[MUSIC] Welcome back to continue to explore how leaders can communicate more inclusively, I'm going to discuss micro-affirmations. Let's start with a story. One Monday morning in July 2016, I went to my job as Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Inclusion. My heart wasn't in it that day. I was feeling cumulative pain, sadness and anxiety related to recent incidents. Police officer involved killings of black people in various cities across the United States, a massacre a mainly queer people of color in Orlando, FL nightclub and the murder of police officers in Dallas, TX. As I sat at my desk trying to collect my emotions, the chancellor of the campus, Dorothy Horrell, appeared in my doorway. Do you have a minute? She asked, of course, I responded. She said, I just want you to know that I've been thinking about you. During church yesterday, father referred to the recent murders and it dawned on me that this all must be very hard for you. I feel badly, but I can't imagine how you feel. I want you to know that I value you very much and I'm grateful for all that you do for so many of us on this campus. Thank you, I said and she laughed. That interaction took me by surprise. It was the first time that I can recall that a white colleague ever said anything to me at work about racial events in the world in such a personal way. It was especially notable coming from the leader of the campus during that moment, the chancellors communication with me was what is known as a micro affirmation. A micro-affirmation as a small positive message that explicitly recognizes and validates an individual. Researcher Mary Rowe, coined this term after studying quote little issues unquote that seemed related to individuals ability to thrive in the workplace. Due to her interest in equity and inclusion, Rowe focused on people of color and white women. As I explained in another lesson, she concluded that small messages or micro messages made a difference. As you may recall, she cited micro in equities as little messages that had a negative impact. In contrast, she named micro-affirmations as small messages that had a positive impact. She explained that micro-affirmations are tiny acts of opening doors to opportunity gestures of inclusion and caring and graceful acts of listening. Micro-affirmations can foster inclusion as we are defining it in this course. They can be affirming for groups and individuals who traditionally have been excluded or under represented, and those who historically have been included and fully represented. In addition, micro-affirmations are relevant for all the six signature traits of inclusive leadership. Micro-affirmations can be especially powerful when leaders communicate them. They can help leaders address the five factors of inclusion, value, belonging, uniqueness, respect and equity. They can provide a way for leaders to cultivate, model and maintain a culture of inclusion. While micro-affirmations matter to everyone, they are especially significant for members of underrepresented groups. Leaders can communicate micro-affirmations to explicitly recognize the potential strengths and value of members of such groups. To be effective, micro-affirmations involved more than simply being nice. They are more than just kind words or superficial gestures. They require the communicator to be self aware, present an observant. Sometimes they may need to be vulnerable and willing to admit mistakes or misunderstandings. Affective micro-affirmations require attention to verbal and nonverbal cues. Here's an example, I've previously described common interactions with colleagues mistake one person of color for another person of color. This can feel disrespectful and evaluating because it can suggests that people from the same race are all alike, that we are interchangeable. It can negate a sense of uniqueness. This happened to me on a campus where colleagues mistook me for Dr. Polly McClain, another black woman faculty member. Polly and I looked nothing alike, I'm over 6 feet tall and she's about 5' 4. In addition, she and I have distinct speech patterns due to where we were raised and we were employed in two different schools on the campus. Making a commitment to be present and pay attention to others might have prevented colleagues from repeating that mistake. Our colleagues might have noticed and remembered Polly and me as distinct individuals. How do you express a micro-affirmation matters? Imagine that a colleague expresses frustration to you about constantly being mistaken for another person of color. Consider the difference between you asking, why does that matter? And why does that matter? The former implies that the speaker doesn't even believe something matters. In fact said that way, it's not really a question, is it? The latter implies curiosity and openness to learning or genuinely seeking to understand another persons experiences. Here's a list of verbs that describe types of micro-affirmations. Notice that these are not always that you help someone else, such as support, reward, and empower. Rather, they include ways for you to seek assistance from others, such as consult, learn from, and solicit feedback. During my interaction with the chancellor, I think that she acknowledged, appreciated, noticed, and valued me. She expressed empathy and seemed to try to understand me. In conclusion, micro-affirmations provide one way for leaders to communicate inclusively. Please note that micro-affirmations are not a cure all, although micro-affirmations by themselves cannot maintain a culture of inclusion. They can sure make a difference. A timely micro-affirmation can help someone feel seen and valued in a moment when they're feeling despair, as Chancellor Horrell did for me in July 2016.