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

A quick post to share a few things that I might not have mentioned here in the past… I have done a couple of webinars with the good folks over at BrightTALK, and they are both available for viewing at your convenience: Team Genius: Do You Understand What Makes a Talented Team? Got Bias? How   [Read More…]

I grew up in NW Iowa, and we used to enjoy making fun of our neighboring states, especially Nebraska. If someone from our class was visiting Nebraska for some reason, we would say “don’t get caught trying to cross the state line with any books, or they will get confiscated!” Maybe you needed to be   [Read More…]

For most organizations, inclusion remains a vague, abstract idea. This is why it is so easy to find leaders quick to proclaim how inclusive they (and their organization) are, yet cannot explain what that actually means. One of the tools I like to use in making inclusion a more tangible thing comes from a wonderful   [Read More…]

Hey, how are ya? My last post was built around the idea that there are two primary barriers to realizing greater equality in an organization, a community, or a society: 1- People that do not want or believe in equality, and 2- The rest of us. Then I went on to focus on the second   [Read More…]

I have been thinking about the importance of our beliefs, especially beliefs regarding equality. This is the scenario I threw out in my last post: I once worked for an organization that was close to 50% male and 50% female. As you worked your way up the organizational chart there was less and less gender   [Read More…]

I once worked for an organization that was close to 50% male and 50% female. As you worked your way up the organizational chart there was less and less gender balance, and by the time you got to the senior leadership team there was not a single woman to be found. How would you explain   [Read More…]

I have never been the most consistent blogger, but I have not posted anything here since late August, and the primary reason for that is that I have been angry. Every time I have sat down to try and write something to post here, it has turned into an angry rant. Ferguson. Eric Garner. Out   [Read More…]

I think that intentions and aspirations have changed in the business community. There are still plenty of folks who could not be paid to participate in a conversation about diversity and inclusion, and there are still plenty of folks just going through the motions, but I do believe there are more and more people realizing   [Read More…]

James Garner passed this weekend. I grew up watching both Maverick and Rockford Files, and was sad to hear the news. One of the things that I did not know about Garner is that there was a bit of civil rights activism in his past. I do not know how big of a part of   [Read More…]