Beth Ridley argues that DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) should not be treated as a separate initiative but is an essential part of modern leadership. She links belonging, recognition of differences, and flexibility to effective leadership, saying leaders must bridge disagreements and bring out the best in diverse teams.
Whenever I talk about belonging I talk about leadership because to me I have actually replaced DEI with leadership. DEI is no longer a standalone concept or an initiative. It is in fact leadership because if you are in charge of people and you cannot appreciate that there are differences and be flexible in your approach so that everyone feels a sense of belonging you are simply not leading in the modern era. So to me belonging, differences, inclusion, flexibility is the hallmarks of new era leadership. A leader can't always choose who they work with. You're going to work with people you don't agree with and you don't like. Can you bridge across that to bring out the best in everyone? Good leaders can and so good leaders lean into dei. We have to work on leadership now because leaders have to be able to bring these concepts to life and again not a lot of pushback because most people appreciate fundamentally that is the role of the.
