Embracing Diversity and Inclusion as a Core Value Diversity, equity and inclusion fit nicely on PowerPoint slides. But putting DE&I into practice is anything but neat. It’s messy. It’s emotional. And it’s layered. It isn’t a one-time event that starts with a good idea and ends with a policy memo tucked away in a binder or buried on your agency’s intranet. Although there might be a designated person leading DE&I efforts at your agency, this work spans titles. It’s an all-of-government job that requires everyone, especially leaders, to ask themselves tough questions. We must all be aware of our biases and be willing to confront them and embrace diversity with empathy. But how? In this section, we explore actionable steps for putting these words into practice.
How to Embrace Diversity With Empathy First, how do we define empathy? Cognitive empathy: Understanding the perspectives or thoughts of another. Alone, cognitive empathy can lead to manipulation. It can also lead to being cold and unfeeling. Emotional empathy: Feeling and sharing the experience of another. Alone, emotional empathy can lead to overwhelming stress and even burnout. Compassionate empathy: Understanding and inspiration to take action. This can be grand gestures or even just listening. Compassionate empathy can improve communications, interpersonal relationships and even happiness.
24
What gets in the way of embracing diversity? Often, diversity can be impaired by splitsecond decisions triggered by biases. We all are capable of impeding diversity because of our narrow experiences and views of the world. Family, culture and environment all play a part in how we make sense of everything.
