“Diversity is a fact; inclusion is a choice.”

What one skill could we all benefit from right now? What one thing would turbocharge inclusion both in society and at work?

Matthew Barzun is the former US Ambassador to the UK, having served as a grassroots campaigner for the Obama election campaign in 2008. Here, he gained first-hand experience of the magic that manifests when people are invited to co-create. Moreover, he learned how to listen and how to give away power. 

We’ve long argued that the only way for organisations to futureproof themselves against the convergent forces disrupting market stability in the 2020s is to invite ALL internal stakeholders to act as vital sense makers. Organisational resilience depends on the activation of everyone’s sensory skills to observe, listen to and feedback on what external stakeholders are saying both verbally and non-verbally. This requires deep relational and community building skills, replacing ‘power over’ with ‘power with’. 

The Power of Giving Away Power examines how goodwill and collaboration build when people feel seen, heard and included in something bigger than themselves. Creating positive momentum requires us to listen more than we speak, to listen to understand and synthesize diverse points of view. As Barzun writes, it demands “the ability to disagree with affection”.

As we face up to our biggest societal and environmental challenges, we must recognise both the power and potential of community and interdependence over rugged individualism and hyper-competition. It’s time to re-integrate our most natural pro-social human state and recognise that “co-creation is the work; interdependence is the promise".