Say More About That

28Any Questions?

I imagine the answer to that is yes. As I was writing this book, there were a number of things that came to mind or that people asked me when they reviewed early drafts of the book that felt important to include. This section is a compilation of answers to the most common questions I received and a few that I think are likely to come up after reading this book. If you have an unanswered question, it may be in this section. If you don't have any questions, this section of the book might still offer some useful ideas even if you haven't considered the questions yourself.

Amber, a lot of your framing seems to assume people have good intentions. What if I don't think they do?

As a general rule, I don't care what someone's intentions are, I care about results. So I work to communicate in a way that shows integrity and is also most likely to get me to the result that I want. Folks' intentions do not matter nearly as much as what they actually act on, so I elect to focus on folks' behaviors instead of their intent. This approach takes practice because we are conditioned to seek connection with people in conversations. I do that, too. When I notice we are not going to connect in a positive way, I stay focused on keeping a kind tone and demeanor and wrapping up the interaction as soon as possible – but not before any necessary business is handled.

How do I know when my company is finally inclusive?

There is no real goal post for inclusion because it is an evolving ...