Here’s five strategies I’ve learned to employ to achieve meaningful impact:

1. We must admit that there’s a problem … still.  

To move the needle, we must ALL recognize and acknowledge that we’re still dealing with unfair practices, discrimination, and inequitable starts in life. When our world can fully understand that, then we have a real chance at making a difference.

2. Create a safe place to learn. 

To truly drive change, we need all people to come to the Inclusion space willing to challenge themselves to grow and be educated through their own and others’ experiences. To do this, we must make the learning journey a safe one and create a path to addressing hard issues by starting with common ground. Minimizing backlash, at least in the beginning, is really important so we can slowly work up to the uncomfortable conversations. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing people before we even get started. And we need the people to do the work within themselves.

At Kohler, we provide a unique upskilling program for all people leaders called Bold Leader Development Series. A critical element of the coursework is aimed at developing inclusive leadership capabilities necessary for creating an environment where all associates are inspired to do their best work.

3. Take the right steps at the right pace.

Before we dive in headfirst, we need to lay the right foundation to build up from. Inclusion is continuously evolving, so we must evolve our thinking and our behavior to guard against falling back on our promises. Doing too many things too fast or investing in areas that don’t have the ROI we’re looking for … those are recipes for frustration.

A big part of my role is helping Kohler align around a few critical strategies that will allow us to steadily gain ground, rather than trying to do it all at once. One of these strategies is establishing Inclusion strategy leads within each of our business units that will more deeply focus on opportunities for change or improvement. This enables us to position resources closest to the areas where they can make a meaningful difference.

4. Listen to your people.

A great way to gather meaningful feedback is through business/employee resource groups. Kohler has 11 of them, and each brings a different element to our overarching strategy of inclusion, helping us identify areas of opportunity and making sustained steps toward the culture we envision.

We’ve also recently begun inclusive conversations, led by our executive team, to deepen our dialogue with associates on what inclusion means to them and how we might enhance their sense of belonging at Kohler. And we’re committed to taking action together, to address the feedback and evolve our culture.

5. Focus on the inside first.

The final key to bring this all together is training. We must educate our leaders and employees to honor, respect, and be more inclusive in how we operate—and then hold them accountable. Part of this is something I call the “inside out” strategy. By focusing first on the inside of the organization, we can identify the practices, policies, and cultural norms that need to be adjusted, right fitted, or done away with to create the type of environment where everyone can flourish. When the inside is in a good place, that impact naturally flows outside—to the community partnerships we establish (e.g. our College Possible scholarship for students from disadvantaged circumstances) and the business opportunities we pursue (e.g. our investment in inclusive sourcing).

For me, it’s also about the connections we make and what inclusion “feels like.” Do your employees feel like they belong, like they matter? Do they feel empowered to do their best work on a team that values and respects their authentic selves. When strong relationships are built and trust is earned, that’s when teams make big things happen: they innovate together, they solve problems, they drive business success and integration, and they attract more top talent. To me, these are strong indicators of success.  That may not be the ideal answer, but it’s the most real answer I can provide.

We will never be “done” with the work of Inclusion. It’s not a destination, it’s a way of being, something we must live out each day, even when it’s hard or uncomfortable. Kohler is committed to blazing our path and leading boldly to become more for our associates, consumers, and communities. This is work worth doing—to celebrate and embrace the richness of our differences.