Michael Bach - Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right

Birds of All Feathers underscores the importance of diversity and inclusion in driving employee engagement. It offers a holistic approach to diversity, encouraging the reader to see the importance of integrating it into all aspects of an organization, and highlighting its power to drive the bottom line when supported by leadership and principles.

Blake Hutcheson , President and CEO, OMERS

Birds of All Feathers has become my essential guide to being a better employer. Its fearless, funny, engaging, refreshingly frank, and full of Bachs characteristic compassion and humanity. Come for the advice, stay for the stories of what its like to work in the inclusion trenches.

Mar garet Eato n , National CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association

Michael Bach challenges the notion that diversity and inclusion is no more than just the right thing to do. By combining his considerable subject matter knowledge with instructive business cases, Bach has demonstrated how strategically critical it is to drive D&I purposefully in every type of organization.

Julie OMara , President and Board Chair, The Centre for Global Inclusion

This should be required reading for any C-level leader looking to kick their organizations D&I into high gear. Bachs insights are brisk, instructive, and readily applicable across a spectrum of business models.

Nikki Holland , President and CEO, Jewish Federations of Canada United Israel Appeal

Michael Bach is one of the leading architects for diversity and inclusion in North American workplaces. Birds of All Feathers is proof that he is still pushing the discourse forward with practical solutions and tactical guidance for navigating the constantly evolving D&I landscape to superlative strategic success.

Ratna Omidvar , Canadian Senator

This book will convince any leader that leveraging D&I fosters greater creativity and innovationand that there are clear steps you can take to move your organization forward. It is an inspiring call to action, and a practical guide to successful diversity and inclusion.

Andrew Graham , Co-Founder & CEO, Borrowell

Birds of All Feathers proves that diversity and inclusion are connected to sustained success, no matter the size of your organization or the industry in which it operates. This book will equip you to explain why diversity and inclusion matter, and will help you pursue practical and meaningful action in your organization.

Norm Sabapathy , Executive Vice President, People, Cadillac Fairview Corporation

This book is a must-have for organizations that want to do D&I the right way. With his friendly and upbeat style, Bach guides readers through complex topics, using real-life examples to illustrate how you can navigate emotionally charged issues and situations.

Nancy Wilson , CEO, Canadian Womens Chamber of Commerce

Copyright 2020 by Michael Bach

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll-free to 1-800-893-5777.

Cataloguing in publication information is available from Library and Archives Canada.
ISBN 978-1-989603-40-6 (paperback/hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-989603-41-3 (ebook)

Every reasonable effort has been made to contact the copyright holders for work reproduced in this book.

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

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Cover and interior design by Jennifer Lum
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Distributed in the US and internationally by
Publishers Group West, a division of Ingram

Ebook by Bright Wing Books (www.brightwing.ca)

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www.michaelbach.com

T his book is dedicated to my parents, Karen and Stephen, for showing me the right path; to my sister Cassandra, for always having my back; to my dear friend Kate, for always knowing when wine was appropriate; to all my wonderful colleagues at CCDI for your tireless efforts and commitment to the journey; to all diversity and inclusion professionals for doing the work that others ignore; and last but never least, to my husband, Mike, for always being by my side. This is a gift to my niece Sandy, in hopes that the world you have will be better.

D iversity and inclusion have become buzzwords. Theyre used in casual conversation by CEOs and world leaders in the same way I use words like chocolate an d... chocolate. Because I like chocolate. A lot. Its an issue Im working through with my therapist. Stop judging me.

But what do these words mean and why do they matter? And why did you just pick up a book about them?

Historically, in most Western countries, we have taken a social justice approach to the diversity and inclusion conversation. That is, a straight, white, able-bodied man must lose so that a [insert underrepresented group here] may gain. Howeverand heres the revelationthat approach has never worked. And in my humble opinion, it never will. At best, the pace of change has been like coming in second in the race, just behind a glacier. The social justice approach requires said straight, white, able-bodied man to willingly surrender power. And why would he? Theres zero incentive. This method requires a world where self-interest doesnt exist.

Please dont say, But its the right thing to do. That has got to be the most overused and misunderstood statement ever uttered. Of course, its the right thing to do! How many people wake up in the morning and think, Today, Im going to do the wrong thing? Thankfully, very few. However, statements like its the right thing to do lead us to the slippery slope of morals and values.

Why would anyone think morals and values are a slippery slope? Well, arguably, everyone has morals and values. Everyone. Totalitarian dictators have what they would call morals and values; they just happen to be somewhat out of line with my morals and values. Hence where the slope slips. If everyone on the planet lived by the same moral compassassuming that compass was set to words like respect and equitywed live in a utopia. Everyone would think the same and, as such, we would all be moving in the same directionwhich, ultimately, would mean we wouldnt need things like a criminal justice system, because no one would commit crimes. Meanwhile, back here on planet Realit y...

We dont all think the same way. (Thank heaven for that. To paraphrase General George S. Patton, if everyone thinks the same way, no one is thinking.) Therefore, we dont all have the same morals and values. Some might think that I, as an openly gay man, have no morals or values. Take those Christians who might describe themselves as Big F Fundamentalists and who may believe that their morals and values are right and just while at the same time believing that all gay people are abominations and should be put to death. Mark : says, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greate r... Is that sentence somehow confusing? How can people call themselves good Christians and have hate in their hearts? And yes, I did just quote the Bible and General Patton in the same paragraph.

Cutting short my brilliant (one-sided) argument, my point is that you can have a set of morals and values that you believe to be right and just, and the person standing beside you can have a completely contrary set of morals and values and believe that they too are right and just. Thats why the slope is so slippery, and its why we need to stop saying that diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do. We need to talk about diversity and inclusion as being good for our countries. Its good for our organizations. And its good for each of us.