Gavriella Schuster Urges Partners to Examine, Challenge the DEI Status Quo

NERDIOCON, CANCUN — To kick off day three of NerdioCon, Gavriella Schuster, Microsoft’s former channel chief, led a workshop on diversity, equity and inclusion, and its importance to managed service providers.

The interactive session focused on disrupting the status quo and leading change around diversity.

“The most impactful thing you can do for another human being is to empower them,” said Schuster. “When you invite those with diverse backgrounds into conversations, you invite other experiences. The nature of diversity is that you combine lived experiences. You are sharing a space; you are sharing your privilege. By doing that, you are empowering.”

Diversity is about actively looking for people who think differently than you, said Schuster. Seek out those who look different, who have different backgrounds and different ways of thinking. Leadership especially needs to focus on having an inclusive team where different perspectives are valued and voiced.

We are all different, she said, and that brings such wonderful color to an organization. That’s the value of diversity.

“Have the courage to be different,” urges Schuster. “It takes even more courage when you stand out (when you are the “only” in a space) to speak up. For example, women often have to justify their credibility to overcome bias — especially in tech.

Schuster shared a few acronyms to help articulate her points. The first, BE-COME.

BE-COME

• Connect. Tap into different networks. Create bigger connections with intention. There are more than 200 “women in tech groups” in the country, for example. Schuster urged attendees to join or at least take a look at those. “If you’re looking for diverse recruits, actively expand your network,” said Schuster. “Utilize groups — LinkedIn, etc. This, again, takes courage. When you do this, though, you discover that the world is actually very big.”
• Outreach. You must change your hiring/recruiting practices. Go for external hires. For every candidate pool, have at least two diverse candidates and a diverse hiring panel. Doing this consciously will change the face of your employee group.
• Mentor. Offer to be a mentor. Chances are, you have great experiences to share, so putting yourself out there as a mentor creates a learning relationship on both ends. By combining perspectives and experiences, you encourage a diverse environment. When you have diversity on your team, you start to see things differently — at work and in life in general.
• Empowerment. This is about sharing power — it’s empowering someone else. It is also allyship. It gives people the space and the platform to share a different perspective.

Allyship empowers and builds action. Give people the opportunity to feel valued and be part of the conversation, said Schuster. It’s about being situationally aware. When employees feel valued, when they feel heard, the level of retention goes up. Employees feel a higher level of engagement and loyalty that way.

The second acronym Schuster shared was ALLIES.

ALLIES

• Advocate. This means you are not a part of the group that another person is a part of. This is any situation where you are an “only.” The only woman, the only man, the only African American, the only person with a disability. “If you are an ‘only’ in any given situation, it takes a lot of courage to point out instances of bias,” said Schuster. “In this case, and in general, leaders should focus on being situationally aware and mindful. This is the perfect time to step in and be an ally and advocate in those instances — to diffuse, not shame.”
• Listen. Really listen, and seek to understand someone else’s perspective. Don’t just wait for your opportunity to speak — really focus on listening. That shows that you are curious and understanding. When you ask someone their opinion, you are building their confidence, Schuster said. You are saying that they matter, thereby lifting them up. “In our industry, there is often a devil’s advocate, tear-down tests mentality,” said Schuster. This destroys people’s confidence. Instead, encourage and build confidence.”
• Lift. Encourage, boost, elevate. When leaders consciously do this, it encourages employees to work toward something. This directly translates over to performance.
• Include. Make sure everyone has an equal voice. If this is not a focus, this can cause gaps, make people not feel a part of the conversation, and thereby impact the team. Bring people into the conversation.
• Elevate. Give responsibility to someone who doesn’t have it. Give them an opportunity to speak at an event, put them in charge of a task they didn’t previously own. Leaders should build the capability of the people on their team in a diverse way. Take an intentional action to create diversity and inclusion.
• Sponsor. Endorse someone when they haven’t asked for it. This builds confidence, Schuster noted. Leaders should work to recognize what they think the members of their team are capable of, and create opportunities to feature them.

Diversity is about including all of these components, not just one or two of them. Focus on being mindful and creating those pathways. Most important of all, break out of your comfort zone. This is how necessary change happens, said Schuster.