How to Have Conversations About Race: 3 Critical First Steps

On Demand

Duration: 1 hour

Watch Recording
abstract watercolor picture of speech bubbles representing how to talk about race

On Demand

Duration: 1 hour

On Demand

Duration: 1 hour

About the Webinar

This is part 1 in a 2-part webinar series. Be sure to explore the second session, How to Have Conversations About Race: Leveraging 4 Key Skills.  

Talking about race is a layered and complex issue. Because of this, it’s easy for people to feel vulnerable, nervous, or even fearful about discussing it. But having these important conversations is essential for creating a truly inclusive work culture. And you can’t make progress on an issue if you can’t discuss it frankly and openly. So how do you talk about race, especially at work? Where do you even start?

Leveraging the same communication skills you would use for any difficult discussion is key, but if you want to know how to talk about race in a meaningful way, there are 3 critical concepts that you must understand before the conversation even starts: trust, identity, and power.

These concepts can help you establish the psychological safety and openness that’s required for everyone to feel heard and respected in a sensitive discussion.

Join us as Ancella Livers, an EDI expert and author of Leading in Black and White, and Nicole Forward of our coaching practice, discuss how to talk about race. You’ll gain valuable insights about the critical concepts you need to know and learn how to lay the groundwork for talking about race, both in the workplace and beyond.

What You’ll Learn

In this webinar, you’ll learn more about how to talk about race at work and:

  • How psychological safety and trust, social identity, and power play into any discussion about race;
  • Ideas for doing your own identity work; and
  • The difference between positional power and racial power, and how they intersect in discussions about race.

Organizational diversity and inclusion initiatives can help your people understand how to talk about race and other topics, building a foundation for real change and greater results for your business. We can partner with you to create customized Equity, Diversity & Inclusion leadership solutions for your organization to shift mindsets, behaviors, and practices.

Your Hosts

Ancella Livers
Ancella Livers, PhD
Senior Faculty

Ancella helps clients gain clarity around their leadership needs and creates dynamic solutions to meet those needs. While most of her clients have been in Fortune 500 companies, she has also worked with government agencies and nonprofits. Ancella has deep expertise on diversity issues, particularly those focusing on African Americans and women. Ancella is the co-author of the HBR classic article “Dear White Boss” and co-author of the book Dear White Boss. She has also presented a TEDx talk titled “Words Matter.”

Ancella helps clients gain clarity around their leadership needs and creates dynamic solutions to meet those needs. While most of her clients have been in Fortune 500 companies, she has also worked with government agencies and nonprofits. Ancella has deep expertise on diversity issues, particularly those focusing on African Americans and women. Ancella is the co-author of the HBR classic article “Dear White Boss” and co-author of the book Dear White Boss. She has also presented a TEDx talk titled “Words Matter.”

Nicole Forward
Nicole Forward, MS
Former Leadership Solutions Partner, Executive Coaching

Nicole is the former lead of CCL’s Executive Coaching practice, where she was responsible for ensuring that the client and the coach work in partnership to support leaders within their unique cultural or company context. She has a unique expertise in team dynamics and is passionate about the impact of team coaching on the ecosystem of leadership.

Nicole is the former lead of CCL’s Executive Coaching practice, where she was responsible for ensuring that the client and the coach work in partnership to support leaders within their unique cultural or company context. She has a unique expertise in team dynamics and is passionate about the impact of team coaching on the ecosystem of leadership.

Ancella Livers
Ancella Livers, PhD
Senior Faculty

Ancella helps clients gain clarity around their leadership needs and creates dynamic solutions to meet those needs. While most of her clients have been in Fortune 500 companies, she has also worked with government agencies and nonprofits. Ancella has deep expertise on diversity issues, particularly those focusing on African Americans and women. Ancella is the co-author of the HBR classic article “Dear White Boss” and co-author of the book Dear White Boss. She has also presented a TEDx talk titled “Words Matter.”

Nicole Forward
Nicole Forward, MS
Former Leadership Solutions Partner, Executive Coaching

Nicole is the former lead of CCL’s Executive Coaching practice, where she was responsible for ensuring that the client and the coach work in partnership to support leaders within their unique cultural or company context. She has a unique expertise in team dynamics and is passionate about the impact of team coaching on the ecosystem of leadership.

Intended Audience

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About CCL

At the Center for Creative Leadership, our drive to create a ripple effect of positive change underpins everything we do. For 50+ years, we've pioneered leadership development solutions for everyone from frontline workers to global CEOs. Consistently ranked among the world's top providers of executive education, our research-based programs and solutions inspire individuals in organizations across the world — including 2/3 of the Fortune 1000 — to ignite remarkable transformations.

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