Brad Deutser: The Five Rules of Belonging

Guest Bio:
Brad Deutser is a leading expert in belonging, DEI, and leadership complexity. Author of the bestsellers "Leading Clarity" and "Belonging Rules," he guides leaders through his innovative consultancy, Deutser, which champions a human-centric approach to change. Brad thrives in challenging, uncomfortable, and politically sensitive environments, actively seeking to address and transform them. For decades, his work has focused on fostering spaces for belonging and enhancing leadership through more human and connective practices.
Quotes:
[07:55] “It’s hard to believe I’m an expert in belonging when so long in my career...I didn’t belong.” Guest Brad Deutser shares his diverse background that led to his company, Deutser Consulting Firm, all about human approach to change!
[21:56] “What the research found is that belonging is actually above strategy AND culture.” As Brad explains the levels of research that went into his book, Belonging Rules: Five Crucial Actions That Build Unity and Foster Performance, he shares this idea that belonging at work is a crucial purpose in society as a whole. He even found that people were able to work for LESS if they had more belonging at work!
[25:45] “In our organization, in our families, in our communities... it doesn't matter where; there are power structures that impede our progress and our ability to win.” Rule #1: Turn into the power, Brad dives into the first rule in his book explaining power structures and compliance that comes along with things like affirmative action, title 9, and DEI. How do we turn into the power? Pause. It’s not charging through but instead stopping, thinking, and asking questions.
[33:30] “When we listen with labels, we diminish people… we diminish their thinking, their ideas.” Brad’s Rule #2: Listen Without Labels serves as a message that yes, labels can be true, but they often don’t tell the complete story. Removing labels from listening allows you to see the big picture without bias and engage differently.
[38:57] “Purpose alone doesn’t give the differentiation enough to where someone says, ‘I’m going to opt in to THAT’.” Oranizational identity is made up of purpose (the why it exists), the values, and the behaviors expected, which comes back to Rule #3: Identity over Purpose. It’s about creating a space of shared importance.
[42:04] “Challenge needs to be a bigger part of our society; how we challenge needs to be different.” Too often people confuse conflict and challenge. Rule #4: Challenge Everything. Brad explains what an effective positive challenge versus a negative conflict. He outlines how to invite challenges to incite creativity with curious and human questioning. You need to stop coming to conversations with your boxing gloves on!
[49:45] “Do you really tell 100% of the truth? Or do tell 100% of YOUR truth? It’s different than THE truth.” The last rule is a tricky one, RULE #5: Demand 100% of the truth. Reject the 80% of the truth that is typical, and go after that additional 20%. There are things that our easier not to talk about; diversity, psychological safety, inclusion. These are the truths that are often not told. We don’t have to have the answers, but we do need to have the questions.
[1:00:49] “Leadership doesn’t start at a certain time, later in our life. It starts early in our life.” Brad is talking about the leadership tether, this is one of the exercises he encourages listeners to try as Brad and Marcel close out the episode. He asks listeners to go back as far as they can and create a timeline of events and opportunities where they were called on as a leader, and consider the commonalities and feelings of belonging associated with these events.
Links to the episode:
-Marcel's website: www.marcelschw...
-Apple podcast: podcasts.apple...
-iHeart Radio: www.iheart.com...
-Spotify: open.spotify.c...
About the Show
The Love in Action Podcast is part of a global movement that inspires leaders to reimagine the conditions necessary for creating human-centered and humane workplaces where people and businesses flourish. The show is now heard in 160 countries and is ranked in the top 2% of all podcasts. Episodes are published every Thursday and can be heard on your favorite podcast platform. If you like what you hear, be sure to leave us a review on iTunes!
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As we challenge current management thinking and practices and build skills around human leadership and human-centered work cultures, we would be delighted to accept your sponsorship for future episodes. If interested, contact Marcel here: www.marcelschw...