Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

“…we are at a point in time when the importance and  the real business value of diversity and inclusion is increasing.  Issues of diversity and inclusion are more closely linked to the success and survival of our organizations than ever before.” Thursday, September 17th, at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET The Future of   [Read More…]

If I have said it once, I have said it 11 million times…diversity is one of the most misunderstood things in the world.  It is misunderstood in the world of business, in media, in law, in education, in community and government.  What diversity is and what the associated value is are both horribly misunderstood. Many   [Read More…]

There are a lot of misunderstandings regarding the what, why and how of diversity work today. One of the most common confusions I run into is that focusing on diversity means “special treatment” for certain groups of people. If this is what people think diversity and inclusion efforts are about, it becomes pretty easy to   [Read More…]

I have written on what diversity is and what it is not.  I have also written about its value for groups, organizations and communities.  This post is about inclusion, and specifically about what gets in the way…why inclusion does not happen.  I should probably write a post or two that break down what inclusion is,   [Read More…]

I spend a fair amount of time in the interwebs and I try not to ask for much.  I try not to ask for votes, re-tweets, diggs, etc.  But. This time it’s different. I am very much asking for your vote. I would like to be on the agenda at SXSWi in 2010.  The proposal   [Read More…]

Part V: The Difference Matrix In the first post of this series, I presented the idea that there are two primary forces present in every interaction between human beings; difference and commonality. In the second post, I presented the idea that difference and commonality are not independent of each other, but rather complimentary opposites forming   [Read More…]

Mary Schaefer and I have an ongoing Q&A exchange that we are posting on both of our blogs.  This week Mary has a question for me… For an organization leader who sincerely wants to better understand what it is going to take to make her/his organization more innovative, by way of diversity and inclusion, what   [Read More…]

Part IV: Imbalance in the Force In the first post of this series, I presented the idea that there are two primary forces present in every interaction between human beings; difference and commonality. In the second post, I presented the idea that difference and commonality are not independent of each other, but rather complimentary opposites   [Read More…]

Later today I will be conducting a workshop in Indianapolis called: Why (and how) Difference Matters Now Why (and how) Difference Matters Now View more presentations from Joe Gerstandt.  

This is a guest post from Igor Noveski, masters candidate at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The 5th Element – Psychological Capital (PsyCap) Two studies show that hope, resilience, optimism and efficacy produce higher work performance and job satisfaction (Fred Luthans et al., 2004 & 2007). These four elements constitute Psychological Capital (PsyCap). Here are   [Read More…]