breaks , breaktime , break time , leadership , popsicles , walks , creative work , creatives , leadership , leading creatives , meditation , downtime , performance , health , high function , creativity , motivation , mindset , productivity , onsen , onsens , soak, soaking , stress , exhaustion , burnout , culture , nurture theory , marmoset , ryan wines , magic popsicles , japan , kai onsen resort , kai onsen , nikko japan, Lake Chuzenji, work , workplace culture , Creativity , Startu , Leadership , Work Life Balance , Work #worklife #companyculture #startups #creatives #creativeleadership #nurturetheory #worklifeintegration #worklifebalance #breaks #takingbreaks #magicpopsicles #health #healthandhighfunction #creativesolutions #startup #startupculture #worklife #work-life #creativity #productivity #startup #leadership #meditation #nurturetheory

Podcast Crush: HBR's Women at Work

I love crushing on a good podcast. It’s what I do while running, taking road trips or whenever I’m having a hard time falling asleep. Lately I’ve really enjoyed crushing Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work podcast.

HBR editors Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and Nicole Torres interview experts at the intersection of gender in the workplace, sharing their experiences, giving tons of brilliant and insightful practical advice.

The way they describe the podcast:

“Women face gender discrimination throughout our careers. It doesn't have to derail our ambitions — but how do we prepare to deal with it? There's no workplace orientation session about narrowing the wage gap, standing up to interrupting male colleagues, or taking on many other issues we encounter at work.”

Appropriate for any audience, I really enjoyed S2, E11 on “Self Disclosure at Work.” They explore opening up in the workplace, being vulnerable, sharing our personal lives, and how that impacts trust, relationships and cohesiveness among teams.

The concept of vulnerability and sharing your personal life in the workplace can be an x-factor in building cohesive, strong, high performing teams. While it may not be for everyone, I’ve found those who can commit to exploring vulnerability and a holistic approach to work often find great connection, deeper meaning, and higher performance.

This is essentially the center of Brené Brown’s philosophy, sparking her swift rise to the top of every Leadership and Personal Growth Best Selling List. According to Brown, the key is viewing vulnerability as a strength, not as a weakness. She says the key to brave leadership is finding the courage to be open, share your story, ask for help, and model vulnerability. When leaders demonstrate this, it gives others permission to do the same, creating a culture and environment of openness and collaboration. When we lead with openness, vulnerability and empathy, it enhances connection and communication, building trust and cohesion among people.

As Margaret Wheatley so wonderfully put it, “Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.” It’s time we fully lean into the power and depth of relationships — especially in the workplace. Vulnerability, openness and self disclosure is the key.

Check out HBR’s Women at Work S2, E11 on “Self Disclosure at Work” and if you like it, subscribe and explore the deep well of wisdom they’ve built.

Other episodes I’ve enjoyed are “There’s More to Gender Than Man and Woman,” “The Art of Taking Credit, ” “Managing Burnout,” and there’s a couple different episodes on parental leave too.

For more recommended podcasts to crush, check out my Inspiration & Resources page.

-RW

#womenatworkpodcast #hbr #workplaceculture #vulnerability #selfdisclosure #hbrpodcast #nurturetheory #worklife #brenebrown #womeninbusiness #womenatwork #genderatwork #nurturetheory