What Betty White and Sidney Poitier Can Teach Us About Inclusion, Access, and Authenticity

In this episode of Lead With That, Ren and Allison explore what we can learn from the barrier-breaking legacies of Betty White and Sidney Poitier.

On December 31st, 2021 actor, comedian, animal rights activist and author Betty White died just weeks before she would have celebrated her 100th birthday on Jan. 17, 2022. Just a week later, the first black man to win an Oscar, an actor that paved the way for underrepresented actors around the globe, Sidney Poitier died at the age of 94, on January 7th, 2022. 

While their loss is sad, this conversation explores what we can celebrate about their legacies and the powerful leadership lessons they taught throughout their lives.

Specifically, we’ll explore the things we can learn from Sidney and Betty about inclusion, access, authenticity and what leaders can learn from their experiences.

We'll also ask you to consider why we're talking about the importance of authenticity, and what systemic biases exist that you have the power to help dismantle both internally and externally. Join us as we challenge you to make Betty and Sidney's examples catalysts for inclusion and access on your teams and at your organization.

Related Resources: 

Inclusive Leadership: Steps Your Organization Should Take to Get it Right: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/when-inclusive-leadership-goes-wrong-and-how-to-get-it-right/

Kick-Start Your Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives with a Focus on Equity: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/kick-start-your-diversity-inclusion-initiatives-with-a-focus-on-equity/

What is Psychological Safety at Work?: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/what-is-psychological-safety-at-work/

Why You Should Collaborate Across Boundaries: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/boundary-spanning-the-leadership-advantage/ 

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Solutions: https://www.ccl.org/leadership-challenges/equity-diversity-inclusion/

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About the Center for Creative Leadership:

Leadership is all we do. But our approach is distinct. We work with you to discover your priorities and customize our unique leadership solutions to best fit your needs. We create leaders who move their worlds. Our innovative solutions are steeped in extensive research and experience gained from tens of thousands of organizations, a million+ leaders at all levels, and leaders in more than 130 countries, across 6 continents. We deliver results that matter – sustained impact for you, your business and the world. www.ccl.org