Why Most Leaders Get Belonging Wrong And How To Create Connection Without Sacrifice

There’s a prevailing belief shared by many leaders that if you declare your intention to create an “inclusive workplace” by building diverse teams, employees will automatically feel a sense of belonging at work, and with it, bring their best efforts to drive organizational success.

However, as Dr. Beth Kaplan points out early on in this episode of my “Leadership Biz Cafe” podcast, this is a critical mistake that leaders are making about belonging and it’s leading to not only a decline in employee motivation, but a growing lack of connection employees have to their work and their team, thereby impeding an organization’s ability to adapt and succeed.

Dr. Beth Kaplan has been hailed as the world’s leading expert on belonging. She is currently partnering with the University of Pennsylvania on the development of a ground-breaking tool to measure belonging and predict a person’s capacity to thrive.

She is also the author of “Braving the Workplace: Belonging at the Breaking Point”, where she explains why current efforts to drive employee motivation through inclusion are failing and what leaders should be doing to help employees bring their best selves to the work they do – without sacrificing who they are.

Over the course of our conversation, Beth reveals the critical difference between inclusion (what leaders provide) and belonging (what employees feel), and offers practical strategies for how you can create a workplace environment where your employees will feel connected to something bigger than themselves without having to sacrifice you they are.

When I heard about Beth’s book, I was excited to speak with her on my podcast because it reflects so much of what I’ve been writing and speaking about over the past decade.

And when you listen to this conversation, I’m sure you’ll also find it as compelling and insightful as I did.

Noteworthy links:

• Buy Beth’s book “Braving the Workplace” on Amazon*.
• Learn more about Beth’s work on workplace belonging – drbethkaplan.com

* sponsored link that helps to support this podcast. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.