{"id":6443,"date":"2023-11-13T12:17:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/?page_id=6443"},"modified":"2023-11-14T12:50:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T20:50:22","slug":"creating-equity-with-gracious-space","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/organizational-excellence-and-development\/individuals\/leadership-quarterly\/creating-equity-with-gracious-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating equity with Gracious Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gracious Space is a collaborative framework that was created by the Center for Ethical Leadership in the 1990s and has been used at the University of Washington for nearly 20 years. A new book \u2014 and a new POD class<\/a> \u2014 pairs this proven model with equity, inclusion and belonging.<\/p>\n

Written by veteran POD instructor Patricia Hughes, \u201cCreating Equity with Gracious Space: Applications in Inclusion and Belonging\u201d provides a pathway for using the principles of Gracious Space to foster more inclusive climates in teams and organizations. The book also features examples from over 20 leaders who practice these strategies \u2014 including POD\u2019s Ujima Sands and Jeff Leinaweaver \u2014 plus tools for immediate use.<\/p>\n

In her new book, Pat examines the four key principles of Gracious Space: bring your best spirit<\/strong>, engage in a setting<\/strong> helpful to the situation, invite the \u2018stranger\u2019<\/strong> and new perspectives, and learn together<\/strong>. She connects these principles directly and thoughtfully with equity, inclusion, and belonging, based on her own journey of re-education about our country\u2019s structures and worldviews and an increased need for new ways of communicating and coming together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the events of 2020 started to impact the workplace \u2014 discussions about George Floyd\u2019s murder, COVID, vaccinations and working from home \u2014 and then political divides exacerbated in January 2021, practitioners from across the country were asking me if they could use Gracious Space in these situations,\u201d recalls Pat. \u201cI said of course, and hurry! Gracious Space is an inherently inclusive and rigorous model for better collaboration, and we need something like this everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some practices described in the book are immediate, such as word choice, agenda-setting or ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table. \u201cNothing says \u2018outsider\u2019 more than literally having to stand aside or sit behind where the actual work is happening,\u201d Pat says.<\/p>\n

Other practices are deeper, such as policy and culture change \u2014 like examining in-groups and out-groups and raising awareness of the system\u2019s hierarchy and how power is used in decision-making, information sharing and idea generation.<\/p>\n

Creating Gracious Space is a strong act of leadership in any system. Using Gracious Space intentionally to create more equitable systems is not simply \u201csoft skills\u201d: it asks us to reflect deeply on our own worldviews and approaches, and find ways to be more inclusive so that we can effect positive change and create more equitable systems for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe leave so much talent on the table by assuming that value or innovation can only be generated by those highest in the hierarchy,\u201d Pat says. \u201cBut research has shown that when we hear from more voices, we create better results.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

You can <\/em>connect with Pat<\/em><\/a> for facilitation and training through POD\u2019s University Consulting Alliance.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCreating Equity with Gracious Space: Applications in Inclusion and Belonging\u201d is available at <\/em>Amazon<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gracious Space is a collaborative framework that was created by the Center for Ethical Leadership in the 1990s and has been used at the University of Washington for nearly 20 years. A new book \u2014 and a new POD class \u2014 pairs this proven model with equity, inclusion and belonging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":175,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-6443","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6443"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6963,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6443\/revisions\/6963"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/pod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}