How to Reset Corporate Culture (With DEI Expert Shan Foster)
If you look, you’ll occasionally find windows that allow you to peer into the lives and experiences of others. Such opportunities are rare and invaluable. We should gaze into — or climb through — them whenever possible. I seized the chance to do that when Shan Foster spoke with two of my Vistage groups.
Shan offers a program focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in a way that is simultaneously personal and universal. His work is emotionally evocative and enlightening. Shan brings both heart and substance to the high-profile yet often misunderstood topic of DEI. He provides the structure for implementing positive changes in an organization’s culture, and he explains how leaders can measure the results of their efforts.
After our Vistage session, Shan and I had a brief chat about his mission and the one thing he wishes everyone knew about DEI. Watch my interview with Shan to find out what he said. Then, visit Shan’s Fostering Healthy Solutions website for more information about his expertise and services.
TRANSCRIPT
Chad Harvey (00:05): Chad Harvey here with Shan Foster. Shan just wrapped his excellent DEI program with our Vistage group here in Central Pennsylvania. Shan, it was fantastic. Thank you very much.
Shan Foster (00:14): Thank you.
Chad Harvey (00:15): Seven steps to fostering a healthier corporate culture. What is the one thing that you’d like folks to know about DEI, equity, and inclusion?
Shan Foster (00:24): Well, that most importantly, it’s not just the right thing to do, although it is, but it also makes perfect business sense. We live in a global market and in order for us to take advantage of that global market, we got to be more inclusive. We got to celebrate our differences, those diversities, those unique things about ourselves that make us great and add value to companies.
Shan Foster (00:46): At the end of the day, we know that top talent doesn’t always produce the greatest results, but diverse teams do. That’s data, that’s research, that’s the power of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s not just about minorities and black and white and gender, it’s about everybody, and the more we come together to produce those great outcomes and improve our corporate culture, the more efficient we are, the better we are, and the better we are together.
Chad Harvey (01:15): I love it. He just gave you the secret formula for winning the war for talent. Shan, thank you.
Shan Foster (01:20): Thank you.