We are over the half way mark and now arrive at Podcast #11 with Sari Brody.  Sari is the former Global Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at IKEA. She has worked in Global Business for over 20 years and brings her perspective about the importance of understanding context, local nuances, traditions, politics and people into the discussion when addressing Inclusion and Diversity.

Sari shares some amazing stories and some of the simple but thoughtful context aware changes that her and her team implemented in countries around the world. Another one of her amazing stories comes from her time in Japan. She shares how she visited Japan many years ago to talk about plans and strategy for LGBT inclusion, which at the time was not a socially acceptable thing to talk about in that culture. But Sari felt it was important to share how she was working with local ambassadors to make it acceptable within the company, and the importance of shifting her behaviors. During this presentation, and employee stood up and shared something with a room full of his colleagues that he had never told anyone – “I’m gay and I’m proud to be gay”. As the room fell silent, Sari spoke to the individual, telling him that she was proud of him for sharing and the trust he showed, and deserved an applause for being open with his colleagues. Nothing could have prepared Sari for what happened next, as the young man sat down and started looking for approval, the room broke out in applause and he felt the warmth and love from his colleagues.

You can listen to Sari on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple, and check out TechBeacon for more information on the podcast.