Welcome to our session on a conversation that I think is so important in this day and age for not only us as individuals working within organizations but overall.And so this presentation slash talk slash conversation that I'm gonna be engaging with you in for the next couple of moments is going to engage you on an individual level as well as on a collective level. So as I speak, definitely consider yourself as well as the company that either you lead or that you work within. And so first and foremost, just to kind of get the um the foundation set, so you understand what informs a lot of what I'm sharing today. Uh My name is Ozio Me, Guano. I am a speaker, I am a strategist. I'm a scholar and uh over the past, I would say almost 20 years, I've been working at a variety of levels everywhere from the ground level in terms of supporting community transformation, as well as a United Nations and moderating high-level com commission meetings and really being able to see how NGO S operate as well as being a public figure, being interviewed on platforms like MS NBC and of course, many of you have read my bio also as a Vice President of Strategy and now as a Chief Strategic Transformation Officer at my company, which is called Burn Bright.

What I don't often share is that I come to this work from two different levels. One is an educator, I taught for about five years at Columbia University um at the master's level. And also what has been my recent journey, which is as a phd candidate, researching the role that vision plays in our early stage, tech entrepreneurs develop their ventures because I truly believe that the domain of technology touches every single one of us and the ways in which uh organizations that are technologically driven, which is essentially every organization, the way in which they develop has implications for the way in which our world is um is engaged.

And so I really have been digging into leadership and technology and all of those components. And so that really is what informs the work. And so as I mentioned to you, I lead a company consultancy, transformational consultancy called Burn Bright International. And the other initiative that I've been spending well over a decade. Um leading is called World Dream Day, which started out as a dream that there should be a day that's dedicated to the best that humanity has to offer. And that could also be a conduit for individuals, families, communities, organizations to truly be able to take time to dream together and then to create plans for action as well as take action and celebrate the dreamer in all of us. And so World Dream Day has been going on for over 10 years and it's celebrated every September 25th. So I hope that if you are interested, definitely reach out to me on linkedin and we can connect on how can we either support World Dream Day at your organization or just you as an individual. And so, in order to open up our remarks, I want to present one of the seminal works on reinventing organizations written by Frederick Leroux.

And he basically speaks to something that I think is so important for us to focus on when it comes to community and culture and organizational transformation. And that is that organ organizations as we know them today are simply the expression of our current worldview. Our current stage of development. This basically posits that the organizations we have today are essentially a reflection of our consciousness. So as our consciousness and as an awareness shifts, so does the way in which our organizations shift. And so what we're really talking about here and I'm gonna be sharing with you many different frameworks is our mental model. What are the models that we hold individually and collectively? And what are the implications for the way in which not only we see but the way in which we interact. And until we begin to shift our experiences, our knowledge, our heuristics, which are basically the rules of thumb by which we engage ourselves the ways in which we engage others, especially those who are different than us, how we feel about others and how we feel about ourselves and relationship to others.

All of these things go into our mental model and our mental models is what creates that frame of interaction and how we engage everything. So again, it's important to understand that we as individuals have our own mental models and organizations have what's known as uh cultural paradigms, which is essentially the mental model of the organization. But in order to get to this conversation about cultural paradigms, I first want us to get on the same page around what is culture and many of you will know this kind of uh you know, again, I don't think anyone actually can coin this statement, but I used to be uh a Chief Cultural Innovation, um an inside officer at, at an organization, essentially the head of a division.

And so we used to always talk about culture as the way we do things around here. And what that means is that there is the observable nature of what we see, right? Which is just the behaviors and the practices of the organization. But underneath, there are all these perceptions, these attitudes, these beliefs, these values, and they serve as the basically the underground rivers, right? The underground waters that are, are underneath and within our organizations that we very rarely see, but that we actually see observed in that make their way in the practices and in the behaviors. So it's so important to know that Iceberg theory of culture, as well as what I'm sharing with you right now, which is the cultural web, which speaks to the cultural paradigm that every single organization has the stories that we tell amongst ourselves, the symbols that we use the power structures, the organizational structures, in terms of the way that we are structured, the control systems, in terms of where is power, the routines and the rituals.

All of these things serve the serve as the foundation and the way in which they are interconnected, speak to how the organization itself functions. And it's very difficult to change cultural paradigms by by chance, they truly have to be an intentional transformational endeavor.

And my experience, in fact, actually working at a network level across four different offices and really going deep into what is the cultural paradigm for each individual office. And what is the larger cultural paradigm that pervades an entire network? It really gave me deep insight into understanding that within our organizations, if we are not addressing the cultural paradigm, we are truly missing the mark. And so what I want to speak into because this is about reinventing company culture and it is about belonging, empathy and inclusion.

So what I want to share with you is what I consider the transformative paradigm that can totally shift company culture as it relates to this conversation that we're in today. And I'm gonna read it to you and as I read it to you, I want you to truly feel your relationship with this conversation. So imagine if our organizations all around the world, right, with their cultural awareness of the different nuances and historical, you know, um positives and negatives that have been experienced. Imagine if this became the overarching vision, the paradigm that we are seeking to activate in the world today, individuals and organizations cultivating environments from the inside out that acknowledge past realities, intentionally transform present injustices and inequities and through personal and collective power.

As well as radical accountability, actively contribute towards the creation of just equitable, diverse and inclusive companies grounded in empathy and belonging. For all I would love to know from you if this moves you, I'm getting love it. If this speaks to you sounds beautiful. Yes. OK.

All of this is possible when we begin to shift the paradigm. OK. So what we're talking about here truly is the foundation of company culture, what I call the new big three, how do we create environments that are rooted in belonging, empathy and inclusion? Because when you have that and when that is your focus, that it becomes easier to be able to implement a diversity, equity inclusion initiatives because you have the understanding that he belonging is a human need. OK. And when we are not feeling like we belong, the stress levels elevate our feelings of, of feeling disconnected ensue. There are a whole host of other indicators, emotional um challenges that emerge as a result of not feeling like we belong. And many employees who are not part of dominant paradigms feel this every single day. OK. And obviously, there's a when I say dominant cultural paradigms, it can be paradigms of thought, it can be gender paradigms, it can be sexual preference paradigms. It can be ethnic paradigms.

It could just be neuro divergence. There are so many different ways in which we can feel like we're not made to belong, which makes it so powerful when we actually feel that we do and empathy, many of you have heard that term, but there's different forms of empathy, there's empathy, that's cognitive, which is OK.

I can think about it and I can see from your perspective, then there's also uh what one would call emotional empathy, which is, oh my God, I feel it so strong like an emotional contagion. And then there's what's known as compassionate empathy, which is really where again, all of them matter, but where we want to live and what we want to active over and over and over in every division of our organizations and within ourselves is compassionate empathy. I feel I understand I care and as a result of the care I am willing to activate, I'm willing to act I'm willing to make choices on behalf of this issue that I care about. Compassionate empathy is where it's at. And so as we gaze within ourselves and our organizations, we have to acknowledge that every business leader knows that their company needs to adapt in order to survive long term. However, the real issue is not just about successfully transforming the organization once, right?

So we're seeing that right now. Oh my gosh, we need a Chief Diversity Equity Inclusion Officer. Oh, we need a new this, we need a new that but having that one little change without actually the other transformations that are part and parcel of this shift will lead us back where we, where we were before, in fact, even worse. Because what I've seen is that we change, initiatives are engaged and there's no follow through those legacy employees that have been with us for, you know, over it decade or even five years would be like, oh yeah, we tried that five years ago and that they'll tell those stories again back to the stories and the rituals, they'll tell those stories and then it becomes harder to actually activate change.

So we want to understand this. It's not just a one time basis, it's writing the ability to adapt and transform into the company's DNA. How can we individually and collectively be transformers, activators of change everywhere that it is needed. And so this is about reinvention cycles, right?

How do we develop the mindsets, the culture, the systems that enable us to anticipate design and implement change. And this co this comes from Nadia Csaba and our Chief Reinvention Officer um Reinvention Cycle, which I've adapted um because there's areas where I feel that we need to be focusing on and how do we pull that together. Also, Yuval Harari also writes about this, that the art of reinvention will be the most critical skill of the century. And this is him speaking about our youth need, but we need that as well. And so what I want to share with you because now I'm gonna go into a series of frameworks that will support and and not only support but invite inspiration on a continual basis that you'll be able to use as you engage your own um transformational initiatives. This comes from hard and tips uh a framework that I love, which is all about the future as a strategic landscape. Here we are as who we are, right? Our local selves with our perfections and our imperfections. And we're gazing upon the landscape of the choices that need to be made in order to create more belonging, more empathy, more inclusion within ourselves and within our organizations. And we're looking at the mountain, the things we have to overcome, right?

But then there's that star, the enduring and guiding social role. And I am hoping that that that beautiful paragraph that many of you celebrated and loved that that will become you're guiding light or that you will create one that really speaks to your specific situation within your organization.

But the challenge is that OK, you signed up, you've held, you've raised your hand and you're like, oh Z yma, I'm here. I'm about that vision. You see it, you want it. But then there's the shift that needs to happen inside of you as it continuously happens inside of me and all of us, which is how do I con continuously identify and become more aware of my biases? And how do I make sure that when I am caught in a situation where I say something or I feel something that with love for myself and understanding that I allow myself to be connected, right and corrected in a way that enables me to then grow from it as opposed to what happens so often, which is we, we, we shirk, we get embarrassed, we're upset that we're not perfect.

Oh my goodness. I said something that maybe was culturally insensitive. Let me tell you whenever a statement is made that may create a lack of belonging or show a lack of empathy or be something that doesn't create or generate more inclusion, an honest, true apology and taking the time to learn so that it doesn't happen again and being vocal about where you are and where you'd like to go goes a really long way.

And so often when, when people get caught out there, they, they, they, they want to pretend and perform this perfection and it actually hinders progress. So there's this gap, right, of the vision we have and how do we connect on a deeper level with it? And then also how do we spread it? How do we make sure that all those within our organization also are connected to that vision? But the best way to predict the future as Peter Dr Drucker says is to create it. And this is all about our leadership and the ways in which we look at our ex what I call our exponential potential, which is who we are as agents of transformation individually and collectively and how we engage every system possible to be able to transform it on our team, on the team level, sometimes the division level, sometimes it's through rituals and practices of what the organizational gatherings, all of it is fair game.

And so what I want is for every single one of you who are listening right now live as well as in the replay, to be able to say, where are my systems and opportunities for exponential transformation? What is my field of action? Where are the spaces, the places, the systems and the sources of transformation that I can engage in order to generate um more empathy, more belonging, more inclusion. And as a result, what will emerge is more of these exponential possibilities to make a difference and our world will essentially be a new reality. The situations that occur in our organizations will transform the solutions that come forth as a result of the potential and the willingness to engage transformation will also be so much more generative. And of course, the stories we tell and how we celebrate our wins will also support a new reality. So this is all about embracing new ways of being and doing and realizing that as we embrace new ways, we're able to move forward. And then, you know, if we're not, you're gonna be like the guy with the box, right, you're gonna be stuck in the old ways and you know, our organizations will stay stuck at a time. We know all of us need to be thinking innovatively.

All of us need to be activating change and all of us need to be participating in the co creation of this new world. And so since the pandemic, I developed a um a framework that supports the shift and I, you know, shared it with um as my role as a faculty expert at Singularity University, I've shared it with many different networks. I want to share it now on behalf of what we're here to do, which is all about this transformative framework of reinventing the future. So I want you to be thinking about what are the mindsets that I need to engage in, in order to create the shift? What's my motivation and how do I connect with that on a deeper level, what are the models that I can use? What are the methods? And I'm gonna share with you one very simple method before we end. And then again, what is my massive transformative purpose, the purpose that if I truly were to embrace or that if my organization were truly willing to embrace everything would change a massive, right, large big purpose that's transformative. And so this these five areas, these five domains, whenever I've worked with, whether it's organizations or individuals around these five domains, it truly um serves as a transformative compass.

So now I want to dig in very deeply before we go to share with you what I call the nectar process of cultural reinvention. And this goes into the methods, the ways in which we employ the method. So people always say, well, what do I do? How do I get started? First, you get started by noticing, begin by heightening your awareness of the underlying premises, the principles and the practices that create the culture that you currently have within your organization and how these factors either enhance or detract from full potential and high possibility.

And when I say full potential, high possibility, we're talking within the confines and constraints of belonging, empathy inclusion for all, then you have to be willing to engage after you've done your assessment, your eyes are becoming aware, you're reading your books, you're watching, you know, things on youtube, you're watching things on Netflix, right?

You're really, you're asking your friends, you're doing your work, right? You're not expecting that someone who's a woman, if you're a man or like someone who's brown, if you're white, like you're not expecting them to be the teachers. You're saying I'm gonna have them serve as my direct, you know, in informants, but I'm doing my work and that's all about you engaging, engaging in investigations, discussions and dialogues that support the exploration of the dynamics at play and how to transform them. When the George Floyd murder took place and the results and all of what was emerging around our world. You had so many organizations that were finally having the conversations. We cannot stop having these conversations, not only about the role and the place of many different people from different cultural backgrounds, but we can't stop having the conversations around gender. We can't stop having the conversations around ableism. We cannot stop having the conversations around sexual orientation and preferences and neuro divergence. All of it. We have to continue to have these conversations and then we have to commit to transformation, create a transformation statement that outlines what you are willing to transform and then activate, take time, take transformative action that begins to shift the personal and mental models and paradigms.

And this is all about you being nimble and adaptive and activating in ways that are big and small because so often the and I've worked with even you know, different fortune th even fortune 30 big company around this, it can't just be about the big splash. It can be about the small things and that can translate into where if you're a, a retail brand, what happens on the shop floor? If you're in your organization, what happens at the different leadership levels? All of this is important. And finally, because I'm very, I'm a big meditator and I'm also very big on contemplative practice and reflection and our organizations don't do enough of this. We need to have continuous reflection. It's so key setting dedicated, timely check ins where you can assess and enhance the journey, embrace daily contemplative practices and review your benchmark, your benchmarks to assess whether or not meaningful progress is truly being made. And so this reinventing the cultural paradigms within companies A K A, what I call hives will require key transformative shifts that work from the inside out. And this is all about what I call transformative diversity, equity inclusion, moving from performativity to paradigm shifting.

And so the the five different areas that I shared with you, you can basically over the next 90 days, essentially do your own cultural reinvention activation, identify and pay attention to how perspective and language constructs company culture and be willing to make the adjustments, right?

Map out what an ideal day looks like. Initiate experiments and rituals of personal and professional as well as individual collective enjoyment, as well as excellence. Can't just be about we're doing the hard work. How do we celebrate together? How do we come to right and obtain feedback and retain what has potential. Also focusing on relationships, examining relationships with the or within the organization, identifying at what levels and departments support is needed. Refine all of the company relationships to be more regenerative and to support that vision of belonging, empathy and inclusion and then reality conduct a cultural paradigm which I've done. And if you need support, reach out to me, we can talk about this and audit that identifies areas where your company culture may be resisting its own evolution. OK? And identify three key, just start with 33 key transformations and begin the activation process. And if you reach out to me, I can also send you this, you can take a screenshot this commitment statement, right? Commit to being that person and participating or bringing that to your organization to re invent the company culture. And this is one way in which we do that. And so the future belongs to those of us who are willing to believe in the beauty of our dreams. And I would love for you to connect with me.

Reach out, reach out to me on linkedin or right there, you can fill out the form to have a consultation and we can talk about how can we re invent reality together on a personal professional and organization level? OK. So I know we're out of time. But in the next moment, if anyone wants to ask a question, give a common cont contemplations or contributions or your current challenges, I'm here for it and thank you so much for joining me for this session. Uh Yeah, so we are now officially complete. Let's see if anybody raises, I don't know how we do this raising of hands or if there's anything um happening here. Great session. Thank you. Truly brilliant. Thank you all. Um There's just so much goodness coming through the chat here. And so I'm just really um really excited to uh to be here and I don't know if anybody wants to. Uh I don't know if the room closes at some time, but if anybody wants to basically ask a question or, or share their thoughts, I would love it. Uh You know, uh again, one thing about all this work is it comes directly from direct experience working with organizations, working with leaders supporting transformation at multiple levels, racial healing sessions in the deep South to corporate, you know, board meetings and focusing on how do we transform and hold the space.

And so it really is informed by all the levels of society that matter which for me is so important. Um You must love your most lovely example on on transformation. Oh my gosh, one of my most lovely examples of transformation uh actually is I, I have one that's a big grand scale. I have one that's very small within an organization that really wasn't holding actually a board that wasn't really holding space for one another in a way that they were able to come together uh in a collaborative fashion. What ended up happening is they actually began saying, OK, you know what our meetings need to be more connected. So what could we do? And they began bringing a cake. And so every board meeting and every time they gathered, they began this ritual and through the sharing of something as simple as a cake, they began to have connections and more intentionality. And the reason why I bring that is because very often we think it has to be this larger big shift. So that's one example on a, a small scale symbolic level.

But one of my favorite ones that I will sing to the high heavens is the work that I've um I've done with the organization Target in Minneapolis. And I think that they are one of the best organizations and exemplar of cultural shifts. And I've been so lucky and honored to be supporting their transformational initiatives for the past two years. And so to me, if you want to look at brands that are doing amazing in terms of taking a step forward, some of the the brands like Sephora, which is that powerful dynamic, racial equity and bi you know, racial equity and bias research and then target organization which is really focus on it again, from the inside out and really doing that work to understand communities and really um taking themselves to task as much as they are willing to transform their spaces.

And so you see it in their um in the actual product, um you know, a product display and you also see it in the ways which the leaders are showing up. And so I think Target um is one of my favorite examples. And Sephora is another one just because again, we wanna think symbolically and we also wanna think systemically, OK. And the reason why I say systemically is when you have an organization like Sephora, they went out and did research on behalf of the entire retail industry. So sometimes organizations will be like, well, we don't really know, we don't have the research. No, you go out and you be a leader in your category, your organization can go out and collect the intelligence and bring it back so that it transforms the trajectory of what's possible.

And to me, that is a uh say divine and that is a supreme form of a contribution uh not only from an industry level but for the world because finally, those people who have been profiled just like myself can say, finally, it's getting out there. I know what my lived experience is. And now I don't have to justify it because someone is actually committed to bringing forth the shift, you know, and so this is this happens on every level, gender, sexual preference, all of these ways in which we have to think about. What is that world that we want to live in? And how can we individually and collectively begin to be the change we wanna see and create the systems that will sustain, sustain and support the trajectory as well as that new reality. And so thank you so much. I'll stay until everyone leaves. But um I see you've been brilliant both in content. OK. How do you think men are sensitive to those values? Empathy, compassion, inclusivity. I think again, it's, it's very dangerous to be like men, don't get it or men. And I know that's not what you're you're implying with your um with your statement. But I think that there is a bias against men. They don't get it without understanding that it's a cultural paradigm that supports a certain type of man within the organization, rewards a certain level and a certain way of being. And so I think that more and more men are one of the work awakening.

But we do see, we cannot lie, we see regression happening all over the world. But I do hold the space because I'm seeing more and more men's work. And I also think it's important for the, the those of us who do not identify as men to share and to make suggestions so they too can engage these causation because it's needed. And when I say this all forms of men. We all need to be doing this work. And I know that traditionally empathy belonging, inclusion, feel soft and they're not really hard men, qualities and attributes, but men want to belong as well. They want to be included as well, right? They need and, and they also they need to feel empathy and they also need to experience it um shown upon them as much as they also need to embrace embody and reflect it. So it's all there for us. Secondly, what Sophia said you are an a inspiration. Osama. Thank you guys so much. I'm so happy that this resonated with you guys. I know we're well over time if there's any other questions. Um How OK. Yeah, I'm looking at these questions. I've been noticing that Poc and women are leaving my company in droves. Should I take this as a red flag and start looking elsewhere? Um I don't know if you're a Poc or I mean, I assume obviously you're a woman, Beth Madonna. I wouldn't say leaving in drove.

I would say, you know, do your own investigation as to understanding why are they leaving? And then what is it about the organization that's making them leave? And is it something that you, you too feel that you have to leave? Or is this something that you can play a role in actually helping to transform very often when people say, OK, I'm jumping ship, I'm like, you're jumping ship. But what if you were the one who could actually help the, the, the ship take a new course? You know what I mean? What if there's an opportunity for you to be a leader? And very often the cracks within our organizations and even within ourselves are invitations for us to step into our leadership. And so I wouldn't necessarily say jump ship, I'd say, is there an opportunity for me to lead here? And would there be a um a more beneficial contribution that I could make through what I'm noticing? Yes. If the only one or last one who can impact leaves, so think deep. OK. All right. So we gotta change the environment where we are. We gotta be the change too. Yes. And sometimes we have, we have to leave. But I would say first and foremost, interrogate really take the nectar model that I spoke about. Notice. All great shifts come from first, right? Great shifts in self, great shifts in society, great shifts in systems all come from the seat of awareness.

The moment we become aware of what is happening. What are the mechanisms? How are we thinking? How is this playing out then we can begin the, the important process of engaging the system and strategically transforming it and so truly, truly, truly, OK, guys loved your talk. What a great session are you willing to make? Mt at this point? Everyone always asks me, listen, I have the link. I'm actually, let's see if I can. Oh dear, let me see if I can get the link that I have. And I'm going to actually put the link in the chat so that if anybody wants to reach out, they can reach out. Here's the link I should have done that earlier. But there it is, that's the link. If you want to connect with me regarding working with your organization, regarding speaking engagements, regarding, you know, transformational sessions on a personal um organizational level, reach out and let's let's have the conversation, let's begin it. And everyone, please definitely find me Osoma linkedin.

That's the best way to connect. And so it's been an honor, a pleasure and a privilege to support your, your personal and collective shifts. And thank you so much for taking the time to listen to um to this work. And I think it's important work and each of you have your own contributions in your own way. But let's, let's let's uh core new realities together. All right guys. Take care. Bye.