The Talent Forge: Shaping the Future of Training and Development with Jay Johnson

How to Create Inclusive Spaces: A Conversation with Delphia Howze

• Jay Johnson • Season 1 • Episode 33

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Explore the dynamic world of inclusion with Delphia Howze in our latest episode! Delphia shares her surprising career journey from aspiring attorney to leading advocate for inclusive practices in the workplace. In a world that increasingly values diverse perspectives, she unpacks why inclusion should not solely be the responsibility of leadership. Instead, each individual plays a critical role in creating a culture that enables everyone to thrive.

Join us to learn how you can take actionable steps toward inclusivity in your work environment and engage authentically with your colleagues. Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help us shape the future of training and development together!

Please enjoy one free audio review copy of Including You!: Leading Inclusion From Where You Are, now available on Audible. Redeem the one-time use code below at https://www.audible.com/acx-promo: 382RKWTFJ9U2S

Meet the Host
Jay Johnson works with people and organizations to empower teams, grow profits, and elevate leadership. He is a Co-Founder of Behavioral Elements®, a two-time TEDx speaker, and a designated Master Trainer by the Association for Talent Development. With a focus on behavioral intelligence, Jay has delivered transformational workshops to accelerate high-performance teams and cultures in more than 30 countries across four continents. For inquiries, contact jay@behavioralelements.com or connect below!

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayjohnsonccg/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jayjohnsonccg/
Speaker Website - https://jayjohnsonspeaks.com

Jay Johnson:

Welcome to this episode of the Talent Forge, where we are shaping the future of training and development. I'm very excited to welcome a special guest today, Delphia Howze. Welcome to the show, Delphia.

Delphia Howze:

Thank you so very much. Happy to be here.

Jay Johnson:

So you've got an incredible history and some really interesting things going on, and I'd love for the audience to be up to speed. Tell us, Delphia, how did you get into this space and what are you working on right now?

Delphia Howze:

Yes, so I got into this space by happenstance. So I was, you know, when I was in college and all growing up I wanted to be a high powered attorney taking on taking the world by storm. But once I got to law school I realized that that might not be the best option. I went, I started my career in the field of banking, really had the opportunity to understand how to work with people, how to navigate things. So I ascended the ladder pretty rapidly as an officer within the bank, led teams, led HR teams within the banking industry, loved it so much, especially loved the training aspect of it.

Delphia Howze:

But recognized that there was a challenge in the sense that we were not. A lot of the branches under my purview were not connecting with the community in the most impactful way, for you know bottom line and ROI. So I started to do some research and recognize that the reality was a lot of our branches were in urban settings and the individuals who were leading the branches, my managers, were not familiar with that type of environment. They were coming from a different type of environment that created a little bit of a disconnect. Did some further research?

Delphia Howze:

Realized that we had the opportunity, barked up a couple of trees with our presidents and eventually our president said Delphi, if it's that important to you, do something about it. And that's kind of the worst thing that you can ever say to me, because I can go down a path and just get going. But it worked out very well. I started the first diversity program there and kind of just continued to really focus. And at the time you know I hate to say how old I am, but you know at the time it wasn't a huge focus, but there was a realization for an opportunity to do something different. And that's where I got my start in the field of focusing on how do we bridge the gaps of people connecting so that individuals can be their best selves and so that organizations can be successful.

Jay Johnson:

That's incredible, delphia, and there's so many things that really resonated. Number one is I swear, the more people I talk to on this show and anywhere else that accidentally got into this, I'm really starting to believe that training, talent development and HR is a calling. It's less of a choice. I don't think anybody's like you know what I want to grow up and be a trainer but then all of a sudden the people just kind of find their way to this because I am in the same boat and so many of our other guests have been as well. So I found that really funny. And I'm in the same boat with you, as I started off thinking I'm going to go be a high powered lawyer, and then I got an internship while I was in college and I sat at a copy machine for eight and a half hours and I'm like I am not going to be a lawyer. So I found that really funny.

Jay Johnson:

Now, one of the things I know that you've been working on is your book Leading Inclusion From when you Are. So including you leading inclusion where you are. I want to talk about that because I think inclusion is one of those areas that we all try to strive to get there, but then, when the rubber meets the road, we sometimes fall a little bit short. I'm going to give you an example of this, but first let's talk about your book. Give us an overview of this, and I know it's available on Amazon and you're releasing the audible version of it right now. So tell us a little bit about it.

Delphia Howze:

Yes, absolutely so, including you, leading inclusion from where you are. I chose that topic specifically because I wanted to make sure that people realize that this involves everyone. Whether we want it to touch us or not, it is going to touch us Right, because the reality is every single one of us, as humans, have experienced a feeling or an experience, have had an experience of exclusion Right, whether it was back in kindergarten, whether it was last month, whether it was when we first started our first position. But exclusion is a reality and it does not feel good and so and it doesn't bring out the best in people.

Delphia Howze:

So my baseline thought is why would we want that to be in our environments, and particularly in our work environments? We want to precipitate the best. We want people to be the best. We want to have the best output and productivity. So, therefore, we have to create and ensure that we have inclusive environments where everyone can thrive, and that responsibility does not simply reside with leadership or with HR. Every single person within the organization can do small things to help to ensure that the environment is inclusive and that that is sustainable, because, really, when it gets down to it, we're dealing with people, and when you deal with people. We know that there's a lot of nuances and challenges in doing so, simply because we're all coming at everything from our own perspectives. But taking the time to intentionally focus on inclusion, we create this wonderful alchemy of opportunity to ensure that people can be their best.

Jay Johnson:

I really love how you've framed that as from where you are right, because at the end of the day, we do often kind of rely on either leadership or organizational culture, like, oh well, we have an inclusive culture, but it sort of takes a little of that personal responsibility that we have as individuals for creating that environment. Now I'm going to ask a couple of things here, because our trainers, our coaches, our HR people, you know, when we think about designing for an inclusive environment or setting up a training or a learning opportunity for an inclusive environment, what are some of the things that maybe we should be thinking about in that initial design phase, because it's really the work that we put in before that makes the experience smooth, not only for us but for their participants. So what should we be thinking about like from get go day one, the starting line?

Delphia Howze:

Yes, I think that's a great question when I think about beginning or initiating a training program. We know that the ADDIE model right A-D-D-I-E right.

Delphia Howze:

So assessing and really understanding, through that assessment, who is involved and who are you talking to?

Delphia Howze:

Many people will say, well, we're assessing and really focusing on this demographic group or in this group of people or in this specific team.

Delphia Howze:

But the reality is, when we're talking about inclusion, it is each and every one of those right, and not only each and every one of those, but it's the individuals within each and so when you think about designing any type of program, in my opinion it is very critical, it's absolutely necessary to understand that who you're speaking to and who you're designing the module for is something that can touch every single person because it grows legs. And when you think about particularly designing programs and strategies around inclusion, some organizations are still, you know, working through DEI, some are working through just DI, some are just working through I. But when you think about that, the reality is you have to get to the core human-centric integrity, recognizing that, through that assessment phase, that should be the area of focus or one of the core human-centric integrity, recognizing that, through that assessment phase, that should be the area of focus or one of the core areas of focus, before you get to the DDIE.

Jay Johnson:

Love that, and we've talked a little bit about Addy on the show in several different episodes. So, audience, if you need a refresher on Addy, go back and check out any of those, because it is a powerful, powerful model and the way that we look at assessment in the beginning can really determine the evaluative outcomes that we have at the end, and it's an essential aspect. So we always talk about getting a return on investment for our training and being strategic with it. So this is a great model to do so, delphia, I'm going to dig a little bit deeper and I'm going to share a moment of vulnerability here. You know, recently we had conducted a leadership retreat. It's very deep, immersive retreat and one of our participants was a person who is blind and that really shifted the dynamic of us thinking about how do we do some of these exercises. Because, again, some of it was out outdoor training, team building. You know, go build a tower and some of the stuff was even like very advanced models put onto a screen. So, you know, the training team in the assessment and in the design phase really kind of sat back and had a conversation about how can we make sure that this is a great experience, how can we empower the participants to engage, which they did, and I think at the end of the day, we were successful in creating an inclusive environment. That was very, very meaningful.

Jay Johnson:

But that is not to say that there was not several times in the middle of a four day facilitation that I had to be caught. You know, the training team was great. We would remind each other hey, don't forget, describe what you see on the screen, don't forget, give this as a direction, don't forget, get somebody to. You know, work with this person so that they can write their letter, et cetera. And the participant was exceptional. I mean, it was not hindered at all, fully engaged, absolutely loved it. So, like I said, outcome great.

Jay Johnson:

But I felt guilty. There was points and times, because I have been in the DEI space in some capacity, whether it was in the university 20 years ago, whether it's been teaching inclusive principles and practices for healthcare, et cetera. I felt really guilty because there was definitely points in times that I was either distracted I had a thousand priorities running because I was one of the head trainers. So I'm trying to manage all the logistics with the organizing team and I had to reset the logistics with the organizing team and I had to reset.

Jay Johnson:

How might, and we're human and I know that, and I even acknowledged it and said, hey, I want to point this out, that this is really important, but it's something that I failed at in this last module. I want to bring that to the surface and I want to say I'm sorry and I'm going to do better in this next one. So I took ownership for it. But how can we kind of reset or how can we keep that top of mind when, as a trainer or a coach, we have so many different things that are coming at us and so many different aspects? What do you do to really kind of make sure that we're always thinking in an inclusive mindset, that it's not something that we're switching on and off or that we're always thinking in an inclusive mindset, that it's not something that we're switching on and off or that we're staying true to? During this session Does that make sense?

Delphia Howze:

Absolutely yes, and I think that we all fall into that trap, guess what? Because we're human, right. And so because we're human, we are fallible. We do have, you know, points of vulnerability, and I think that I love that you said reset right. So I think the first thing is to recognize that we have as a trainer right.

Delphia Howze:

I was a trainer for several years as well and love it and still do it when I go to speaking engagements in different events. I think it is important to recognize that the first thing when we step into an arena I'm just going to say right into that space, we have to be vulnerable. The biggest challenge for facilitators, I believe, or one of them, is walking into an environment. Thinking that you know everything and that you're going to be able to do everything will fail every time.

Jay Johnson:

Right.

Delphia Howze:

So we, we have to be recognized that vulnerability and sit in it and be okay with it and be okay with asking for that raise right. Yes, we're here to facilitate this module and to make sure that we're meeting the needs of our audience. At the same time, we have a set of experiences that are, or are not, part of what we're bringing into this room. So I think it's a double I don't want to say double-edged sword. I think it's give and take, right. You said the attendee was, you know, supportive and great about the process.

Delphia Howze:

But I think that that is something that we have to help people to recognize, accept that vulnerability that we're bringing and that we're going to mess up sometimes, you know, it may look like we're not going to, but we will and, at the same time, recognizing, from the facilitator standpoint, that walking in there, you have to demonstrate that and be prepared for it. So, you know, as our brains develop and accept different types of experiences, neuroplasticity right, neuroplasticity helps us to resonate more quickly to different types of environments because of the experiential purview that we have ongoing. But the reality is we have to give ourselves time to be able to have those experiences, to get better at them, and so it's again. It's a two-way street where people on both sides of the street have to recognize that vulnerability and grace are the key.

Jay Johnson:

I love that and it really you're spot on. It's funny. It's like you're in a room because I mean, that's exactly what it was, is like, hey, you know, we're doing our best here and you're doing your best here and we're going to collaborate to create the best possible environment, and that's exactly what happens. So I mean that was that was truly nice, because one of the things that I can be is a little bit of a perfectionist. So when I do have those moments and that reset was really something of saying, ok, I can't get into my own headspace on this, I can't let that happen.

Jay Johnson:

So let's address it, manage it and move on and really kind of make sure that we're bringing our best into that next section, our best into that next section. You know, when we're looking at engaging and maybe having that conversation up front, I think a lot of people are afraid to have that conversation, to maybe have a conversation with an attendee with a different set of skills or abilities or anything else. How would you suggest maybe opening up that conversation in a functional and inclusive way, where it's, you know, it's full of dignity, it's full of respect, it's full of, like curiosity even? What are your thoughts on that, delphia?

Delphia Howze:

That's a fantastic question.

Delphia Howze:

I really think that, um again, resting on the, the, the, the roots of vulnerability my favorite question and you I'm sure you've asked this many times and others have as well, but it serves such a great purpose and I'll speak to the purpose in a moment.

Delphia Howze:

But the question is help me to understand right. It's as simple as that. If you enter a situation or an interaction with another individual that you're looking to help, support, work with, whatever the case may be, knowing that you don't have that same experience as that individual and that you will likely never have the same experience as that other individual, the simple question of help me to understand X, y, z, whatever it is, opens the door in a way that doesn't point fingers, that's not accusatory, that's not judgmental, but gives demonstration to your vulnerability as an individual and your desire to see into the other person. So I use that question and I probably say it at least once a day, simply because in different situations it really well, not in different, in all situations it has helped me to demonstrate to people that I care about them and that I really want to know and I'm not doing this work performatively and I'm not doing it just to check a box and move on. I want to understand it so that I can get better at it.

Jay Johnson:

Love that and I swear you stole that right out of my brain, or we're sharing a brain right now. Delphia because that is exactly one of the frames that I use for teaching managers on how to have conversations with their teams is like this is what I saw. This is how I'm interpreting it. Help me understand what's actually happening here. So I love that. The other one that we did use and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, just from an inclusive standpoint but one of the things that my partner often uses and I really liked was how can we show up for you in a way that's meaningful and sort of set that up to as a framework of tell us what is going to best serve you as our audience member, as our person in this space? What can we do to really engage you? And that actually produced a really fruitful conversation. What are your thoughts on that?

Delphia Howze:

I think that is a phenomenal question, and again, it demonstrates vulnerability and the desire to impactfully engage with others. It's so easy to walk into the room as the knowledge expert, right, as the leader, as the CEO, executive, whatever the case may be, and people automatically perceive you as an all-knowing entity, right? Or someone who's who just knows so much about you, know so many things. But demonstrating that again you are you as the perceived individual or the facilitator, whatever the case may be really wants to know who they're connecting with and how to do that effectively, based off of what that person needs. It's kind of like the golden rule, right? We treat others as we want to be treated. No, no, no, no, no. We have to go platinum Treat others as they want to be treated. That takes us so much further, and so I think that lends to that making sure that others are being seen and valued in a way that's necessary for them to be successful.

Jay Johnson:

Yeah, I love that. You know, it's interesting because when you do put somebody at the front of the room, the target of everybody's attention, it does imply that there is some kind of like I am the smartest person in a room, and I've seen trainers walk in and feel that way and watch them absolutely tank because of that inability to kind of not step back from their own ego or not come in with that humility and that humbleness to say, hey, I've got a couple of things, but so do you, and let's have a collaborative conversation about this. I want to dig into and I'm going to relate this back to your book In the environment that we were in, one of the things that we really tried to do was establish a framework for kind of an inclusive culture and an inclusive environment in and throughout this training experience, and what we literally did was encouraged and empowered the audience to take ownership over creating the conditions for inclusivity for all and to remind them. So now it wasn't just the trainers, but it was also, you know, the training team or the conference organizing team, but now it was the 40 participants as well that were sort of like hey, you're on In doing that.

Jay Johnson:

It was really interesting to see some people who stepped up above and beyond and some people that were a little hesitant, and that was okay and obviously, like I said, the outcome was good. How can we really encourage maybe some of those people that are either nervous to step into the space? Maybe that's not necessarily their comfort zone, maybe they're not necessarily thinking, maybe they're more of an individualistic and I'm not putting a value judgment on that in any way, shape or form an individualistic and I'm not putting a value judgment on that in any way, shape or form. How can we help people to step into a space that may be a little bit uncomfortable for them in this type of an environment?

Delphia Howze:

Yeah, that's a great question, I think. So that is so dependent, so dependent on the individual. So I think the first thing, one thing that is very important, is for us to recognize that obviously everyone's going to have a different way to step into something. So we have to create multiple points of entry, and so if we, if we only have one point of entry that is designated by you know, policy, practice, procedure, whatever the case may be, we missed the mark. But we've got to have multiple points of entry so that each and every person that walks into the opportunity to engage is able to do it in a way that's comfortable for them. We don't know why people you know hold initially. Let's say that you walk into a room full of 50 people, right. Let's just say you know half are going to be, yay, let's go ready to do this, and then you'll have half who are reserved, right.

Delphia Howze:

And we don't know what, the rationale or the reason behind that reservation. Could it be they're not buying it? Could it be they don't understand it, they're not comfortable with it? You know, whatever the case may be, so we have to create spaces for each of those entities, each of those mindsets, to be able to say OK, that's safe for me to be a part of, even with my reservation of being an introvert Right, even with my reservation of not believing in this mumbo jumbo initially. You know, we have to do that and it's not an easy thing to do because we are on task. We want to get the message across. We, you know, want to hit home uh, you know, with it with a heavy, heavy hit. Um, but the reality is, if we don't, uh, step back and make sure that there are different ways for many different people with many different levels of comfort and points of understanding to enter into it, we miss the mark completely.

Jay Johnson:

I absolutely love that and I do think it was really interesting and inspiring. To be perfectly honest, because you know, by the time that we had a day for and we were in the trenches and these were like 13 to 15 hour days, this was a fully immersive retreat for four days, exhausting. But I will say that by the time that we hit, you know, by the time that we hit, I feel like everybody had really stepped up in a really meaningful and productive and positive way and I think the experience, not only for the participant in this case, but also for everybody else, was truly enriched and just very meaningful. On that regard, and I want to go into something else kind of related to that is, you know, when we think about inclusion and it's obviously much larger and we've used that. I've used this example because I think it's number one, it was relevant and fresh.

Jay Johnson:

And number two, I think it really kind of goes to one of the extremes and in this case it was a known area, but we never always know what's going on behind somebody's closed doors or what's going on behind their face.

Jay Johnson:

So we don't know if we have somebody in there that may have some level of neurodivergence. We may not know if somebody has, say, attention deficit disorder, or if they have some other kind of, or even just let's take it to the cultural, racial, socioeconomic, et cetera. All of those things affect the lenses and I will say this as me, a white, heterosexual, normative trans, you know, trans, regular, trans, normative male, it's a point of privilege, those are my privileges and until I have some conversations to get a better understanding, I'm not going to be able to relate. How do we relate? How do we relate and create space for some of those unknowns, the burdens or traumas that maybe somebody is carrying, the invisible neurodivergences that are out there? How do we create space as a trainer or a coach for those when we can't see them or we don't know that they're there?

Delphia Howze:

Yeah, that's a great question and I don't know that I have a 100% answer, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.

Delphia Howze:

I think that creating space for those requires us to really first look at ourselves. Right? I talk about all the time. We have to shine the flashlight on ourselves first before we can understand the world. Johnnetta Cole actually said something in one of her during a conference. Johnnetta B Cole, phenomenal woman, conference. Johnnetta B Cole, phenomenal woman, and she said in order to see the world, I need to have your lens right. And so what that meant? She can't, we cannot only see it from one direction. So how do we work our way into that answer in your question? I think we really need to look at ourselves first and see how we're accepting people and allowing them to, to your point, to show up the way that they need to, so that we can find that middle ground, and it's not an easy thing to do. I don't believe that it is because you know I speaking for myself, I'm, you know, I want my point to be heard, right?

Delphia Howze:

You know, as a human you know, that's what, that's what we want generally and it's a challenge that we have to put upon ourselves to step back and allow others to be authentically, who be authentic and who they are and how they show up for us, and accept that Not always easy for us and accept that Not always easy.

Jay Johnson:

No, it's not. And I like your answer because I mean, essentially it's still that aspect of creating space and maybe even being adaptable to when we learn new information or when we find out that, hey, that didn't land, how can we shift that to create the conditions that it'll land the next time or that we can help catch up on something. So I really like that answer, delphia. You know, as I'm thinking about this and I'm thinking about this, you know the conversation on inclusion and one of the things that I think is interesting, right Like so there's a lot of different intersections out there. We mentioned a couple of them, whether it's race, culture, language, educational background, experience, so the inherent as also the acquired diversities that we all carry, and sometimes it seems like there's sort of bookends.

Jay Johnson:

Right Like you may have somebody in your training or facilitation space that comes from a very upper class and, you know, had a very privileged life, and in that same training you could have somebody who you know and I've had the opportunity to work with a number of populations inside of, like the Detroit area and some of the Detroit public schools 20 years ago even so, where it was like not even as up to speed as it is now and having some of that.

Jay Johnson:

You know where I'm working, with maybe a debater from West Bloomfield district, which is one of the most elevated, most expensive areas in here, and having somebody from the Detroit public schools who didn't have those resources or anything else in the same classroom public schools who didn't have those resources or anything else in the same classroom. Right, and being able to accommodate both of those. I know a lot of trainers may struggle with. How do I create the conditions of creating a space where both are going to thrive, both are going to excel and both are going to be challenged to the level that they're at? Do you have any thoughts or ideas how we can do that?

Delphia Howze:

Yeah, we have to prepare. You know, long before we enter into that space, right, we have to prepare to understand the audience. So, you know, doing research, you've learned to have a certain patience to take time to learn and understand things Right. And so taking time to understand who your audience is Right. If you, if we go into any facilitation or training or learning experience with the mindset that our audience is, you know, on the right hand spectrum and forget about the left hand spectrum, Right, we're never going to hit the mark. But if we take the opportunity not, I shouldn't say but and if we take the opportunity to go middle of the road, you still miss the mark and the opportunity to make sure that both sides are coming in and converging to that center. So I really think that it's something that I do a lot in my facilitation and workshops is really do some due diligence ahead of time to really get some demographic information from the participants and ask some very specific points of information so that I can understand who's in the audience. So I don't make assumptions that someone is from a more what is perceived to be a more privileged group based off of resources, et cetera, or less privileged group. It's very easy for me to do that or for any individual to do that, because we come at things again from our own experience. But if we take the time to do the due diligence ahead of time, that gives us room to navigate and shift as necessary to make sure that we're meeting the needs in an impactful way and not going in with our assumptions of what we believe that a group of individuals has or does not have.

Delphia Howze:

A perfect example I'll share with you is I was doing years ago when I was working in corporate. I did a training facilitation session in Alabama and it was for an organization and it was all white males, right. And I went into this session with my own baggage, thinking oh well, you know, they all have a certain level of privilege, right, A certain degree of privilege that kind of runs throughout all of the connectivities of the individuals in that room. But as I went through the session, people began to share experiences that they had and how they actually ascended to these leadership positions, and you would be. I was actually surprised to hear how what I thought was a reality was not for more than half of the individuals in that session. So we have to allow people the space to learn more and and essentially put our foot in our mouth less.

Jay Johnson:

So I really really appreciate that I'm thinking about you know, I'm thinking about us right, like as an individual, and being in there and being in that space. How might we, how might we reset and and I know we've talked about this a little bit, but we do want to hammer home the point audience. You heard it from Delphia learn in advance. Learn in advance. We talk about this all the time but, um, you know, say we learn, and then our learning maybe was skewed or maybe we miss something or anything else like that. How, how was that experience in that adaptation and really what drove you to be able to shift in sort of mid-flight?

Delphia Howze:

Yeah, I would say it was humbling right, because I had my mind set to say X, y and Z right, and you know I'm kind of like you, a little bit of a perfectionist, right, and you know if I make a goal to say X, y Z, I'm going to say X Y Z, no matter what Right. However, that humbling experience really came to me and this is the honest truth was when one of the individuals shared an experience big burly guy right that I had already put a story and a label to in terms of privilege and his background, et cetera, and how he had ascended to where he was. Told a story that, or shared an experience, I should say that, really brought the group to tears right.

Delphia Howze:

Brought the group to tears in the sense that, oh my gosh, we would have never thought, and he himself, big, burly guy, was in tears about this experience. And the experience was really about how his daughter was, who was in an interracial relationship, was having challenges in that relationship and in the community for being who and loving who she wanted to right. And so that was the experience that really helped us to help me to get away from the narrative that I had created and really helped others to be able to share their experience as well, that said, you know as well. That said, I'm not who you think I am. Let me tell you who I am, let me give you that, that, that view, put on these glasses so that you can really see who I am. And now we can work and interact with one another a little more effectively. And, as a result, again I was humbled and I was able. I had, I had to shift. I had no choice, sure, but to shift, and that so worked out well, but that was, that was an emotional experience.

Jay Johnson:

Now and that's a. That's a great example and you know it's unfortunate for what his daughter is experiencing. But, wow, the courage of being able to bring that out in, probably amongst a group then maybe that was a really, really scary thing to do and for your ability to adapt and shift. That's really powerful, delphia, thank you. So we're near the end of our time and I want to say thank you because this has been an incredible conversation and full of really great insights for our audience. Delphia, if the audience wanted to get in touch with you, how might they be able to connect with you?

Delphia Howze:

Absolutely. They can find me on LinkedIn, right? I think I'm the only Delphia Howes in the world, so you could just type my name in. You can also find me at dhowesolutionscom. That is my website and you can reach me via. You can find my book on Amazon and my contact information is in there as well.

Jay Johnson:

And that book title is Including you Leading Inclusion from when you Are, and the audio version is going to be coming out soon. Did you read it or is somebody else?

Delphia Howze:

No, I didn't Someone else read it, but I did great auditions and the person that I selected she's phenomenal and really comes with energy and enthusiasm and really shared the perspective that I wanted to be shared in the book.

Jay Johnson:

That's amazing and I will tell you I would probably do the same, because I'd be like I would be trying to change my words as I was reading it or go into a story Like I don't know that.

Jay Johnson:

I couldn't. I couldn't maintain the focus, so that's amazing. Delphia, again I want to say thank you so much for what you have brought to this space and for the work that you're doing and continue to do and, just honestly, from a truly, truly appreciative standpoint, thank you on behalf of myself and the audience that's going to be listening to this.

Delphia Howze:

Wonderful. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thank you so very much.

Jay Johnson:

And thank you, audience, for tuning into this episode of the Talent Forge, where we are shaping the future of training and development.

People on this episode

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Jay Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder of Behavioral Elements

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