Speaking and Communicating Podcast

We can agree to disagree.

I hear you, I understand what you're saying, I respect you, and I'm appreciative of you bringing this to me right now, but now isn't the time.

Right now, we can't implement this.

Welcome back to the Speaking and Communicating Podcast.

I am your host, Roberta Njela.

If you are looking to improve your communication skills, both professionally and personally, this is the podcast you should be tuning into.

Communication and soft skills are crucial for your career growth and leadership development.

We are currently looking for professionals or entrepreneurs who would be willing to discuss their communication challenges on this show.

All the details of booking a spot with me are found on the show notes.

And by the end of this episode, please log on to Apple and Spotify and leave us a rating and a review.

Now let's get communicating.

Now let's get communicating with Lakia Elam, who is the principal at Magnificent Differences Consulting.

She has 20 years experience as a human resources leader and is here to talk to us not only about the work she does, but give us strategies and tips on how to have difficult conversations, which is communication, which is what it's about.

And before I go any further, please help me welcome her to the show.

How are you?

I'm doing fantastic.

How are you?

Welcome.

Thank you.

I'm excited to be here.

Doing well, thank you.

My pleasure.

Please tell us, where in the US are you?

Certainly, I'm in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

It's probably 20 miles outside of DC proper.

So you can see the politicians whenever they have those debates, and we're not even sure where they're going.

Anyway, back to the discussion.

So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Certainly.

So as you stated, I'm a native Washingtonian, actually born and raised in DC.

I have an almost 30-year-old daughter, who actually is my colleague now as well.

Yes.

You know, I consider myself a lifelong learner, right?

So I'm always ready to explore new opportunities, new ideas and experiences.

Outside of work, I spend a lot of time with my family.

We have a big family that's here in the DC area, and I spend a lot of time also giving back in community activities.

So when you finished college, what was the path?

How did you get started?

And then it's going to lead to us discovering what brought you here today?

That's a great question.

So actually, I had my daughter at a young age.

So I was a team mom.

I actually dropped out of school.

I was determined not to be what people thought that I would be as a team mom, right?

So like just somebody that's formed a system in these places forever.

And so when my daughter was she was less than 60 days old, I went and got a GED book from my dad because he also was a high school dropout.

He had us as a team.

And I spent two weeks studying for my GED while my mom would keep my daughter like upstairs.

And so I went and got my GED when she was about two months old.

And then it would be another 15, 20 years before I actually got my college degree.

So I just finished my master's degree last year.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

So I actually started working.

My career was reversed.

I spent a lot of years working, almost 20 years working and growing up in the HR field.

And then in 2016, I resigned from a job and said, I'm going back to school full time.

I got my associate's degree, my undergrad degree and my bachelor's degree.

So from 2016 to 2022, I got all three of those degrees just consecutively.

Talk about inspiring.

Now, of all the careers you could have chosen, why HR?

So funny.

I am living my dream role, doing exactly what I wanted to do.

You know, throughout my life, I've always been that go-to person for whether it was people my age or older to help them with different experiences.

I remember one day talking to my best friend.

I was like, I just want to advocate for people.

I want to help to be the advocate for people.

Now, mind you, at this time, I hadn't had a lot of corporate experience, but the work experience that I did have, I've always been able to see things beyond what was on the surface.

And I would see different people either being stuck in a role or seeing people afraid to communicate properly, you know, when a situation happened to them.

And then they would come and talk to their peers.

They would talk to us about it.

I would give feedback and tell them what to do, but then they would be afraid.

Out of fear, they would not move.

And then I would see the repercussions, the consequences, whether good or bad, from someone either speaking up or not speaking for themselves.

And I just knew that I wanted to be an advocate for people way back when to really help people have, and I wasn't saying these terms then, but better experiences in the workplace.

And that was before.

I know now every workplace has become aware of the fact that the workplace is people driven.

We don't live in the industrial age.

You were this person before it became such a universal concept.

Absolutely.

And I think it was from the fact that so much, and we're talking about the early to mid 90s, it really wasn't a space for African American women, right?

Like I've been natural almost all my life, right?

So I went through a phase where I had beautiful long locks, where I would wear my hair like this, or I would wear braids, you know?

And so showing up for interviews or even showing up to work with my hair in its natural state, I wasn't seen or taken seriously or seen as a professional.

I wasn't seen as, you know, together the way that they wanted people to be together.

Really?

Yes, in the early 90s, it was not...

If African American women did not have our hair, the standard for us was pressed hair.

It wasn't braids, it wasn't your natural hair.

Like what looks like a wig?

Yes, you know, I've never had one, by the way.

Yeah.

Me neither.

So that would actually be a barrier to you getting a job.

Okay, I'm South African, so I cannot fully relate, because even though we endured apartheid, but when things opened up and those apartheid laws ended, you will just not get the job because you don't qualify or they found someone else.

But the hair, I don't remember the hair being an issue at all, actually.

Yeah, so that's a great thing, but hair was an issue for us for quite some time.

Hair was an issue for African American women here in the US for quite some time.

That is so interesting.

And then each time you were told that you didn't get the job, were you told that's the reason or you just picked up the attitude, the energy in the room?

Yes, you know why, right?

So it was the energy in the room, it was everything else.

There may have been some other things, but the hair played a part.

Sometimes, you know, the way that you speak, there was a certain standard.

Let me say this, there used to be a very clear standard for what Black women in the corporate settings should look at and sound like here in the States.

And I didn't fit that mold.

And guess what?

I still don't fit it today.

And you know what?

It never stopped me.

It never stopped me from trying to just make me get better.

It made me get better.

And so I would be so great at interviewing.

I knew that the reason that they didn't hire me, not 100%, but almost always, it had something to do with something else.

I mean, and even to the point was like, so I didn't have a degree.

I didn't have a high school diploma because I would write GED on my applications.

You hear that right?

We used to write on applications back then, but I used to write GED on my application.

And that was frowned again.

So I started to write things like high school equivalency diploma.

And then I would get a different response.

It's the same thing, but I would just get a different response.

So let me get this right.

I thought a GED means you dropped out of school, and when you go back later, that's how you finish your high school and get your diploma.

So it's a different thing?

Yeah.

You know, a GED was, they were frowned upon back then because it didn't show that you can complete something.

It was looked at as less than, right?

So it's a reflection on your character not being able to see something through to the end rather than the actual material, academic material itself.

Absolutely right.

Once you were able to figure that out, first of all, you filled out your resume differently.

What else did you do differently?

I would just keep showing up.

So again, I told you at the top of the class, I categorized myself as an experiential learner.

Every interview that I went on, I would go back home and I would take a deep dive and think about what the interviewer said, how I responded, and I would just get better and better and better until I actually mastered the art of interviewing for job.

I'm a very reflective person still to this day.

At the end of each night, I do what I call a brain dump or a deep dive, and I think about my interactions with people.

What could I have said differently in this instance?

What did they say to me?

Why did this particular thing make me feel like this?

And I do a lot of journaling, because I'm always just trying to become better in my people interactions.

Yes, self-reflection, which leads to self-awareness, which we talk about a lot, especially if you're in a leadership position.

Now, you had this HR career.

What are some of the things that you learned before starting your own business?

The power of the people, the power of the people in the organization and the way that they're treated by leadership, it absolutely determines the amount of success that that organization will achieve.

You know, one of my biggest realizations was that organizations often say that, you know, people are our greatest assets, but then they don't know how to treat their people.

They don't even understand, you know, at a baseline level, three layers in, what motivates their people?

What are their people's greatest pain points and how to fix those things?

And so, again, being self-reflective and just paying attention to the organizations that I've worked in and paying attention to how the leadership team acted amongst themselves, how they got along, how they communicated.

And then seeing its impact on the staff, it truly helped me.

Actually, before starting my business, it helped me in my HR roles, right?

You know, as being a confidant to executives, coaching them and helping them to better understand their people.

Right, because I've never had an HR job, but I've always wondered, if I have a problem with my boss and I cannot get through to him, do I go to HR and report him?

And do I trust HR will hear my side of the story or because my boss is more senior, they'll take his side?

How does that work?

You know, that's a fear of so many people, because most people feel like when they're going to HR, first of all, they feel like they're going to the principal's office.

Right?

And having worked in HR, I've dealt with those people too as my manager.

Early on, I learned how to just be my authentic self when I'm showing up.

So when you come in and talk to me, you know, we have some ground rules that we're talking about first.

So first of all, if this is the on-the-record conversation or off-the-record, if you're just coming to me for some advice on how to talk to your manager, we want to do this, and I'm not sharing it with anyone, first of all.

This is a menu conversation.

I'm just coaching you on how to have this conversation with your manager.

And I always tell people, if you tell me something and I have to do something with it, you'll know before you walk out of this room.

So again, being afraid to talk to HR is because of the stigma that surrounds HR professionals when they used to only think about their role as being there for the organization.

We've gotten away from that a lot where a lot more HR professionals today recognize that they have a balancing act to do.

They're there to support the organization, but also to support the people who work in the organization.

So the best of the best HR professionals, they know how to tote that line really well in providing support to you as an employee, and then also providing support to managers and people at higher levels.

So no, your trust in me won't wane, because we're treating all employees and all people the same, regardless of their position within the organization.

So if my boss is the one to go to you guys to complain about me and maybe think, you know, I've given it three warnings, give me some company protocol to fire Roberta, do you then try and find like a fair and equitable way?

And do you just think, oh, he's a city, so he knows his team well, so let's just help him accomplish that, basically.

No, ma'am, not when it comes to me.

First of all, I'm saying, where's your documentation?

Have you talked to her about this issue?

Let me see what's happened.

And then where are we?

Is this something that we can say?

Is it a performance thing?

Can we help her to right-side said behavior?

Is there something happening in Roberta's life that's causing this?

Like, let's have a conversation.

In the Lakia Senate HR world, the first thing is not always to fire.

The idea is to figure out what the offense is, what has been done to rectify or right-side said offense, and then trying to find, again, I always say it's some equitable terms, some equitable terms, right?

So we are fair, and we are equitable, and we are treating it, and let's say in the event that you have been counseled, you have been given many chances.

We're going to treat you humanely.

We're going to treat you like a person.

I'm going to treat you with respect through every part of the exit process.

Like, I've had to let people go, obviously, doing this as long as I've been doing it, and you know that I can count on one hand how many people that I've had to exit from organizations that I don't talk to today because of my process, because of my humane touch, because of the respect that I show people in those situations.

I still have relationships with plenty of people that I've had to exit throughout the years.

Because of the way you handled the situation and followed protocol.

And then let's talk about how, if you're an HR, do you arrange those trainings where leaders need to be taught?

Because usually they get promoted based on their technical skills.

To be trained and coached to be better with their teams, to engage their teams and all these leadership strategies that we talk about lately.

Is that your responsibility or the leader must just think, I need help, where can I get a coach?

Yes, it is.

It is the responsibility in most smaller organizations.

Some bigger organizations have true training and development programs or departments within, but they should work collaboratively with HR.

The truth of the matter is a lot of times, that's a push that we have to do.

And it's something that should be happening more proactively.

Thinking about those management trainers, thinking about the skill gaps for managers or for people in those leadership roles.

Actually, right now I'm working with a client that wants to develop this because a lot of times managers aren't getting trained until that moment of impact, right?

So now, you're a new manager to this organization, you got this troubled employee or this thing happening, and so now I find myself coaching you through this process, and then over time you learn things, right?

And we have to do better.

We as HR professionals, we as business leaders and owners, have to be more proactive and invest those dollars in management training, and emotional intelligence training, whatever that training is to help people be the best leaders that they can be along the way.

Let's talk about when you started your company.

So you had been in Human Resources for 20 years.

When did you start your company, and why did you make the decision to say, two decades in, let's do something different?

Let's do something different, and it's in the name.

You know, the year was 2021, and like everyone else, I had been home, while I had worked remote jobs before, and we was home for this one year through the pandemic.

The way that I describe it is I had this hole in my heart, like I felt like something was missing.

Loved the company I was working for, loved my role, had a great relationship with my manager and the rest of the leadership team, but something was missing.

My manager and I was having a regular check-in one day, and we were talking, and I can't remember, but the conversation went somewhere, and I remember thinking, you know what, the time is now.

And so the next day, I called her and said, you know, I am going to submit my resignation, and she said, I knew it was coming.

And she said, well, so much so, I had already spoke to her boss about it, and he wanted to know if I could consult for them.

So let me back up for a second and say, I did not know what I was going to do.

I just knew it was time to resign.

So I had nothing else lined up.

And when she asked me if I wanted to consult for them, it was like a big pile of bricks just hit me.

I was like...

Wow, you got your first client from the company you just resigned from?

My first client.

I didn't even think I was starting a business, but they hit me like, this is what you're supposed to be doing.

And I remember saying to her, let me get back with you.

I got off the phone and started screaming.

So I resigned and said, I don't want to work with you guys anymore.

Okay, we're going to be your first client.

That's how good you are at your job.

Yes.

And it's imperative.

When I see post-professionals today saying that they aren't happy with leadership, they aren't happy with their role, or just being okay with status quo, I just want to just sit them down.

I just want to get a lot of people in a big auditorium and say, listen, doing well at your job is not about the leadership that you're in.

It's not about a company that you don't like.

It's about you.

You have to do better for you.

You have to build these skills up for yourself and your long-term career growth.

It's not about anybody else.

It's not about anybody else.

And mark your work so well that your presence will be missed when you resign, or that you'll be off if you go off and start your own company, that they will become a client of yours.

Right.

Because you did so well while working for them.

That's very good advice.

When you started your company, other than the company you resigned from, so you do HR-related work?

Yes.

So we support nonprofits, mainly in associations.

While we've had some for-profit organizations that we support as well, we support them with their talent experience process.

So what that is is helping them with policies, procedures, onboarding programs, managerial trainings.

That's something that we're working on right now, like the full gaming.

One of our biggest spaces is employee relations.

So we become an outsourced employee relations partner for organizations.

So again, to your question earlier, if a manager is having a troubled employee, or if they're thinking about creating a track for an employee, an employee is having an issue with their manager, or they call us and then we work through, we do the investigations, we help to coach managers or employees, and work through performance improvement plans for different companies.

Through talent acquisition, so we will be your recruitment partner and help you to hire best-in-class employees.

And one of the great things about working with us is, we're not looking for people to fit your culture, right?

Like we're looking for people to help to elevate your culture.

We're looking for value adds.

Yeah, right?

Like we're not doing it just to fill a seat.

That's not it for us.

No, we're looking to fill the right person in the right seat.

It's critical, right?

Like they have to be able to work well within your organizational culture.

They have to care about your mission, like what you're doing as an organization, so that they can help to elevate your culture.

Yes, because talent acquisition has been quite a challenge since the pandemic.

Like I said, you had the great resignation, and now they say, I don't know if quiet quitting still exists, but it's been there for a while.

Companies are finding it challenging to acquire really good talent that can fit into their organization, as you say.

Yes, and one of the things that I've found that has been an issue for a lot of organizations is they, in this new world, they are still trying to do it like we were doing it pre-pandemic.

Their processes, the time to feel that role, it's a lot of days, it's too long, their touch points, right?

So one of the things that we do is we implement meaningful touch points with the candidate.

Everything is fast, fast, fast, fast, fast.

You can't be fast for the sake of being fast.

We move pretty swiftly at MDC, but we don't compromise quality.

Yes.

Right?

And so one of the things that we've done with a lot of companies that we've supported is we've helped them to better their processing in this new space, whether it's to digitize things or to think through their touch points to help them create more meaningful touch points in their recruitment process.

Is that what you mean when you say you help businesses align their business goals with tech?

Yes, yes, yes.

So that's part of the processes.

Now let's talk about, since this is a communication podcast, about the difficult conversations.

Earlier we had an example of, you know, somebody comes to HR, complains about their boss, or vice versa.

But what, first of all, constitutes a difficult conversation?

And then we'll talk about how to handle it.

That's a great question.

You know, it's interesting.

In today's workforce, you know, so many generations in the workforce, any conversation where there is a fundamental disagreement on how we should move or what happened and why a person did it, it's a difficult conversation.

When a lot of younger professionals are coming in to the workforce, or early professionals coming in to the workforce, and then they have to talk to their manager, who may have been in that role for so long, about something that they're not doing right or something that they did wrong, that's a difficult conversation.

We talked about coming to HR for anything that can be constituted as a difficult conversation.

We love technology and texting and chatting, but I believe because of that, a lot of face-to-face interactions of when you have to explain yourself at a deeper level and we can't do it through emojis and IDK, it feels like it's a difficult conversation.

Don't get me started on those abbreviations.

You know how many times I have to Google a day when they give me the WIDs and I don't even know what that is.

So it's a conversation that you feel if the other person listens and understands what I'm going through or what I have a gripe about, they might not respond the way I was hoping.

See, that's it right there.

I need you to respond.

So thinking that a person is going to respond the way that I hope that you respond, and then the listener, right, listening to respond and not just listening to understand, that can be a difficult conversation too.

I think that absolutely is it.

That absolutely is it.

I come into a conversation with you knowing already what I want you to say and what will be the right outcome.

And anything other than what I want you to say is not acceptable, right?

It's a disappointment.

What if your act is something that's out of reach, then is it a disappointment or is it like this isn't something that we can do right now because of whatever it could be, because of budgetary constraints, because it's not something that we do.

If we do it for you, then we have to do it for everyone to keep a fair and equitable environment.

But we can't offer this instead.

It's like we got to think about the factors that go into the note, or it could be no comma, not no period.

Like this is just a note for now, but it doesn't mean it's a note forever because of whatever else is happening.

And for as much as organizations say that they're transparent, there's still only but so many things that we can say because too much information at the wrong time is not good.

Too much information cannot be good to certain people because they still don't understand the connectivity of it from a business perspective.

Which then brings some of the words that we are not fond of, such as, it's company policy.

So like here at the other side of the HR desk going, Roberta, I'm sorry, but it's company policy.

And I'm standing there thinking, I'm so frustrated with the situation right now.

Telling me it's company policy is just not working right now.

So that's funny.

I'm sitting here as you're talking, I'm like, when is the last time that I've told somebody it's company policy?

I wish we had a great example.

Like, what is the ass?

And I don't know what that ass is.

You know, I'm trying to think of something.

You come to me, you've been in a role now for three years, and you like, you come to me like, I'm ready for promotion.

Jack, my manager, is not giving me a promotion, like Lakia was going on.

And let's say you're in a department of three, you're already in a managerial role, and the way that our organization is set up, the next position for you would be a director role.

And your manager is in that role.

Either has to be promoted or leave the company or go to another department, but I will have to unseat him to get the promotion that I want.

Yeah.

So what do I expect you to do if he's still in that role?

Exactly right.

Would you be surprised how many times I hear that though?

How many times I hear that?

And I'll explain that.

We'll talk about that.

And then I say, so you have to look at your skillset and keep developing your skillset, keep growing your skillset, enlarge your skillset.

And let's just take all of the other stuff off the table.

Let's say we're in an organization that promotes your hard work.

They're giving you, you know, annual increases and they're recognizing you for special projects and things that you do.

So let's just take the money off the table.

You're growing in that role.

It's not like you're stuck in the same salary that you've been in for five years.

You've seen increases in all of those things, and you've been rewarded for the things that you've done.

But I would absolutely say that, and I can't tell you how many times people have walked away from that conversation saying, I can't grow in this company.

You are, but growth is not just by title.

It's by skill, right?

Yes, because your resume would look differently next year than it did this past year.

Absolutely, absolutely.

When you do the kind of work that you do now through your company, the differences, it's called magnificent differences.

When it comes to diversity, is diversity only about, okay, this room was only full of white people.

Now they need one black one, another Asian, and another Hispanic.

Is that what diversity is about, DE&I?

No, ma'am, and I've been saying this long before DE&I or DEIB, long before it become a topic of conversations and organizations, I've been saying this so loud.

So I'm glad that people are recognizing it.

But I'll tell you, it still bothers me that organizations aren't fully doing the right thing with it because they aren't ready.

Diversity is about acceptance, right?

So we got all of that stuff, you know, to raise.

But it's about background, so education.

We talked about the GED earlier, right?

It's talking about situations.

It's talking about learning styles.

It's talking about processing styles.

Diversity is so much.

It's talking about, is everybody in the room skinny?

Or do you have a couple of plump people like me in the room?

It's that sort of thing that makes organizations great.

Does everyone sound the same way?

Did they come from the same schools?

Is there some healthy debate happening within the room?

I had a client, and they told me that everyone at this organization, we're all introverts, so we don't talk.

What?

What?

So I said, well, now we're diverse, because when MDC joins a team, we're extra extroverts, right?

And so here we are, we will make some noise and raise the roof, so that then we can, you know, get some healthy conversation going in this organization.

So diversity is so much bigger than what people are thinking about today.

Because here's the thing, a lot of companies feel like, okay, let's do the culture thing.

And I know South Africa fell into this trap as well at the end of apartheid, where let's just do the culture and just tell the government, okay, to get your contract, you wanted five black people, we got them here, the resume, so let's go.

It was more than just feeling those cultures and percentages of this type of person.

It encompasses so much more than that.

It does.

When they do that, when you find those organizations that's just trying to meet that quota, if you will, when those, just because it's been an example, when those black people, those different faces show up, the organization isn't ready for them, right?

They're not treating them the way that they're supposed to treat them.

The policies, the procedures, the processes, even the inner actions, the cultural norms, they are not ready for diverse ways of thinking, diverse people showing up at the table, right?

They're just not ready for it.

And so then those people end up feeling alienated.

They don't feel like they belong.

If I had to pick the thing that I despise the most in corporate environments is paycheck collectors.

But then they end up turning to a paycheck collector, right?

But they were someone that was ready to show up and really give their all and could have really bought about some healthy change.

But because they don't feel like they belong, they're sitting at their desk now trying to figure out how am I going to get out of this job and get to my next job?

Because this isn't the place, right?

And then that organization ends up right back where they were, where they don't end up achieving their goals, because they're doing everything the same and they're only really embracing everything that's sane, everything that feels comfortable.

And then they must hire you again to bring them a new candidate and do the whole magela all over again.

So they spend money, they spend time training this new person, so it actually works against them if they don't do things right when the new talent has integrated with the company.

I'll tell you this.

One of the joys about MDC is that I get to choose who we work with.

And we're not working with companies like that.

We say no, we say it's not a good fit.

No, we're not just working with people just to work with them just so that we can build our revenue.

We're picky about who we work with.

We want to work with organizational leaders who are ready to change, who are ready to do something different, who are not afraid of bringing those different faces, situations, ideas and people in the room.

And I understand that if you've been doing this this way for 50 years and you like Lakia, we've been doing it the same old, same old.

We're not as diverse as we need to be.

We want to partner with MDC to really create this change.

I'll give every, you'll get a chance.

But if I see that we're going through this cycle and cycle again, or when the people get there, they're not given that fair opportunity, then no, that business relationship does not continue to exist because that goes against our core values.

Right.

Just to give an example, I don't know if you watch the legal drama Suits?

I just started up a few weeks ago.

I used to watch it way back in the day when it started.

Like I wouldn't miss an episode for all nine seasons, but now I know it has become popular through Netflix or something.

Yes.

So now it's becoming popular.

And one of the main things about that firm was that they were big on they hire from Harvard, right?

Now the thing about it, when you mentioned earlier, I said we want the best people.

But if they hire from Harvard, then it's not diverse opinions.

They're all going to have Harvard thinking.

But at the same time, as you said, you want to have diverse ideas.

Would you say that they are getting the best talent by Harvard is number one in America?

So there's something to be said to hire from Harvard, but there's also something to be said to hire a person like me that came from an alternative route, because I'm going to see stuff a little bit different.

If I was an attorney in this space, I'm going to see things a little bit different.

I'm going to spot gain, like someone trying to get a mile away.

I'm going to understand their motives.

You got different clients.

I'm going to understand their motives differently.

I'll be able to convey differently.

I'll be able to connect with certain clients that you may have differently.

And so that idea of everyone doing it the same.

To your point that you just made a second ago, then you're spending more money trying to help to figure out your clients, your people, and understand these things.

Getting someone with a different background and a different skill set that have come up and now they're in whatever that field is will prove to be extremely beneficial, extremely beneficial.

You can't even put a dollar amount on it.

You know why I'm so good at what I do and why I've been called an HR Unicorn?

It's because I did not come up the traditional route.

Nothing about my life, personally or professionally, has been traditional.

I've had so many experiences and they helped me to connect with people at all levels within organizations.

That's why I've gotten so much trust from staff.

That's why I've gotten so much trust from executives because it's always a real conversation that's grounded in respect first and foremost.

You're an example of someone, if they want a diverse talent, your experience is being different, you will then bring a different perspective whenever they brainstorm an idea, whenever they're trying to find out what the market is looking for and how best to serve the market.

Yes, absolutely.

How best to meet their people needs.

And so then I always tell people, when you do different things, the outcome is magnificent, right?

Like that outcome is magnificent.

Differences Consulting.

I absolutely love that.

Lakia Elam, is there anything that I haven't asked you yet that you were hoping to share with us today?

Truly, this has been a great conversation, but I just want to emphasize how critical it is that organizations open the door for healthy communication.

Because it's through that healthy communication that can help them show people at all levels in the organization that they're respected.

It shows that they're inclusive.

See, it's one thing to say you're inclusive, but it's another thing to show inclusivity, right, like by listening to people.

Really, not listening to respond, but by listening to hear and to understand what it is that a person is saying.

And then just fostering a culture where everyone's voice is appreciated.

And being okay in showing from the highest levels of an organization, we can agree to disagree.

I hear you, I understand what you're saying, I respect you, and I'm appreciative of you bringing this to me right now, but now isn't the time.

Right now, we can't implement this, but keep talking, keep speaking up, and keep bringing those different ideas to the table.

We appreciate you, and you'll start to see them implement it where we can, how we can, but just don't stop talking, right?

Just bring it to the table.

Open communication, because yes, sometimes you may think this is difficult.

What I'm hoping to at least bring up, my idea might be rejected, I may be disappointed, not get what I want, but at the end of the day, we always say that other people don't have psychic powers, unless you actually speak up and communicate, they're not going to know what you need in the first place.

Absolutely.

I could not agree more.

Speak up, say your needs, don't be afraid of it.

What my mother used to say to me, the worst thing I can say is no.

And then you know, okay, I'm not getting that from my mom.

Exactly right.

So let me see if I can go get it from my grandma.

That's what I used to say.

Lakia, Elam, thank you very much for being on the show today.

I've had such a great time having this conversation with you.

Thank you.

It's truly been a privilege and an honor, my honor.

So thank you for having me.

I look forward to maybe another topic, doing this again with you one day soon.

Absolutely.

I've had returning guests.

So you are absolutely welcome.

You are now a friend of the show.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

My absolute pleasure.

And before you go, where can we find you on the socials and the web?

Certainly.

We're on Instagram and Facebook at Hire, H-I-R-E, underscore M-D-C.

So that's Instagram and Facebook.

Our website is hiremdc.com.

hiremdc.com and Hire underscore M-D-C on Instagram.

Yes.

That was Lakia Elam, the principal at Magnificent Differences Consulting with 20 years Human Resource Experience under her belt.

Thank you so much for sharing these nuggets with us.

We really appreciate you taking the time to be here today.

Thank you.

Have a good one.

My pleasure.

You too.

Thank you for joining the Speaking and Communicating Podcast once again.

If you are willing to be on the show to discuss your communication challenges and see how we can help, please book a slot on my calendar, and the details are on the show notes.

We are so glad that you've joined us.

Stay tuned for more episodes to come.