Monday Musing: Imagine a world where everyone feels they belong, where each individual can express their true self without fear or judgment. 

That’s the world we’re striving to create, and as leaders, we play a crucial role in making it happen.

As you might know, June is Pride Month—a vibrant celebration of the LGBTQ+ community’s history, and achievements. 🌈 It’s a perfect time to reflect on how we can be proactive allies, not just during this month, but every single day.

Allyship refers to the actions, behaviours, and practices that leaders take to support, amplify, and advocate with others, especially with individuals who don’t belong to the same social identity groups as themselves.

Here are the three key traits of effective allyship identified by research published in Harvard Business Review:

1. Acceptance: Great allies create spaces where people feel safe and supported. This means recognising and respecting the identities and experiences of different individuals and, as leaders, making a conscious effort to foster environments that truly welcome everyone.

2. Action: True allies don’t stand on the sidelines—they advocate, raise awareness, and defend the rights of the communities they serve as allies for. For example, speaking up against discrimination, supporting causes as a volunteer or donor, and using your platform to amplify diverse voices.

3. Humility: The best allies are listeners, and learners, and are open to correction. They understand that allyship is a continuous journey of growth. We all have unconscious biases, so leaders who do this well are proactive about unconscious bias training, surround themselves with diverse perspectives and actively welcome their feedback and opinions on what can be done differently. 

By embracing acceptance, taking action, and practicing humility, you can become a true friend and ally to the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalised groups, making a real, lasting impact every day—not just during celebrations.

How do you create safe and supportive spaces for social identities other than your own?

Challenge yourself to use moments like Pride Month as an opportunity to deepen your allyship. Can you engage in a dialogue around what your organisation could do better/differently? 

P.S.  Don’t miss today’s edition of Love Mondays More for powerful insights from Steve Pemberton on how true allyship means continuous effort, accountability, and real actions.

What I’ve been up to over the week that was.

Last week was an incredibly exciting and insightful experience as I immersed myself in the meetings and events industry in Latin America while delivering a keynote in Leon de Los Aldama, Mexico. This part of the world is bursting with passion, energy, and a unique approach to the industry that I was eager to understand and learn from. 

I also stepped outside my comfort zone to deliver part of my presentation in Spanish—a great test for my two years of Spanish learning efforts.

Here’s a clip of me speaking Spanish.

It was fantastic to be able to contribute to the meetings and events industry in this region of the world. A big thank you to everyone who made this experience so enriching—I hope to be back soon!

P.S. Gotta love the amazing event lanyard! 

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