September 24, 2024

Episode 108: Creating a Culture of Civility with Sejal Thakkar

This week on The Future of Teamwork, Dane interviews Sejal Thakkar, Chief Civility Officer, Chief Culture Officer, and keynote speaker. Sejal, advocate of the civility revolution, discusses how teams can foster a more inclusive and respectful work environment. Through Sejal’s framework, she emphasizes that addressing incivility is not solely the leader’s responsibility but requires a culture-wide commitment. She and Dane explore how microaggressions contribute to feelings of isolation and how creating a shared vision and cultural alignment can mitigate this. You’ll enjoy Sejal’s approach to “calling in” individuals rather than “calling out,” which fosters constructive conversations. This is a fantastic conversation for promoting not only more respectful, civil work environments, but also more effective and efficient teams.

Creating a Culture of Civility with Sejal Thakkar

Guest Bio

My Vision: I Envision a More Accepting and Civil world. 🌎

My Philosophy: Be a Better Human Being.🧠💪💖

My Mission: People make choices. Choices make culture. Plant seeds every day to empower people to make better choices.🌱 🌱🌱

⚖️: I am a recovering employment lawyer who had enough dealing with the wrong end of culture issues and decided to make a change, both in career and focus. 🎯

🎬 I founded TrainXtra to empower teams to create civil, safe, positive, and inclusive workplaces with effective customized training programs. I educate others to be a part of the solution to achieving my vision. My highly experiential workshops are tailored to bring the courtroom to the training room in an interactive, engaging environment that favors human stories over compliance checklists. 🧾

https://trainxtra.com/

💯: I am officially a Nobody! I joined Nobody Studios as their Chief Culture Officer. As CCO, I’m responsible for building, supporting, and providing guidance on all global culture initiatives. Our goal is to build 100 new compelling companies to make a positive impact in the next five years.💡

https://nobodystudios.com/venture-studio-team/

🚀: I am officially Culture Head at the Super Founders Global Network (SFGN) and member of Super Founder Global Advisory Council. Our mission is to empower people and companies to drive massive impact and make a more beautiful world. SFGN is the world’s largest investor, founder and executive network in the making. 🚀

https://sf-gac.com/

🧠: Having lived in a predominantly all-Italian neighborhood while growing up, I faced bias on a daily basis. In my first TEDx talk, I examine the concept of bias through three different viewpoints (pain, paradox, and power). Let’s all get our H.A.T.S on!

https://youtu.be/3IBn_JkH1Kw

🦋: If more people took time to learn about their biases and took steps to mitigate them, fewer people would feel excluded. Discover how to harness the power of exclusion and go from longing to belonging with a new P.O.W.E.R in my 2nd TEDx talk.

https://youtu.be/0e2soJuZ2b4

🎙Insteadtalks 360°: Embrace unique intersections of your identities find the courage to connect, the power to persevere, and the wisdom to belong.

https://youtu.be/JSo0ioeYd8s?si=aWx4T5Dz1NxU6-Ns

🫂 Member of the Workplace Suicide Prevention Committee: Take the Pledge.

https://workplacesuicideprevention.com/

Key Takeaways

Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction to the Future of Teamwork Podcast
02:09 Sejal’s Journey from Defense Attorney to Civility Advocate
03:51 Understanding and Addressing Incivility
10:27 The Role of Microaggressions in Workplace Incivility
19:30 The Civility Action Plan (CAP) Framework
24:49 Frustrations with Anti-Harassment Training
25:30 Drawing Parallels with the Safety Industry
26:32 Introducing the Civility Action Plan
27:20 Importance of Alignment in Civility
29:12 Promotion and Continuous Learning
31:11 Implementing Psychological Safety
32:28 Encouraging Collaborative Conflict Resolution
42:23 The Role of AI in Promoting Civility
44:15 Concluding Thoughts and Call to Action

Definition of Psychological Safety mentioned in the show:

Psychological safety at work doesn’t mean that everybody is nice to each other all the time. It means that people feel free to brainstorm out loud, to voice half-finished thoughts, to share feedback, challenge the status quo, openly challenge and work through disagreements together, knowing that the organization and the leaders value honesty, candor, truth-telling, and that the team members have each other’s backs.