Books in Brief "Leading Inclusion" by Gena Cox

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Whether you’re looking to inspire your team, streamline your operations, or enhance your strategic vision, these summaries are curated to bolster your leadership arsenal without overloading your schedule. Our aim is to provide you with key takeaways, actionable strategies, and thought-provoking concepts that are the essence of each book.

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Leading Inclusion" by Gena Cox offers a proactive approach to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Cox emphasizes the importance of making DEI efforts visible and impactful for employees, advocating for a five-step approach to foster respect, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Cox delivers a plain-spoken guide to setting and maintaining a vision for DEI that will enable "marginalized employees to see and feel the difference in their day-to-day work experiences." Cox uses the term REDI- respect, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI, her preferred term for DEI.

Gena Cox asks and answers "Why are workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts often disappointing?"Drawing on personal experiences and research, she provides insights into overcoming unconscious bias and creating an environment where all employees feel valued and safe. The book is a valuable resource for corporate executives and diversity officers looking to make substantive changes in their organizations. One reviewer stated "Leading Inclusion is not a how-to book; it’s a how-to-be book—one that educates, challenges, and empowers you and your C-suite and board colleagues to lead a diverse workforce effectively."

Reflecting on "Leading Inclusion" by Gena Cox, consider these questions for your leadership team:

1. How do we perceive our current DEI (or REDI) efforts, and how might they differ from the experiences of our employees?
   

2. In what ways can we improve visibility and the tangible impact of our DEI initiatives to better align with employee perceptions and needs?
   

3. What personal beliefs and biases could we explore further to enhance our understanding and implementation of DEI principles in our organization?
   

4. How can we more effectively engage with employees from diverse backgrounds to create a genuinely inclusive environment?
   

5. What steps can we take to model DEI principles actively and become change agents within our organization?