Wonderful. Well, hello and welcome. I'm Priyanka Shinde. Hope you have enjoyed the conference so far, and thank you for taking the time to attend this session.This topic is close to my heart, so let's jump right in. I have now lived in The United States longer than I have lived in the country where I was born, India. This country, US, is now home. When I came to The United States as a 20 a plus grad student, I was ambitious, focused, and ready to build a future. I landed at Arizona State University, one of the largest, most diverse universities in the country, with a charter proudly centered on inclusion. But I wasn't thinking about inclusion. I had no reason to question whether I belonged until I did.

As I entered the workforce, I began to feel subtle exclusions, second guessing, being talked over, or passed over. There was diversity around me, people who looked like me, and yet I often felt invisible. And without the language to name it, I did what high achievers often do. I blamed myself. I thought I wasn't good enough, that I was missing something. I worked harder. So I stayed quieter. I tried to prove myself over and over again. And it took a toll on my confidence, on my performance, on my potential. I wasn't operating at my best. I was operating under pressure to belong. I internalized the exclusion as personal failure. It wasn't until I came to Silicon Valley that things began to shift. Tech was further along in conversations around diversity and inclusion. And at Meta, I finally had the language to name what I had been navigating for years.

For the first time, I felt like I belonged, that awareness was a turning point. I led high impact initiatives, built and scaled teams, took bold risks. I wasn't questioning my place anymore. I was owning my space. Because that sense of belonging, it was catalytic. It drove outcomes. As I led teams and later organizations, I began to recognize that same pattern in so many high performing professionals. And today, in my work with leadership teams, I see it over and over again. Leaders making decisions with the best of intent, but without realizing who feels unseen, unheard, and undervalued, and what that costs their culture and their company. As an executive coach and founder, I now partner with organizations to build high performance inclusive teams.

Not just to maximize the potential of their people, but to maximize the bottom line. And here's the challenge I now bring to every leader I work with. What does it cost your company when your highest potential people are spending more energy questioning their worth than generating ideas? As just as this conversation is gaining momentum, the landscape is shifting. DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, once seen as necessary conversation is becoming a point of tension. So let's talk about what's really happening and where we go from here. We are seeing companies move away from the term DEI. JPMorgan dropping the term equity, Walmart rebranding them their DEI as Walmart for everyone. Among Fortune 100 companies, there was a 22% decrease in the usage of terms DEI and diversity, maybe due to fatigue, polarization, or performative perception.

Even employees have been increasingly questioning DEI initiatives according to Gallup. But what's rising is the term belonging, a 59% increase between '23 and '24. Belonging is a word that feels more human, more cultural, more actionable. Meal clinic renamed their DEI office to office of belonging recently. Walmart hired their first chief belonging officer. So the terms are changing, and you can see the need hasn't gone away. This shift reflects a need for real change, not just programs. Now before we go any further, what's the big difference between DEI and belonging? So let's get on the same page with all this terminology. Diversity. It's about who is in the room. Do we have representation? Equity is about who's still outside and trying to get in or can't get in. Do they have equal access to get into the room? Inclusion asks, are the voices in the room being heard? And belonging?

Well, of all the people that are room, do they want to stay in the room? Do they feel safe, valued, part of something real? See, belonging is a feeling, a sentiment, a perception. While DI can be measured more easily, belonging can be hard to measure sometimes. US businesses spend nearly $8,000,000,000 each year on diversity and inclusion training, And they still miss the mark because they neglect our need to feel included. According to an HBR article, Harvard Business Review, forty percent of people say that they feel isolated at work, and the result has been lower organizational commitment and engagement. So you can see that belonging can go beyond these initiatives. It is a felt experience, and companies can do something about it. Now at the same time, beyond that warm fuzzy feeling, beyond that just sentiment, belonging can be much more. It can drive hard business outcomes, performance, retention, engagement, even well-being.

Here's what the data shows when belonging is present or missing. A 56% increase in job performance, 50% reduction in turnover risk, 75% decrease in employee sick days. All this according to a BetterUp survey. There's more. When employees have a strong sense of belonging, they are 22 times more likely to be fully engaged. That is 65% versus just 3%. Three. Those who feel they belong are three times more likely to stay with that organization for at least another year. And employees who don't feel like they belong, they're almost two times more likely to report that work related stress causes productivity loss at least three days or more in the prior week. So data shows belonging can really impact the bottom line. We are not in 2015 anymore. We are not in 2020. The workforce, especially generation z, is showing up with a completely different set of expectations. I'm sure a lot of you leaders are managing Gen z workers now.

They value identity, purpose, psychological safety. Post COVID nineteen pandemic, people aren't just rethinking how they work. They are rethinking why they work and where they want to do it. The numbers already show us that belonging works, but data alone doesn't drive change. Leadership does. And the kind of leadership that worked in 2015, it won't cut it in 2025. This is about leadership evolving for a new era, and 2025 marks the start of a new decade of work. The companies that will thrive are the ones where people want to stay, grow, and truly belong. And what we need now is presence, awareness, and daily practice. Now I want you to think about a moment when you shared an idea in a meeting. Maybe it wasn't fully formed. Maybe it was just a spark.

And the very next words you heard were, no, but. How did that feel? It doesn't matter if the person agreed with you partially or if they had a better idea or maybe they said something like, okay, you know, we can talk about it later. No, but shuts things down. It dismisses the moment. Now imagine if they had said yes and what I I like about that idea, or here's what we can do. You don't have to love the full idea to find one thing to build on. Just 10% is enough. That's what yes, and does. It keeps the energy open. It tells people you belong in this conversation. Saying yes, and is a moment that builds belonging. Let's talk about two more moments like that, simple behaviors that leaders and their teams can use to build belonging every day. Say it back.

What I'm hearing is, when you reflect back what someone said, you're not just confirming. You're showing them they have been heard. The one moment of mirroring can be the difference between someone feeling dismissed or being seen. And finally, listen for the unsaid. English isn't about who talks. It's about noticing who doesn't. Silence, hesitation, or withdrawal are moments too. Great leaders don't just listen to what's said. They notice what's missing, and they make space for it. Those moments might seem small, but they shape trust, creativity, and belonging in ways that no program or policy ever could. Because belonging is built in how we respond, communicate in the moments that follow the idea, the silence, or the risk. Now while small daily moments build belonging, leaders are responsible for modeling behaviors that sustain it over time.

Leaders have the power to shape culture whether they mean to or not. Inclusion happens when leaders move from awareness to modeling. And the impact is real. Teams with high belonging are three times more likely to trust their leaders. So what does inclusive leadership actually look like in action? First, own your bias. Now even though I felt exclusion over a period of my career, I have my own biases and I cannot tell you how many times they show up. And I have to be very much aware of them. Inclusion starts with self awareness. That means recognizing your own blind spots, acknowledging them, and talking about them openly. When leaders model that kind of transparency, it creates permission for others to do the same. Second, be the ally. Amplify voices that are overlooked. Intervene when you see exclusion. Use your influence to create space for others. Sometimes it's easier to advocate for others. Be the ally framework. There are trainings around this.

There is a very good framework around pointing it out, checking it out, working it out. It can really help drive that conversation forward and helping others. And finally, prioritize psychological safety. Create a culture where people can speak up, be heard. It means feedback flows both ways. People can feel safe taking risks. They know that their ideas won't be dismissed. There is candor. And that's how, you know, great ideas are generated. There's innovation. With great power comes great responsibility. This is one of my favorite quotes. What leaders do, it's a great ripple effect. In today's world of work, that responsibility goes beyond strategy and delivery. It extends to culture. Because the most powerful thing you shape as a leader isn't limited to a product or a plan. It's how people feel. It's the tone you set in the room and that safety you create for others to speak, show up, and belong. And here's the truth.

Belonging doesn't require a new program or a budget. It just requires consistency in how you lead every day. Your behavior is the culture, not the handbook, not the values on the wall. So here's the question I want to leave you with. What's the one behavior you will shift next week to create more belonging on your team? It could be inviting the quiet voice in the room, saying yes and instead of no but, or simply listening longer than you speak. It doesn't have to be big, but it has to be intentional, because belonging is built in moments. And leadership, inclusive leadership is a practice. I would love to hear from you on what action you took or what action resonated with you the most, so feel free to get in touch with me via my website or email or even LinkedIn.

I I would love to hear from you and connect. Thank you so much for having me and being part of this conversation. And with that, I