Lisa Wardell: Belonging In The Room

Lisa Wardell self-describes as a lifelong learner who is dedicated to constantly challenging her lens. As the only Black female CEO in the S&P 400 and the Fortune 1000 in 2017, Lisa believes that diversity is imperative to ensuring that a business stays competitive and healthy over time. Throughout this conversation we explore how to make dialogue about race sustainable in the workplace and what it means to belong in the room. Lisa’s hopeful perspective is a grounding and inspiring force during these heartbreaking and yet heart-expanding times—we learn so much from Lisa and feel so honored to share this conversation with you.
Lisa Wardell self-describes as a lifelong learner who is dedicated to constantly challenging her lens. As the only Black female CEO in the S&P 400 and the Fortune 1000 in 2017, Lisa believes that diversity is imperative to ensuring that a business stays competitive and healthy over time. Throughout this conversation we explore how to make dialogue about race sustainable in the workplace and what it means to belong in the room. Lisa’s hopeful perspective is a grounding and inspiring force during these heartbreaking and yet heart-expanding times—we learn so much from Lisa and feel so honored to share this conversation with you.

Full show notes, downloadables, and links are also available at empoweredhumanacademy.com/1.

Keep the conversation going…
  1. Table Question: When it comes to race, how are you currently challenging your lens? How do you find yourself responding (or reacting) when you don’t know what to say? 
  2. Journal Prompt: Brainstorm your dream list for your personal board of directors. Write a few sentences about each person to explore why you’ve chosen them—perhaps your list will evolve as you sit with it more. Do you share a personal connection with them? Is there something you give them, too? 
  3. Action Step: One specific way to challenge your lens is to become curious about your own blind spots. Harvard has put together a series of implicit bias tests to help identify subconscious beliefs to ultimately help deepen self-understanding. Find 15 minutes this week to take one of the tests. You can find them here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html.
Further reading
This is a production of Lightward, Inc. Like everything we do, this show is Pay-What-Feels-Good.

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