Page 144 - Appreciative Leadership

The Genius of Inclusion 117

A few years ago, while working with a Native American hotel and
casino in New Mexico, we were surprisingly challenged by the diver-
sity of the workforce. We had designed and were facilitating a series
of five Appreciative Inquiry Summits focused on “Excellence in Cus-

tomer Service.” All 1,200 employees were invited to attend one of the
two-day-long meetings. Wanting to be inclusive and welcoming of all,
we planned to accommodate English- and Spanish-speaking employ-
ees by translating materials into Spanish and ensuring that our team
included a Spanish-speaking facilitator. We did not plan, however, for
the Chinese chef and his team of cooks and kitchen staff whose pri-

mary language was Chinese. They arrived at the first meeting ready to
participate fully. We were the ones who were not ready. We apologized
for our inappropriate cultural oversight. We asked them to wait and
attend the next meeting, one week later. Th ey agreed.
We quickly contacted a Chinese colleague who joined our team to

interpret for them. Their participation brought great excitement and
energy to the meeting. During report-outs in the whole group, the
translator interpreted and presented their ideas in English, and then,
at the request of the whole group, the Chinese participants shared

their ideas in Chinese. Spanish speakers did the same. The result was
a culturally rich environment in which everyone felt safe to share their
ideas, thoughts and feelings, and to collaborate in creating the future
of their workplace.
Wherever you are and whatever your goals today, it is important

that you find ways to include others, to accommodate conversational
differences, and to listen deeply. In so doing, you will stimulate inno-

vation and support the creation of a world that works for all.

Taking Inclusion to Scale:

The Appreciative Inquiry Summit

In today’s rapidly changing global environment, the capacity for

accelerated positive change is a key success factor. This means that
organizations must be able to take inclusion to scale: to engage