Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Leslie Short is Founder and CEO of The Cavu Group, which focuses on Diversity & Inclusion, creating new solutions to old and new issues. She is also CEO of K.I.M. (Keep It Moving) Media and founder of Ascend Bereavement Management. She was formerly COO and Corporate Operations Strategist for various celebrities and companies including ABC’s Shark Tank star Daymond John and his companies. Leslie is a chaplain, activist, certified mental health aide, certified mediator, and conflict coach, as well as a dignitary and keynote speaker for United Nations and European Union events around the world. She has been honored by Ebony magazine as an Outstanding Woman in Marketing and Communications and New York Business Journal selected her as a Woman of Influence.

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Nothing About Us Without Us!

They & Them. When’s it gonna be We & Us?

It’s gonna be We & Us when you stop making the same mistakes over and over and over!

Nothing About Us Without Us has many meanings to me. Let’s start with the first one, which should be obvious, but judging by the news stories I’ve seen lately it clearly isn’t.

You Need the Right People in the Room
For all that is right and righteous, if you’re creating a program, shooting an ad campaign, or doing a role-play, and everyone in the room looks like you and sounds like you, then you’re already headed down a black hole. I’m not saying that you need to include people of all cultures, ages, weights, etc., but you need to have people in the room with the same life experience as the people you’re trying to reach. No exceptions, no excuses!

Here’s another way of saying it. If you’re doing a role-playing exercise, and everyone in the room looks like you, then you’re really doing a high school play, not a role-play. A role-play gives you feedback on feelings. Until you have lived, not walked, but lived, in someone else’s shoes, you may have an understanding, but you cannot have the same feelings.

If you’re speaking about or planning something regarding someone who isn’t like you, then you need to consult with appropriate cultural groups to get a better understanding of the people you’re trying to deal with!

If you have a D&I officer, bring them into the meetings when issues are being worked on; don’t wait until things have been decided. If you’ve hired that person to run your D&I department, make sure that they’re in every meeting where you’re working on new products, policy, programs, packaging, and cultural outreach. They also need the power to pull in others. They should be part of your C-suite team!

If I’m working on something about the LGBTQ+ community, you better believe I’m calling plenty of friends and friends of friends in that community to ask questions. Take a moment to think before you leap into a project, because it’s clear whether you’ve made the effort or not made the effort to research and respect a culture. Just because you’ve seen it or done it in the past doesn’t mean that it’s right for this moment. If you don’t know, ask! (Maybe that should have been the title of this book!)

When you’re starting a project, you need inclusion of thought as well as cultural inclusion. Having a personal relationship with someone from a culture that’s not yours may give you insight into that culture, but it doesn’t make you an expert. It’s not the same as being on the inside.

You can hold internal focus groups, but only if your staff is diverse. (It’s sort of a Catch-22 – if you don’t have diversity in your company you can’t have an effective internal focus group on diversity.) One option is to hire a company to conduct a focus group for you, but you’ll need to give them the proper information to conduct an effective one – one that will give you the information you need for your project. This means that you’ll need a focus group for the focus group. Another option is to hire consultants who can help you reach out to the diverse groups you’re trying to reach out to. For example, if you’re trying to speak to black folks during an election, there are educated black folks and points of contact outside the church. Just saying.

I hope that I’ve made one meaning clear. If not, call me. We’ll go for coffee or a drink and I’ll be happy to break it down further.

Avoid Mixed Messages
What’s happening internally in your company? Does Public Relations know what Advertising is doing? Does Advertising know what Marketing is doing? Do Social Media and Sales have the concept and context of the goal of the mission and campaign? This is where I see things go awry. I’ve read your press release. I’ve see your ad. I’ve seen your post. I’ve seen your products in stores. But it’s obvious that somewhere a breakdown in communications happened! Why? Because you are clearly sending mixed messages! And now you’re in a mess!

Communication is the key. How is your message being said? Who’s saying it? Where is it being said? Who’s in the ad? Just because it’s a celebrity and you think it’s cool doesn’t mean that he can be dressed as an Indian chief. It’s not cool – it’s a mess if you haven’t researched your market or if all your departments aren’t on the same page. What-A-Mess!

Someone on the inside should have pointed the mess out to you. PR, Marketing, Advertising, Staff? If you don’t have diversity of thought you won’t understand cultural references and meanings. Now you’re in trouble!

Story Time

See the Pattern?
I love stories. When I came back to America I modeled as my side gig, and I landed a large national campaign. Having lived out of the country for thirteen years I was in the habit of asking about hair and make-up. I always brought wigs and makeup with me because more times than not the people running the campaign weren’t prepared, even though they told me not to worry. If I hadn’t been prepared, I would have been sorry.

Client: We would like to test adding extensions to your hair.
Me: Does the hair stylist know how to work with black hair?
Client: Yes, he does tons of 7th on Sixth Shows (New York Fashion Week).
Me: Hmm, OK.
Client: We’ll do a test for styles.
Me: Great, I’ll be there. [Arrive at client office with their staff, hairstylist, and several executives present.]
Hairstylist: I’ll add a few extensions just to mock the styles for this evening.
Me: That’s great. Please keep in mind my agent mentioned that I’m booked for a job tomorrow, so please make sure that whatever we do tonight can come out and that we’re not gluing.
Hairstylist: I have glue that will rub out.
Me: You do see I’m black, right, and with black hair nothing rubs out, and we’re in the office and not a salon.

Long story short, the hairstylist didn’t work on the final campaign because the glue didn’t rub out. I had to be paid to have my hair redone and for the job that had to be pushed back (fortunately they switched me with another model at the last minute so I could have an extra day to find a stylist who could help), all at the cost of the client.

I should have spoken up sooner, but, like many people, I didn’t want to cause trouble. and yet we often end up in worse trouble when we keep quiet. I will never hold back again. Remember, if you want to cross over into other cultures, hire people who can do the job and listen to them!

The moral of this story also applies to women and those with disabilities and LGBTQ+ folks and so on. I don’t want you to think that this is just a color issue. Stop assuming that you know it all about the people you’re trying to reach. Bring those educated about the topic into the room and together you can make informed decisions.

You might be thinking that diversity and inclusion require a lot of time and money, and you’re right. You may have to add a line item called research to your budget, unless you want to add a line item called additional legal fees.

I speak from experience. It was my job. I’ve been They & Them in the room, and I’ve been the consultant hired to be in the room to insure that They & Them in the room had a voice. If you call us into the room, don’t do it for show, do it because you’re invested in getting it right.

Advice for Leadership

I asked the following question in my questionnaire: If you could tell leadership anything about Nothing About Us Without Us, what would it be?

Include Us in the conversation.
― Promotion, Marketing & Event Planning...