{"id":1277,"date":"2021-08-18T05:40:34","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T05:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eventible.com\/learning\/?p=1277"},"modified":"2021-09-07T08:27:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T08:27:57","slug":"speakers-corner-amri-b-johnson-ceo-at-inclusion-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eventible.com\/learning\/speakers-corner-amri-b-johnson-ceo-at-inclusion-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker\u2019s Corner: Featuring Amri B. Johnson, CEO at Inclusion Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Amri<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaker\u2019s Corner: Featuring Amri B. Johnson, CEO at Inclusion Wins<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Tell me about Inclusion Wins, its work, and the projects that are undertaken thereof?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusion wins is an inclusion-focused management consulting firm. We deliver people focus solutions with an inclusion lens. So our core to the company\u2019s brand is working with companies to answer the question, \u201chow do we make inclusion accessible to all actionable meaning unambiguously prioritized, and sustainable, which translates into alignment with organizational purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s kind of our core work. We also have a cooperative of partners that we work with that do other types of people-focused solutions from coaching, to various types of education, to even services such as HR solutions and recruitment, across various industries that we go to directly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inclusion Wins framework is a focus on what we call \u2018Inclusion Systems design\u2019 that\u2019s building inclusion into all elements of an organization\u2019s design process. And then we focus on cultural intelligence as a set of skills and capabilities to increase your ability to work across differences but also the skills that allow you to engage with people from any background in a way that produces results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then the last is around social capital. In there, we do work around the building of our organizational informal networks, and what that looks like is we measure it, and then we work around solutions to enhance that. So our core is around inclusion systems design, cultural intelligence, and social capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most of our longer-term clients \u2013 we take them through a 12 to 18-month process of really designing inclusion into their organization. So that can mean a lot of different things. It could start with the focus on what people often say, as DEI. And then sometimes it can translate into an organization revisiting their values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like one of our clients are right now \u2013 where we partner with one of our cooperative partners to move that work, measure their value, see where there are gaps, and then work on approaches to create the new cultural values in the organization across the company, rather than just coming from the leadership alone. So that\u2019s an example of our projects and a little bit of an overview of how we work generally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the challenges within the management consulting industry today? What are the ways we can effectively mitigate risks?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know, I don\u2019t know what the challenges are across management consulting generally. But within the work that I do in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, probably the biggest risk is a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon because there\u2019s so much of an uprising after the murder of George Floyd. That a lot of people just got involved because they were passionate about it, and they wanted to, you know, make a difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s great. And it\u2019s an incomplete reason why you get into a business. This is a business and you need to have some depth. And so I think the biggest challenge is a lot of firms have jumped in or a lot of people have started firms but may not have enough depth to take organizations from kind of a reductionist look at just a particular aspect of diversity versus what are we looking at across an organizational system so that everyone can thrive and contribute at their highest level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while I understand passionate people building their DEI brand, but I think it\u2019s incomplete and that\u2019s where I think there\u2019s the biggest challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can mitigate the risk primarily by you know, as people who hire these consultants be very deliberate about what we are trying to create and talking to them about if you\u2019re just doing a course, be it unconscious bias, anti-racism, it is just one part of what’s needed. You can take a course and there\u2019s a lot of people that can do that kind of education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you want to create systemic change, you need to vet people for the process will they take for you to begin to create the capabilities to make this work accessible to everybody, actionable, and sustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s what I ask of clients. And for us, if a client\u2019s not interested in doing that, we probably aren\u2019t a fit. So if a management consulting firm comes in, and the company that they\u2019re pitching to wants is not focused on long-term change, you can hire pretty much anyone. Folks know the content, it\u2019s out there. It\u2019s publicly available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the depth of work takes somebody who has a different type of skill and experience. And that\u2019s the distinction that I see even in the big consulting firms. Because they hire people either right out of the school or sometimes right out of college. And they just don\u2019t have the \u2013 what I call the \u2018reps\u2019, they don\u2019t have the repetitions in the work. It\u2019s like you\u2019re not going to be Stephen Curry if you don\u2019t shoot 100,000 3-pointers very well for a long time, you don\u2019t become an expert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t become one of the best at this without doing that. And so, I recommend that you get clear on what people have done, not just what they know. Because knowledge is just one part of being a good management consultant. And other parts, obviously beyond making nice Powerpoints, are the ability of the discussion you can have with a client that helps them change the way they\u2019re thinking about something so they can do it extraordinarily impactfully and in a way sustainably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your number one goal as a speaker?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My number one goal as a speaker is to always make a connection. And then it also meets my lower-level aspirations \u2013 to potentially develop a new client or a next speaking engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, on the low end of the spectrum, I want to be able to build my organization and generate what you need to build a company, and on the high end, I want to connect. I want to move closer to a more transformational way of looking at the world through the lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share with us the points of discussion (the input that you provided) during the panel(s) at the Diversity and Inclusion Leaders Forum?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talked more specifically about Inclusion Systems design. And so when you design an inclusion system, you have certain inputs that are intended to build capabilities with all of humanity that exists within your organization. And that\u2019s all stakeholders, internal and external, to build capabilities and capacity to contribute to everyone thriving. And so that\u2019s the output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the input is anything from psychological safety, some people are talking about engaging around dignity, you might be doing something on the impact bias and how to mitigate dysfunctional bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We work a lot on caring and what that means \u2013 caring is, you know, in a way everybody develops. People feel like they are cared about in terms of your policies and your rewards. That can be anything from how you design your parental leave policies to a gesture that some people might overlook such as having a neutral bathroom for somebody who\u2019s transitioning or not comfortable sharing that they are transgender. So that\u2019s a care element. The other one is openness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you feel like people are open to you? Do they share information with you? Do they listen? Do they ask good questions? The other one is, do people feel safe? Have your policies led people to feel safe when you\u2019re in a situation where there\u2019s conflict?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you feel like you can move through the conflict because your colleagues all have the same desire to create something extraordinary? Or do you feel like you\u2019re threatened when you\u2019re in those situations, and how can an organization make sure it\u2019s the former versus the latter consistently. And then lastly, that also comes down to trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the things that we want to build as inputs oftentimes, come in those forms. And you want to create this through humanity, which I talked about as a superset of all the various identities in an organization, which are those subsets of that humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s about capability building, learning what outcomes you want–thriving can translate into a lot different things. It could be bottom line thriving, it could be people through surveys feeling like they\u2019re growing and contributing at their highest level. People being able to take on expanded responsibilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are lots of ways you can measure the outcome of thriving, that are relevant to all the stakeholders that are part of your ecosystem. As an organization from the most junior employee through your customer base. So that\u2019s what I talked about at the forum. I gave some similar frameworks that I shared in question one, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a leader, what are the factors both professional and personal that drive you? What keeps you going?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say my faith drives me. My faith and my family. I don\u2019t know if I have this distinction between what keeps me going professionally and personally. I guess it\u2019s rare. You don\u2019t always get to do something that is kind of part of your reason for being. So not everybody gets that opportunity in life. And so I\u2019m pretty blessed that I can do that. I don\u2019t have this \u2013 I go to work and I compartmentalize work, I come home and I shift to my home and just focus on my family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I do, I believe is beneficial to my family and other families. And my work is in alignment with my purpose. And I think when that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s easy to keep going. I\u2019ve built other businesses, but it was purely to make money. I didn\u2019t care about anything else, i.e. invest in real estate, I want to get the biggest returns. That was it. But this work, I don\u2019t always get the biggest returns in terms of financial returns, but I keep doing it because it\u2019s my purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your opinion, do digital events give you a similar level of feedback\/result vis-\u00e0-vis the live versions? What would you say were the biggest pros and cons of both formats? Which do you prefer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delivery of a session is the same to me. Now, you don\u2019t get the audience response that\u2019s immediate all the time. But now that folks are doing more stuff in chat, and people open chat up so folks can chat along. Even if you\u2019re so focused on speaking and you see the numbers of chat going up, you\u2019re like, oh, people are engaged. So you at least feel that that\u2019s there. What you don\u2019t get is the meeting after the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to talk to people as fluidly as you would, like you were kind of strolling through when you have an affinity with somebody, you have that conversation. And it\u2019s not always like transactional. You have a booth, it\u2019s like, \u2018hey, let\u2019s connect and see what we can learn from each other, and maybe down the line, we might end up working together.\u2019 But that\u2019s not the point. So you know, when you\u2019re at a conference as a company, you\u2019re trying to generate leads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely. And I think you can do that through a digital event as well. But the deeper connection that you get from the kind of a sit down having a tea or coffee with someone, having lunch with someone at the conference is different. So that\u2019s the pro and con. I think you can do similar things in terms of sharing the information or data with somebody, but the interaction was different. What do I prefer? I mean, honestly, of course, you prefer having some in-person contact. But we\u2019re in the middle of a pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I don\u2019t know if I have a preference. I have a preference for health, and for people to feel safe. That\u2019s going to go way further than me being in a conference where people are a little bit nervous and standing away from me when, you know, hadn\u2019t been out for a year and don\u2019t know about how to connect. So when we get back to in-person events, it\u2019s going to be a gradual easing into the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your take on in-person events? Do you prefer in-person events as compared to hybrid or virtual? How soon do you think in-person events would return?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know how I feel about virtual. Because I think there\u2019s sometimes some inequity that happens in a virtual event, depending on if you\u2019re a participant or speaker. And, are you going to charge the same amount of money for an in-person versus a virtual, doesn\u2019t matter? I don\u2019t know how we value the distinction. I don\u2019t know how you put a monetary value on that. But I think it has to be taken into consideration. So I probably would say I prefer in-person. I would rather be in-person or virtual. I wouldn\u2019t necessarily want a hybrid; I\u2019d want everybody where they are. Maybe showing the videos afterward, virtually. But not the actual conference being a hybrid. I\u2019m not okay with that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know, it depends on where you are in the world, where in-person events when they would return. I think we\u2019re further out in some parts of the world. And for right now, everybody is further out than we thought we would be. So I have no idea. But when the public health people say, that\u2019s my answer. And I\u2019m a public health person, but I don\u2019t make the rules in every part of the world or any part of the world for that matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventible.com<\/a> is a review platform specially catering to B2B events. Given how review-driven our lives have become today, do you think reviews will bring in a level of transparency to the events industry? Would you rely on event reviews from other speakers if you had to make a speaking decision?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes speakers have a bad day. They weren\u2019t as good as they could have been that one day. And so if somebody didn\u2019t agree with something they said, or they didn\u2019t say it most dynamically, this particular time–You know, people love to cancel people and say negative stuff, that\u2019s like social media\u2019s kind of dark side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s also the chance that people are biased, sometimes people give a better review than maybe is warranted in an objective sense. So, I probably just need to see the speaker and see if they meet the requirements of what we were trying to create at that particular time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I was an employee, somebody hiring speakers or one of my clients wanted a speaker on a particular topic, I would spend the time listening to one or two other clips, and then having a conversation with them to see if they could convey what we needed to convey. I don\u2019t think reviews sway me as much to decide on them, but it might give me to look at certain ones, more than I look at others just because of the reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if I was picking from five folks and three of them have four or five stars and two of them are one or two stars, I probably look at the four or five stars first as my criteria for who I was going to review but I\u2019d eventually look at the others too if I saw some positive reviews for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, do you have a favorite mocktail or drink?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t drink really. So my mocktail would be like a tonic. Or if they have non-alcohol spirits. I guess they\u2019re not spirits if they don\u2019t have alcohol. But I like digestive vinegar, stuff like that. When I\u2019m in a certain country that makes those, I really like them. In Taiwan, I would drink this non-alcoholic wine that was like vinegar. It\u2019s good for your body. I like that if it\u2019s available. But otherwise, I just have sparkling water. Sorry, I\u2019m boring in that regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Amri B. Johnson:<\/em><\/strong>  For over 20 years, Amri Johnson has been instrumental in helping organizations and their people create extraordinary business outcomes. He is a social capitalist, epidemiologist, entrepreneur, executive coach, and inclusion strategist. Amri\u2019s dialogic approach to engaging all people as leaders and change agents (previously at the research division of Novartis, as Global Head of Cultural Intelligence and Inclusion) has fostered the opening of minds and deepening of skillsets with organizational leaders and citizens enabling them to thrive and optimally contribute to one another and their respective organizations. Presently, as CEO\/Founder of Inclusion Wins, he is building a global cooperative of people-focused solution providers whose work is informed and enhanced by inclusiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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