Who do you need to become to be the leader you need in this moment? There’s nothing more powerful than a question like this one. Even if you don’t have an answer, big questions like these generate new thoughts. To encourage new thoughts to emerge, leaders like you will need to practice belonging with bridging and collective care skills.

Many leaders who seek coaching support from Rhodes Perry Consulting initially struggle with bridging differences and building belonging spaces, often because they were never taught these skills. This is largely due to how the old ways of leadership were modeled and taught. It’s for this reason we developed The Belonging Practice Host Guide. It’s designed to empower visionary leaders like you to create the conditions of safety and trust for those you lead.

This timely resource offers somatic, bridging, and collective care practices to help lead you by offering the skills and abilities to acknowledge and cope with the collective trauma and grief so many within the workforce and beyond are navigating. During this podcast episode, enjoy an expanded conversation with Rhodes Perry, where he will help you answer the following questions:

• Why does exclusion compounded by collective trauma and grief harm team performance and employee well-being?

• What kind of leader do you need to become to match the urgency of this moment?

• How can somatics, bridging, and collective care practices help you grow team safety, trust, and belonging?

• How can you transform acts of exclusion into moments of belonging?

• How can you bridge disagreement through dialogue intended to seek understanding?

Rhodes rarely records solo episodes, and wanted to help amplify the power of his team’s complimentary Belonging Practice Host Guide to support so many leaders struggling to show up in the face of so much chaos, uncertainty, and fear. As you listen to this podcast, be sure to access the following resources to help you develop the skills required to become the leader you need, in this moment:

• Access the Belonging Practice Host Guide. Access a complimentary copy of the Belonging Practice Host guide to begin developing the essential somatic, bridging, and collective care practices you need to support those you lead navigate these challenging times. You can access the guide by visiting: www.rhodesperry.com/belongingpractice.
  
  

• Join Our Thursday Practice. If you’d like to practice somatics, bridging, and community care with like-minded visionary leaders, consider joining our complimentary Belonging Practice on most Thursdays from 8 am to 9 am Pacific Time by saving your seat here.
  
  

• Want Bridging Support? Learn more about our bridging solutions by speaking with a team member for customized organizational or team support. We are ready to support you and those you lead by delivering the skills to build spaces of belonging. Contact us here.

Thanks for growing our Belonging Movement!

In the years before the signing of the U.S. Constitution, framers like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were vocal about the idea that a person’s civil rights should not depend on their religious opinions. They believed everyone should be free to profess and argue for any view on matters of religion and that no one’s legal rights should depend on those views.

Their words laid the foundation for the First Amendment, which Thomas Jefferson described as “a wall between the separation of church and state.” Since then, several attempts have been made at the federal level to expand these protections. For example, in 1993, Congress adopted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997.

More recently, states responded by passing their own versions of this law despite Constitutional protections for religious freedom enshrined in the First Amendment. Some believe the states’ actions were thinly veiled responses to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling requiring all states to legalize same-sex marriage and recognize same-sex unions from other states.

These legal battles over religious freedom aren’t isolated incidents. They impact many parts of U.S. society, including the workplace. Increasingly, more employees are bringing their faith into the workplace, expecting greater accommodations. Research shows that religious discrimination is growing faster than claims of gender or racial discrimination at work. Recognizing the U.S. workforce is composed of people who hold many different faith and non-faith beliefs, it begs the question:

Does faith belong at work?

To help us explore this big question, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Jelisa Dallas, CEO of Go Brace LLC. Jelisa equips individuals and organizations with the emotional intelligence required to break barriers, bolster belief, and build behaviors that optimize life for true belonging. Jelisa has a background in education and has developed resilience programming for nonprofit organizations, historically underrepresented communities, and for-profit and public institutions.

During our conversation, you'll:

1. Discover how to cultivate “true belonging” for all employees, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof.
2. Learn why religious discrimination is rising and access practical strategies to help organizations minimize risk.
3. Gain insights to respect personal religious beliefs while limiting the risks of creating a hostile environment for those with different beliefs by focusing on organizational values.

This conversation is designed to support visionary leaders like you and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Jelisa, be sure to join the Belonging Membership Community. This community of practice is committed to putting our values of belonging, collective care, and collaboration into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Jelisa for 1:1 laser coaching sessions.

Join the Belonging Movement by subscribing to our newsletter: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe

Learn more about Go Brave LLC: https://jelisadallas.com/

Thanks for growing our #BelongingMovement!

You may have heard the phrase, or you may have said it yourself, we have to see it to be it. The phrase underscores the importance of possibility models, a concept I wrote about in my first book, Belonging at Work. To be a possibility model means that you are providing an example of future scenarios for a person who holds a shared core identity central to who you are.

Simply by living your life, you provide inspiration for people within communities you belong to by offering a new way for them to visualize alternative futures for what could also be possible for them. Your existence, and the path you forge, provides the motivation for others to climb up the ladder of opportunity you have graciously dropped down to support their journey.

For underrepresented people in the workplace, including LGBTQ+ employees, the simple act of being seen can engender powerful feelings, especially if these groups feel neglected, overlooked, and underestimated. Recognition is a necessary precondition to feeling a sense of belonging at work, and when a group of people are valued for the lived experiences they bring into the workplace, they are more productive, innovative, and engaged.

Given that belonging is the prerequisite for business success, I am fortunate to talk with Sarah Tinkler, to explore one of the core ingredients to building belonging at work. The interview examines this key question: How does being an openly LGBTQ+ advisor at NM shape her own interactions with fellow LGBTQ+ clients?

For those unfamiliar with Sarah, she is a financial planning entrepreneur associated with Northwestern Mutual since July 2006. She is also a Forrest-inspired yoga instructor, certified life coach, and certified personal trainer. Sarah blends those passions together with a refreshingly soul-nourishing approach to visioning, analysis, planning, and guiding her clients' assets so they can live abundantly, authentically, and be ready to jump at the next aligned opportunity the Universe throws their way.

Together, during our conversation, you will:

• Learn why one of the preconditions for feeling a sense of belonging starts with being recognized, respected, and valued.
  
  

• Gain strategies on how you can be a possibility model for communities you belong to that can help your organization more fully represent the communities it serves.

• Recognize the value add LGBTQ+ employees bring into your own organization..

This interview was designed to support people like you - visionary leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Sarah, be sure to join our Belonging Membership Community - a community of practice committed to putting our values of belonging, community, and collaboration into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Sarah for 1:1 laser coaching sessions.

For LGBTQ+ friendly financial planning services, get in touch with Sarah Tinkler at: https://www.northwesternmutual.com/financial/advisor/sarah-a-tinkler/

You can also find her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahtinkler.

Imagine belonging with our community when you join the Belonging Movement Newsletter: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

Why build spaces of belonging at work? After all, your company is likely investing in technology products to reduce overhead and increase returns. It’s investing in new products and services to increase market share. It’s also likely investing in advertising to increase brand awareness and positioning. In short, you invest in building belonging at work, because the people working at your company are at the end of the day, your greatest asset.

Tragically, most of the people working in U.S.-based companies (64%) experience “non-belonging,” and suffer from what the current U.S. Surgeon General labels an “Epidemic of Loneliness.” Left unchecked, this form of exclusion comes at an annual price tag of $1.05 trillion dollars due to lost productivity, high turnover, and employee disengagement. This is a problem that is especially vexing for LGBTQ+ employees, and a spirited commitment to building belonging at work can help solve.

So what will it take to build this kind of culture and prioritize the people in your business & innovation strategy? It starts with creating a shared foundation of psychological safety and trust, particularly for those within your organization most likely to experience the sting of social exclusion. These foundational prerequisites for building belonging are necessary to ensure that more of our workforce experiences the coveted emotional outcome of belonging.

It’s for this reason I sat down with Natalie Le. Natalie knows what it takes to benefit from a workplace prioritizing building spaces of belonging at work for their LGBTQ+ employees. Natalie currently serves as the Growth & Development Director at Northwestern Mutual in San Jose. As a dedicated leader, Natalie is a strong advocate for multicultural and LGBTQ+ communities within the corporate sphere.

Recently, Natalie was a featured speaker at the 2024 Multicultural Affinity Summit, where she participated in the "Playing Bigger & Multiplying Impact" Leadership Panel. Alongside two other successful LGBTQ+ leaders, she shared her personal experiences and challenges, inspiring attendees to amplify their local impact and gain effective tools and language for advocacy. Natalie's commitment to inclusion and development continues to uplift and empower those around her.

This interview was designed to support people like you - visionary leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Natalie, be sure to join our Belonging Membership Community - a community of practice committed to putting our values of belonging, community, and collaboration into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Natalie for 1:1 laser coaching sessions.

Imagine belonging with fellow visionary leaders when you join the Belonging Movement Newsletter: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

For LGBTQ+ friendly financial planning services, get in touch with Natalie at: https://www.northwesternmutual.com/financial/advisor/natalie-le/

Allies. In workplace settings, there are times when most of us need them. Consider this scenario; you’re in a meeting, and you’re about to take a calculated risk to share an unpopular idea. As soon as you complete your thought, one of your colleagues quickly responds, complimenting you on your idea, and asking you to share more. That’s an act of allyship.

Conversely, in that very same meeting, you can take an act of allyship by showing up for a different colleague when another person says something unskillful to them. Without a beat, you can simply say, “You just said [insert statement]. Could you explain more specifically what you meant?” That simple response should do the trick to shine a light on the harm they caused.

When it comes to showing up for your LGBTQ+ colleagues, acts of allyship in workplace settings are life-saving. They help build the foundation of increased safety and trust that can get more of LGBTQ+ employees closer to experiencing that elusive sense of belonging at work. Yet, for some of the budding LGBTQ+ allies out there, being an authentic ally causes some pause. Some may ask themselves, “what if I cause even more harm,” and instead retreat into silence.

To help build up the confidence and skills of these emerging LGBTQ+ workplace allies, I have the pleasure of connecting with Sara Samuels (she/her) and Kenneth Wilson (they/he). If you’re unfamiliar with Sara, she leads a fee-for-advice and wealth management planning practice, serving clients in 42 states and 8 countries as a means to be an advocate for financial empowerment for all. Building belonging cultures through helping people have ownership over their relationship to money will be my greatest legacy.

Sara works closely with Kenneth K Wilson who is an associate advisor, drag performer, and artist in Philadelphia, PA. For the past five years, they’ve spent their financial career building up clients from diverse backgrounds, helping them unlearn negative financial habits and biases, set up financial stability, and achieve financial and lifestyle goals through solid planning. In that time, Kenneth’s carved out a niche working with creatives like musicians and drag performers, business owners, and LGBTQ+ couples and families.

Together, during our conversation, you will:

• Learn why performative acts of allyship, or merely calling yourself an ally, without taking any action is the fastest way to erode the trust of your LGBTQ+ colleagues.
  
  

• Gain fresh insights on accessible actions you can take to show up as an LGBTQ+ ally - some of these are more easy and significant than you think.

• Explore new allyship practices you can test out with close friends and family members to to build up the confidence necessary to overcome the comfort of silence.

This interview was designed to support people like you - visionary leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Sara & Kenneth, be sure to join our Belonging Membership Community - a community of practice committed to putting our values of belonging, community, and collaboration into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Sara & Kenneth for 1:1 laser coaching sessions.

Imagine belonging with fellow visionary leaders when you join the Belonging Movement Newsletter: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe.

For LGBTQ+ friendly financial planning services, get in touch with Sara Samuels at www.sara-samuels.com, or email Kenneth Wilson at kenneth.k.wilson@nm.com.

Welcome to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. The episode you’re about to hear is a special gift to help ease what psychologists and researchers have identified as a specific kind of anxiety; election anxiety.

To ease election anxiety, the show’s host, Rhodes Perry, developed a 10-minute mindfulness practice designed to help you self-regulate, ground, and soothe political anxieties that are running high this season given the uncertainty about what’s on the 2025 horizon.

You’re invited to try this practice to help you build capacity to increase your well-being and ignite creativity and connection at work. It’s designed to deliver the medicine you need to heal some of these harsh realities many are experiencing this season:

• 73% of U.S. adults say they are anxious about the election according to the results of the 2024 American Psychiatric Association's annual mental health poll.
• 65% of employees surveyed over the summer by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) said they have experienced or witnessed incivility on the job in the past month.
• 34% of employees surveyed by SHRM believe that the November 5th elections will trigger additional incivility in the workplace.

You and I know all too well that election anxiety is very real and undermines our commitment to building a sense of belonging at work, where everyone feels seen, connected, supported, and proud. And we know we need to build spaces of belonging at work because it is no longer a moral imperative; rather it is a prerequisite for business success.

During this episode, you’ll be able to recognize where to locate your own sense of belonging. Specifically, you’ll recognize:

• Belonging Lives in the Body. Feelings of belonging live in our nervous system, and somatics practices can help cultivate a sense of belonging.
• Safety & Trust are Foundational. Feeling safety and trust are the foundation for belonging, and during this practice you will explore where they are present in your life.
• Belonging is a Practice: Actively engaging in practices like this one will help rewire you brain to notice where belonging does and does not exist in your everyday life.

This interview was designed to support people like you - visionary leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to engage in practices like these, be sure to explore Rhodes Perry Consulting’s Coaching Belonging for Visionaries, a 6-month executive coaching program applying a somatics methodology to help you align your behaviors with your leadership and career vision.

Learn more about this program here: https://rhodesperry.substack.com/p/belonging-the-1-prerequisite-for

Connect directly with Team Belonging here: www.rhodesperry.com/contact.

Get more belonging in your inbox here: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe

On July 9th, in a statement on LinkedIn, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), announced its decision to drop the "E" from DEI. SHRM is the world's largest HR association dedicated to creating better workplaces that "work for all," and positions itself as being "the voice of all things work."

SHRM's statement on LinkedIn said:

"While we shift to I&D, our commitment to advancing equity remains steadfast. Equity will be integrated under the broader inclusion framework, continuing to be a priority in our strategy and leadership decisions."

If you have read my most recent book, Imagine Belonging, you know the true ingredients required to make a commitment – one of those ingredients is being able to say out loud what you are committed to. Using this logic...a commitment to equity can't be real if we're afraid to say it.

When the announcement was first made, I immediately knew who I wanted to talk to...the person who wrote the bestselling book on the topic of equity, Minal Bopaiah.

Minal had a lot to share, and as she was offering her take, I thought to myself, "why not turn this exchange into a podcast episode?" When I invited Minal to the show, she was all in!

I’m excited to welcome you to this exclusive interview with Minal Bopaiah, Brevity & Wit Founder and bestselling author of Equity. Minal combines her experiences and interests in human-design, DEI, psychology, and strategic communications to help her clients achieve the change they desire.

During our conversation, you'll:

--Discover why prioritizing inclusive behaviors alone will set your colleagues up for failure if they lack the systems and structures to support these practices.

--Explore the unintended consequences of SHRM’s decision on entire programs, positions, and departments that have the word "equity" in their titles.

--Gain insights on how to respond to objections and push back that employers and colleagues may have, feeling emboldened because of SHRM's recent decision.

Today’s conversation is designed to support people like you – visionary people leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you’re looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Minal, be sure to join the Belonging Membership Community.

The Belonging Membership Community is a practice space where we can try putting our shared values of belonging, community, collaboration, and joy into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Minal for 1:1 laser coaching sessions.

Join the community here: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com

Stay connected with Rhodes: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe

Learn more about Minal’s book Equity: https://theequitybook.com/.

Thanks for growing our #BelongingMovement!