Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of inclusion, belonging, and societal transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world where everyone not only belongs but thrives? You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge the status quo, and share stories that resonate deep within. Ready to dive in? Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's connect, reflect, and inspire action together. Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out to jo.lockwood@seachangehappen.co.uk to share your insights or to join me on the show. So adjust your earbuds and settle in.

It's time to ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites.

And today is episode 159 with the title, the science of let's start that again. And today is episode 159 with the title, the science of workplace equity. And I feel absolute honor and privilege to welcome doctor Liz Wilson. Liz is a behavioral scientist and strategic inclusion expert dedicated to transforming workplaces, data, and research driven frameworks and organizational change. And when I asked Liz to describe her superpower, she said that it is turning personal adversity into a global mission for workplace equity and inclusion. Hello, Liz. Welcome to the show.

Hi, Joanne. I think that sounds my superpower makes me sound like I'm some kind of wild idealist thinking one person can change the world, but I guess you gotta start somewhere.

Well, I'm a great believer that as much as I want to change the world, I know all I know is I can change me. I think changing me, showing up the best person I can be is my mission and hopefully between us, we can influence by another person. And that's what we were that's what we're trying to do with, isn't it?

Yeah. And I've been well, before I even moved into working in inclusion, one of the things when I was focused on culture change was my career for twenty years before inclusion was I would say to people, you carry your organizational culture with you. So think of it, but sort of like your four square meters around you. That's your organizational culture and you have the influence over those four square meters. And so I think that's the same thing here that we can talk about. We take that culture with us, then those that step into that space, we can influence them to be our organizational culture.

Oh, I love that. I love that. Because I remember when we're coming out of COVID, you know, all those years ago, it's like seems like a lifetime ago, COVID. Oh, yes. I remember organizations, when they're trying to cram people back into the office, they're trying to crowbar them and this, this, wow. You know, the culture of the organization is this. We need you back in the office. We can give you our culture, and we can buy you in.

My my debate was I want my culture like my pension. I can take it with me from place to place to place. I don't need you to give me my culture. And so I want you to absorb or recognize my own culture and allow me to develop my my personal culture at home, my friends, my family, my community, and not expect me to drive two hours each way, just to have a bit of your call.

And if you're, and I'm looking up, cause I'm like drawing from like all of the experiences of organizations. Cause I've been a freelance consultant since I was 26. So I've not been an employee, a technical employee, but it means I've seen and been in a lot of different organizations. And for the most part, I could only name two or three of the dozens of organizations that would have cultural values that align with mine. So this values alignment thing, we could go deep into values alignment or not. But in terms of, we know how toxic some cultures can be and those cultures aren't necessarily organizations like you're saying about coming to the office and we can give you our culture. Organizations are nice in theory or conceptually is having a whole culture, but we all know it comes down to the manager that we're working with. Right? So T it starts at the team culture level level, and that can be created remotely.

Anyway, there we go. Duane, I didn't wanna hijack. We can