The Belonging Practice: Bridge Differences & Practice Collective Care to Become the Leader You Need
Release Date: 03/25/2025
Imagine Belonging at Work
Are you struggling with how to talk about your organization's DEI commitments in today’s volatile climate? In this episode of the "Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality" mini-series, host Rhodes Perry offers message-tested communication strategies to fortify the heart of your work. Discover how to take a "Goldilocks approach," balancing what you say to different audiences to avoid legal risks while protecting your brand's reputation. Learn why the full phrase "diversity, equity, and inclusion" is more powerful than the acronym "DEI" and how to frame your initiatives...
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In this special bonus episode of the "Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality" mini-series, we reflect on the material consequences of inflammatory rhetoric and dangerous policies that impact protected employee groups. Host Rhodes Perry identifies the groups disproportionately impacted and outlines the strategy behind Project 2025, which aims to unravel decades of civil rights gains. This episode offers a critical examination of how threats to civil rights enforcement, mass deportations, and healthcare restrictions can impact your workforce and business outcomes. You'll learn...
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In the face of growing opposition, what proactive actions can leaders take to fortify their diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments? This final episode of the mini-series "Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality" is your guide to moving from a defensive stance to one of proactive leadership. Host Rhodes Perry shares essential strategies for building a powerful "champions coalition" beyond traditional teams, and a roadmap for reimagining your DEI framework to ensure success for everyone. You'll learn to clarify outcomes, design scaled behavior change, and embrace...
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In this episode of the Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality mini-series, we're talking about something every leader needs to be aware of: the profound impact of collective trauma and grief on your workforce. Host Rhodes Perry shares how the current climate amplifies fear and anxiety, disrupting the very fabric of trust and psychological safety in the workplace. This episode provides actionable, trauma-informed strategies to support your employees. You'll learn how to: Provide psychological safety first aid. Acknowledge and validate employees' grief. Model collective...
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Are you confident your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are legally sound? In this episode of the Imagine Belonging Podcast mini-series, "Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion's New Reality," we explore the shifting legal landscape and what it means for your workplace. Host Rhodes Perry provides a clear-eyed analysis of the legal attacks on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, including recent court rulings, executive actions, and congressional proposals. This episode gives you the essential legal context to fortify your diversity, equity, and...
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In a climate where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals are facing unprecedented challenges, how can leaders continue to build spaces of belonging? This exclusive mini-series, Navigating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s New Reality, inspired by a toolkit originally for Fortune 100 leaders, is your roadmap! Host and creator of the Imagine Belonging Podcast, Rhodes Perry, a nationally recognized belonging culture thought leader, offers the essential guidance you need to navigate the shifting landscape of legal challenges, evolving rhetoric, and evolving workforce strategies....
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Congress established the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its primary purpose is to prevent and address unfair treatment in the workplace, ensuring that employers don't discriminate against individuals based on race, gender, religion, or age in hiring, firing, or promotions. Essentially, the EEOC attempts to create a level playing field in the job market by investigating complaints and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Yet today’s EEOC, led by acting chair Andrea Lucas, is rapidly changing, especially as it enforces—or...
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The past decade has tragically tested the resilience and brilliance of transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (trans) people living in the U.S. Misinformation about who we are and what we want has sparked thousands of anti-transgender bills introduced in nearly every state capital across the country, adversely impacting almost every segment of the trans community. Despite this harsh reality, the future is a rainbow, and it’s wise for business leaders to recognize this truth. It’s also essential for these leaders to recognize the responsibility they have to prepare their...
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Allies. In workplace settings, there are times when most of us need them. Consider this scenario; you’re in a meeting, and you’re about to take a calculated risk to share an unpopular idea. As soon as you complete your thought, one of your colleagues quickly responds, complimenting you on your idea, and asking you to share more. That’s an act of allyship. Conversely, in that very same meeting, you can take an act of allyship by showing up for a different colleague when another person says something unskillful to them. Without a beat, you can simply say, “You just said [insert...
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Welcoming LGBTQ+ employees into the workforce is one of the great business success stories of the last 20 years. By implementing LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices businesses led the way, before the laws caught up, and organizations like Out & Equal paved the way. Listen to this episode featuring Windō Co-Founder + Head of Social Impact, Ken Janssens, share how to protect the progress made for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion, and gain insights on how to protect the heart of this essential inclusion work. For those unfamiliar with Ken, he is a former tech executive and Chief Data Officer...
info_outlineWho do you need to become to be the leader you need in this moment? There’s nothing more powerful than a question like this one. Even if you don’t have an answer, big questions like these generate new thoughts. To encourage new thoughts to emerge, leaders like you will need to practice belonging with bridging and collective care skills.
Many leaders who seek coaching support from Rhodes Perry Consulting initially struggle with bridging differences and building belonging spaces, often because they were never taught these skills. This is largely due to how the old ways of leadership were modeled and taught. It’s for this reason we developed The Belonging Practice Host Guide. It’s designed to empower visionary leaders like you to create the conditions of safety and trust for those you lead.
This timely resource offers somatic, bridging, and collective care practices to help lead you by offering the skills and abilities to acknowledge and cope with the collective trauma and grief so many within the workforce and beyond are navigating. During this podcast episode, enjoy an expanded conversation with Rhodes Perry, where he will help you answer the following questions:
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Why does exclusion compounded by collective trauma and grief harm team performance and employee well-being?
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What kind of leader do you need to become to match the urgency of this moment?
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How can somatics, bridging, and collective care practices help you grow team safety, trust, and belonging?
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How can you transform acts of exclusion into moments of belonging?
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How can you bridge disagreement through dialogue intended to seek understanding?
Rhodes rarely records solo episodes, and wanted to help amplify the power of his team’s complimentary Belonging Practice Host Guide to support so many leaders struggling to show up in the face of so much chaos, uncertainty, and fear. As you listen to this podcast, be sure to access the following resources to help you develop the skills required to become the leader you need, in this moment:
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Access the Belonging Practice Host Guide. Access a complimentary copy of the Belonging Practice Host guide to begin developing the essential somatic, bridging, and collective care practices you need to support those you lead navigate these challenging times. You can access the guide by visiting: www.rhodesperry.com/belongingpractice.
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Join Our Thursday Practice. If you’d like to practice somatics, bridging, and community care with like-minded visionary leaders, consider joining our complimentary Belonging Practice on most Thursdays from 8 am to 9 am Pacific Time by saving your seat here.
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Want Bridging Support? Learn more about our bridging solutions by speaking with a team member for customized organizational or team support. We are ready to support you and those you lead by delivering the skills to build spaces of belonging. Contact us here.
Thanks for growing our Belonging Movement!