Collective Inner Resistance (+ Its Harmful Effects on Your Diversity Recruiting Initiative)
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Have you ever felt that internal battle between two parts of yourself?
On one side, there is the part of you that desires to affect real change. Then there is the other part of you that hesitates to act. That hesitation, in its many forms—is your resistance.
According to Dolly Garland of KaizenJournaling.com, “Inner resistance makes you think that you believe something, and so should resist things that are seemingly opposite.”
I often tell the story about an instructor who made a powerful statement at the beginning of a diversity and inclusion workshop I attended. She said that every practitioner learns that the very first step into diversity and inclusion is to first check yourself. What she meant was that diversity and inclusion work begins at a personal level. It begins with being honest with yourself about your feelings, not just as it relates to people who identify uniquely to you, but honestly about your feelings regarding the topic of diversity and all its companion subjects (e.g., racial equity, American history, etc.).
There is no way to fully lean into increasing diversity at your company when there’s resistance blocking you. When was the last time you were with a group, a topic came up, and maybe you did not feel qualified, capable, or even comfortable addressing the topic? Perhaps, you felt like you didn’t know enough. Maybe you were afraid of using the wrong language or terms. Or maybe, you just wanted to avoid saying something that could lead others to think that you were racist.
During your discomfort, how did you respond?
You probably did NOT. It is highly likely that you did not engage in the topic at all.
We find that the same is true for recruiters and hiring leaders. When they do not feel qualified, capable or comfortable to address the topic of diversity—or any of its companion themes—they also do not fully engage. It is precisely this disengagement, whether from recruiters, hiring leaders, senior leaders, and the company as a whole, that is preventing your organization from moving the needle to increase diversity.
"In order to deliver upon the initiative to have a fully representative organization where people feel included, an organization must deal with its own resistance." - Jenn Tardy
I talk about inner resistance often in my workshops and diversity recruiting training programs. It takes full engagement to go from a homogenous work environment to increasing diversity and creating belonging. In order to deliver upon the initiative to have a fully representative organization where people feel included, an organization must deal with its own resistance.
If you are still faced with unreconciled resistance, here’s something else I want you to consider. What if everyone at your company disengaged in all topics related to diversity—just as you do? What if everyone at your company waited for someone else to do the work to increase representation—just as you do? What if everyone decided to turn the other way after identifying biased policies, practices, and behaviors? What if everyone responded—well—just as you do?
Collective inner resistance can have a harmful effect on your organization’s diversity recruiting efforts. Here are a few examples:
Collective inner resistance can make organizations reframe data to show that the problem around representation is not really that bad or prevalent.
Collective inner resistance can prevent companies from fully engaging in tough topics around employee dissatisfaction and turnover, leaving recruiters constantly backfilling positions.
Collective inner resistance can make organizations think that their environment is ready for increased representation. So, when marginalized employees leave, they are seen as the issue rather than the environment.
Collective inner resistance can be the reason it takes an exorbitant amount of time to move from performative or optical allyship to doing the actual work to create equity in the hiring process.
Collective inner resistance can cause overrepresentation of White women being hired in an effort to say that your company is moving the needle in increasing diversity?
Many are working in environments where collective inner resistance is rampant and do not know it. The challenge with resistance is that, because it is happening within, it is often not something that is conspicuous or easily noticeable—even though it may be happening collectively. Rather, it is subtle and easy to justify away. So, if you are not looking for the signs, you may miss noticing when it is happening in your company.
If you notice collective resistance at your company, here are three things that you can do to create a shift in behavior:
Tip #1: Make familiar the phrase “inner resistance.”
Help your peers to understand what it is, how it develops, and what they can do to manage their own resistance. When concepts become familiar, people become more willing to discuss them openly. Get to a place where employees feel just as comfortable discussing inner resistance as they do with discussing high performance, for example.
Tip #2: Role model change.
Be transparent about how resistance has manifested in your life, talk about the areas of resistance you’ve faced, and how it has impacted your ability to lean into the work of increasing diversity. Also, talk about some of the solutions you’ve embedded to overcome inner resistance.
Tip #3: Call your team IN, not out.
If you believe that you have identified resistance in your peers, rather than calling them out, call them in. Ask questions and be genuinely inquisitive and non-judgmental. A simple question like, “Hey, I noticed that you were less engaged into today’s team discussion which is unlike you; is everything okay?” If needed and welcomed, be sure to empathize. We all experience resistance at some point in life. Create a safe space for others to open up about theirs.
In 3 Ways to Overcome Inner Resistance, Dolly Garland goes on to say, “Inner resistance comes in many guises and is a pain in the ass to overcome. But you have to overcome it. Because inner resistance is you holding yourself back. That’s worse than letting other people or circumstances hold you back. Allowing your inner resistance to win is to limit yourself.”
Collective inner resistance may unify your current organization, especially if everyone is onboard with avoiding unpacking it, but it is only at the cost of excluding countless others who could have added tremendous value to your organization. Do not limit yourself and the potential of your organization to be competitive simply because of your unwillingness to unpack your own inner resistance. Though the work will not be easy, it will help you and your company get closer to creating an environment well represented where all employees feel like they belong and can thrive.
Join the conversation in the comments. What additional tactics can employers use to shift collective inner resistance at their company?
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