The essential diversity mindset : how to cultivate a more inclusive culture and environment /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A fresh and practical approach to diversity--as a mindset, not as a formula.

"A rich combination of personal stories, research data, and excellent advice to help us think and talk beyond the limits of labels to see, respect, and appreciate the individuals within." -- from the foreword by Clarence Page

In our divided climate with heightened concerns and emotions over inclusion, racism, and activism, The Essential Diversity Mindset offers a transformative approach to diversity―as a mindset, not as a formula. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (not enforcements, compliances, or statistics) drive diversity outcomes.



The Essential Diversity Mindset provides answers to businesses, organizations, and people searching for alternate perspectives and strategies to advance diversity and inclusion. It is for those who feel different or alienated, and want to foster their sense of self-empowerment and connect with others. And it's for those who want to deepen their capacity to build greater empathy, open-mindedness, and connection.



The Essential Diversity Mindset will inspire readers to pause and reflect on where they are and explore how we all can make positive shifts to thrive in unity with differences.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. vii)
• Introduction (p. xi)
• Diversity and Divides
• 1 Diversity in Changing Times (p. 3)
• 2 Biases and Prejudices (p. 23)
• 3 Our Lens (p. 45)
• Diversity Journey
• 4 My Journey into Diversity (p. 67)
• 5 Indoctrination of Early Scripts (p. 85)
• 6 Demystifing Cultural Differences (p. 97)
• 7 Cross-Cultural Agility (p. 115)
• Advancing Pervasive Diversity
• 8 Unintended Consequences (p. 137)
• 9 Pervasive Diversity (p. 159)
• 10 Unifying Leadership (p. 179)
• 11 Our Responsibility to Change (p. 199)
• Acknowledgments (p. 223)
• Notes (p. 225)
• Index (p. 229)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

"True diversity requires one to become color and label neutral," argues strategy consultant and executive coach Soo in this impassioned but flat debut. The United States is more polarized than ever, she notes, and argues that this division is due to moral judgments behind such overused accusations as "racist, bigot, sexist, and snowflake." Inclusivity, Soo argues, comes from mindset shifts and a program that takes into account psychology, emotion, and behavior. This sounds hopeful, but Soo falls back on color blindness as a solution to systemic racism; society should stop "simplifying and dividing humans based on one dimension: race" and instead see people rather than their skin color. Her subsequent rejection of political correctness loses luster when paired with stories of, for instance, condescending to a friend's views on reparations because "what I wanted most was for Jodie to feel empowered by her own strength and worth as an individual, not to live out the stereotype of her label as a black woman in America." While Soo calls on leaders to push a different message of diversity, she fails to provide workable ideas on how to do so. This call to action misses the mark. (Mar.)

Booklist Review

The situation that we are born into colors the lens through which we see the world. This is important to acknowledge during a time when diversity and race relations have reached a boiling point in the U.S. Peer, a strategy consultant and executive coach, presents an intelligent approach to the subject using research and personal narratives to show readers how she uncovered her own biases. For example, situations that seemed normal to her, such as having twelve-year-old maids serve her family during her childhood in South Korea in the 1950s, would seem abnormal to those raised in America. Stories like these connect the book's three sections: diversity and divides, diversity journey, and advancing pervasive diversity. Each chapter ends with "Essential Takeaways" which include key ideas and exercises that challenge readers, such as "reflect on how prevalently society describes people: as a race or as an individual." This book is well-organized, easy to read, and thought-provoking. There is no preaching and no rules; Peer just asks for readers' willingness to think and grow when it comes to their diversity mindset.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Soo Bog Peer is an author, strategy consultant, and executive coach to Fortune 500 multinational corporations. She comes from a multicultural upbringing with over thirty years of experience in strategic marketing, global branding, business development, international joint ventures, and leadership development. Soo and her husband live in Park City, Utah. Visit her at www.soopeerassociates.com.