Category Archives: General Info

Ten attributes and skills of successful DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Leaders

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On October 19, I participated in a “Diversity Officers Roundtable” as part of the two day virtual panel discussion as part of the Energy Diversity and Inclusion Council’s Energy Industry DEI Summit. Miracle Johnson did a superb job of moderating the panel that included myself and two outstanding Chief Diversity Officers, Kelli J. Scott of First Energy and Ray Stringer of Constellation Energy.

We kicked off the panel discussing the huge increase we have seen in company DEI efforts and the demand for having a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO.) Between the three of us on the panel, we came up with ten key skills or competencies we felt were need to be a successful CDO:


1) Understanding the business you are serving in. It is crucial to connect DEI to the overall business strategy and to understand the diversity dynamics of the industry in which you are working.

2) Consultative skills to be able to work with senior leaders across every function to actualize the impact of DEI on the overall business strategy and their own functional areas.

3) Having grit and courage. (See my recent blog about courage.) DEI work is not easy; there are many challenges and hard topics to address.

4) Perseverance, which goes along with grit. DEI work is a long never-ending journey; it is a marathon, not a sprint.

5) Operational savvy. In addition to driving DEI strategy, you need to be able to manage execution and operationalize DEI. This also includes being focused on the outcomes you are working to achieve.

6) Empathy. There are a wide range of issues in the world, in the country and in the workplace that have real impact on different diverse people and constituencies. It is important to understand how:
• working at home and managing kids may impact working women
• how the frequent murders of young black men impact black employees
• how the explosion of various state anti-LGTBQ+ laws impact your LGBTQ+ employees.

7) The ability to work with a wide range of increasingly diverse employee populations; e.g. cultural intelligence. Working effectively with a wide range of people is what diversity is all about!

I am one of the facilitators for NDC’s certification program, one way of building key CDO knowledge and skills

8) Enrollment. Being able to get people at all levels, from the individual contributors to managers to executives engaged and bought into DEI efforts.

9) Being open minded, creative and innovative.

10) Investing in the needed education and skills building for a career in a fast-changing field. This can include college curriculum, conferences, and certification programs like the National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST™ Certification Program.


If you aspire to be a DEI leader in the workplace, or a CDO, perhaps evaluate yourself across these ten skills and consider enrolling in the NDC’s DiversityFIRST™ Certification Program.

“Imagine Belonging” – A powerful new book to help workplace leaders build an equitable workplace.

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Rhodes Perry with his new book

About two or three times a year, I do like to blog about new books in the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) field that are powerful, practical and can truly help an organization grow their DEI strategy and execution. One such book is “Imagine Belonging – Your Inclusive Leadership Guide to Building an Equitable Workplace” by Rhodes Perry.

Belonging is becoming a key concept in the DEI arena. In fact, I have seen many organizations add the “B” and now talk about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Rhodes Perry defines belonging as “an emotional outcome that comes from feeling seen for your unique contributions, connected to your coworkers, supporting in your daily work and career development, and proud of your organization’s values and purpose.”

More information on both Rhodes’ books

This is Rhodes’ second book on this topic, with his first being the best-selling “Belonging at Work: Everyday Actions You Can Take To Cultivate an Inclusive Organization.” When it came out in early 2019, I wrote this blog about it. This book focused on what all employees and leaders can do to build an inclusive workplace culture where everyeone can feel like they belong.

This new follow up book is now specifically targeted for workplace leaders who are the ones who need to drive and build a belonging workplace culture.

Here are some of the key points and topics in the book:

• Rhodes shares some of his journey growing into leadership as a transgender man, and introduces the importance of clarity, confidence and commitment in driving transformation.

• The criticality of addressing organizational culture in doing any kind of work around DEIB. This includes examining your own leadership style, your team and the entire organization, and how identifying and addressing dominant culture vs. belonging culture systems is crucial. This also includes six key questions to explore in doing a “belonging culture audit.”

• How all efforts can get derailed by conforming, and the need to have courage, which Rhodes defines as a the opposite of conformity.  (See my June, 2022 blog “The importance of courage in being an inclusive leader.”)

• The book includes a fantastic practical table of “12 belonging culture traits.”

• Comparing competitive teams (and their issues) with cooperative teams (and their advantages.) The book also discusses the pros and cons of individualism and traits of a relationship driven team

• How to transform organizational culture to build belonging and trust, and the business advantages of doing this.

I highly recommend this book if you are leading transformational diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging work in your organization. To check out the book an to order it, link to www.imaginebelonging.com. And if you want to connect more deeply on the topic of belonging in the workplace, please check out Rhodes’ newest podcast, Imagine Belonging at Work, at https://imaginebelongingatworkpodcast.com/.