Cultivating a Culture of Belonging
Culture, though not seen, holds a lot of power as it directs and shows what a gathering of people value collectively, acceptable behaviors, and customs. Addressing culture can be intimidating because of the efforts it takes to transform it and support excellence in a group or organization. Though it is hard work, it is imperative to take intentional actions to create and sustain a culture you want to see, such as a culture of belonging where everyone feels welcomed, seen, heard, and valued for who they are and the skills and talents they contribute, which is a driving factor for psychological well-being.
A culture of belonging when referred to in terms of the workplace is linked to an increase in job performance, and a drop in turnover, and a reduction in sick days.1 Cultivating a culture of belonging is important for leaders of various movements whether organizational leaders, leaders of community groups, or any gathering of people working to advance racial and social justice.
At Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), their anti-racist intersectional frame keeps a shining light on where power is held in institutions and systems as well as the oppression that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) experience and an approach for working with and in communities to create a more equitable society. Shifting to a culture of belonging helps to reimagine the norms, values, and customs that support individuals of an institution or group and maintain this culture with policies, practices, and procedures that can significantly eliminate oppression and redistribute power more equitably.
Cultivating a Culture of Belonging
1) Work on the smallest unit of change: the individual
Culture is created when groups of individuals gather under shared values, norms, and customs. The smallest unit of change in this scenario is individuals. Every person that is a part of a culture is responsible for cultivating and sustaining it. Leaders especially, due to their positional power, have a duty to ensure the culture is beneficial to all those it serves. Transformation of self includes exploring one’s identities to disrupt harmful belief systems. The Ladder of Inference shows us why it is important to test our observations, interpretations, and assumptions before we draw conclusions.3 If not we have harmful implicit biases that shape what we think and therefore how we behave.4 Being able to look within and reflect allows one’s self to understand who their true self is, what areas need healing and growth so there actions mimic what they desire to see in themselves. In part supporting their wellbeing, and the wellbeing of others because they are more aware of their beliefs and actions and can begin to prioritize learning about different perspectives. Organizations can encourage and make time available to staff to learn about their implicit biases through the Harvard Implicit Association Test5 with a desire to spark further exploration of individual beliefs, and how they understand, make decisions, and act in this world based on their ideologies. As well as some individual reflection activities from this Collective Impact’s Racial Equity Toolkit to look within with hopes of continuing on with the collaborative sections of the toolkit to ignite conversations among the colleagues.
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