Claudia Chan, Author, Leadership and Culture Change ExpertWe’re on the brink of a pivotal time for business as we enter yet another unpredictable presidential election year, and that provides the opportunity to take stock and make the changes we want to see. While it can be unsettling, it’s important to remember that change is fundamental for success. When we take control of our own destinies, whether in our personal lives or our professional lives, the changes we make will also drive change for those around us.As the author of THIS IS HOW WE RISE: Reach Your Highest Potential, Empower Women, Lead Change in the World and S.H.E. Summit, a platform that helps companies unlock a diverse, inclusive and socially impactful workplace through transformational learning programs and conferences--I believe companies are micro-societies that require innovation, the same way any culture does. The greatest threat to any organization is stagnation. Businesses need to be just as proactive about innovating their talent culture as they do their products and services.This is why diversity, inclusion and social impact has to be at the top of every company's strategic leadership planning for 2020. Beyond doing the right thing and having the best talent, it’s about culture and change management, and preparing for the next iteration of challenges and innovation. Here's how we are advising c-suite and senior leaders:

• The When: Define your goals not just for 2020 but for the next decade with a "corporate change agent" mindset. Corporate culture innovation is some of the hardest work there is and it takes times to shift mindsets and behaviors to drive the engagement needed. If you have not done this already, assemble the right team (see step 4) in 2020 to set a 10-year vision, and instead of starting from a practical and tactical lens, vision with an intrapreneurial or change-agent mindset to get your most impactful and creative ideas on the table.
• The What: Build a vision and strategy authentic to your culture and stop doing the "one-size-fits-all" and "best-practice" diversity solutions. Too often I meet companies that invest in D&I by starting 1 or 2 employment resources groups with a "women's network" being the first. Instead start with defining what diversity, equity, inclusion and social impact has the potential to mean at your organization and build out your initiatives, programs and resources from there. Just like every society has a different heritage, personalities and traits--what are the unique challenges and aspects of your corporate society to define a D&I meaning and strategy that will unleash you organization's true greatness. As D&I leader Antoinette Hamilton says, invest in "real" over best practices.
• The Who: Be maniacally thoughtful about assembling the right leadership team with the CEO personally engaged. D&I expands the perview of HR so be extremely intentional about assembling the right leaders throughout the company to drive the strategy with the c-suite personally participating and holding the team accountable. Holistic workplace change also requires bottom-up perspectives and efforts as much it does top-down so make sure you have the right employee resource groups in place and effective collaboration with them by granting real permission to share their insights and rewarding them for their work.
• The How: Create cultures for "whole-life leadership" success by investing in powerful learning experiences that drive talent engagement and brand influence. Change requires shifting the mindsets and behaviors of people at all levels of a culture, as well as unleashing their influence for what they care about. And once you can connect an employee’s personal passion to a company-wide initiative to help co-create what inclusion and impact can mean at the organization, an acceleration happens. We have seen that exposing them to transformational learning programs and offsite leadership experiences are key to do doing this. Additionally, At S.H.E. Summit 2019, we discussed that for companies to thrive, its people need to thrive but there are many personal and invisible barriers that hold us back that should be addressed in DE&I conversations and initiatives. In addition to innovative thinking around traditional dimensions of D&I (women, LGBT, POC etc), topics also included mental health, changing gender and family dynamics at home, (in)fertility, health to psychological safety. That's why our learning programs are rooted in a whole-life, inclusive leadership training.

The corporation's new super power is changing the world and the future of work is rapidly changing. It is the c-suite leaders who make it their personal commitment to drive authentic change and true equity in the next decade who will win.

About the Author: Claudia Chan is a recognized author, leadership and culture change expert, and entrepreneur dedicated to activating individuals and organizations to accelerate diversity, inclusion and social impact in the workplace and world. She is the founder of S.H.E. Summit, a platform that equips organizations with powerful learning and development opportunities that keep your talent inspired, engaged and growing all year. Through transformational course trainings, conferences, content and community, they empower talent in the global workplace to rise to their highest leadership potential. Claudia is the founder of their award-winning leadership conference S.H.E. Summit that has made advancing women, diversity, inclusion both accessible and actionable since 2012. Cross industry companies from Deloitte, EY, Samsung, Bacardi, Home Depot, Target to Morgan Stanley send rising talent for leadership transformation and to connect with private and public sector influencers. Claudia is also the author of the leadership book THIS IS HOW WE RISE: Reach Your Highest Potential, Empower Women, Lead Change in the World which was named by CNBC as a “top career book of 2018” and also featured in The New York Times. Claudia was also recently named 1 of 8 UN Women Champions for Innovation. She has been referred to as “the change-agent maker” and Fast Company has called her the “Richard Branson of women’s empowerment.”