CURA Update: A Season of Growth

Hi friends,

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) has always been more than a buzz word for CURA, but it truly was the theme of our Q2 work and prompted a major A-HA moment for me.

Topping the list—we learned about subtle acts of exclusion from our retreat guest speaker, author Dr. Michael Baran, adopted and are operationalizing a new DEI policy, produced a tip sheet on inclusive communications and supported The Juneteenth Foundation’s Freedom Festival for the second year in a row. (Look closely at the picture below to see CURA’s logo just above mega brands like GM and Google—how about that!?!)

For me, DE&I was at the heart of change in my leadership style, but probably not in the way you think.

I want people to win at work and succeed at life. To me, that meant ensuring work was distributed equally when a new opportunity came in. During a staff retreat in Annapolis, someone mentioned that it would be good to be asked if they wanted to work on a specific new business opportunity, instead of only asking people who had the most capacity. Hello humble pie. Now, when a new opportunity comes in, I ask the whole team if they are interested. People are raising their hands, even when their plates look full to me, and the quality of work is off the charts. My limited definition of equality was stifling diversity of thought and was overshadowing the need for inclusion. Equality of work to some means equality of opportunity, not equality of work hours. What other assumptions do I have wrong?

Leading a company committed to DE&I goes beyond race and gender; it’s about keeping an open mind and testing assumptions. For me, it means slowing down to invite AND LISTEN to more critique. I normally don’t do slow. I’m a work in progress.

Humbly,