"I wish somebody would've warned me about becoming to scattered or trying to learn too many things at once."
Shaun Wanzo is a DEIB professional experienced in communications, public speaking, and curriculum and framework development. The goal of his work is to create diverse, equitable, inclusive and belonging environments by conducting cultural audits, cultivating strategy and facilitating trainings.
He also coached senior leaders with the same goal of identifying the blind spots that contribute to perpetuating the disparities and inequities that uphold systemic racism and a system that promotes the patriarchy. Shaun has an interest in revamping all systems with a focus on organizational structure, environmental justice/public health and criminal justice reform.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Shaun Wanzo: I’ve had a slightly different foray into DEIB work than a lot of my colleagues because of the social activism and grassroots campaign work I was involved in prior to me becoming the primary consultant for Conduit LLC.
I worked on a lot of different campaigns for several non-profits (the ACLU WI, most notably) including criminal justice reform and voting rights campaigns, where I did everything from neighborhood canvassing and lobbying politicians in Madison, WI about the issues. This was also where I developed my public speaking skills at community events and forums and eventually corporate and university engagements.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Shaun Wanzo: Businesses who concentrate on their internal processes will thrive externally at providing whatever their product or service is. They should spare no expense when it comes to recalibrating their culture and how to make equitable and inclusive for remote and hybrid environments.. The implementation of innovative hiring models to cultivate diverse teams that fit into this culture are extremely important as well.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Shaun Wanzo: I honestly believe that if businesses focus on taking care of their people by ensuring they have a culture that is diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible where they feel accepted and not merely tolerated they will continue to produce the best product and service no matter what’s taking place in the economy, they will be best positioned to take advantage of the bull market.
Never cut corners on reviewing and improving your internal processes and policies with the goal of taking care of your staff.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Shaun Wanzo: My industry was impacted in a similar fashion to most other industries in that we had to figure out how to continually create value and ensure our work was going to have the same impact through virtual conventions and platforms.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Shaun Wanzo: I wish somebody would’ve warned me about becoming to scattered or trying to learn too many things at once. And that’s what I am working to improve as I type this, simply becoming better at upskilling incrementally. Do not speed myself or the process up because of a pressing need to play catch up.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Shaun Wanzo: My forecast is that it will not be slowing down because of the value so many people found in going about business, meetings, and appointments in this manner. We should start preparing for the next phase with the integration of the meta verse and AI technologies.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Shaun Wanzo: My days vary in relation to what do I need to get done but I would say on average about 8 hours.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Shaun Wanzo: I use storied to educate, in a similar fashion my religion teach at my catholic high school Dominican Whitefish Bay (Ms. Ranola) taught us about the Bible. She taught that not every story in the Bible actually took place, but they all are meant to gain knowledge from and learn from so we can apply to our lives.
And that’s how I choose to use story, if a situation arises, I will select a story from my own personal experience so communicate the lesson that needs to be gained. I have learned myself that people learn a little better from you when you use yourself as an example.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Shaun Wanzo: The real challenge for most businesses is to succumb to the natural inclination to become defensive in a bear market. The key is to keep investing in your company’s culture and the people in your culture. Make sure they are taken care of because of inflation, that is affecting every aspect of their lives and their family’s lives and not only is it the right thing to do but the more stable they are and the more inclusive the environment is, the better they will be at producing the best product or service.
Also, your organization should be constantly be on the look out for opportunities to position itself better, there can be a fine balance between growth and caution.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Shaun Wanzo: I would say all of the above while including more project management skills. l think you have to constantly invest in upskilling and learning about new technologies. How effective can you be as a leader if you let too much pass you by. You just have to make sure you do not overwhelm yourself.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Shaun Wanzo: I do feel a lot of leaders do not feel they are that boss and sometimes they are not while some others definitely are and sometimes the problem lies somewhere in between the leader and the organization. And there a lot of leaders out there that are the products of either their company’s culture or another company’s culture.
I honestly believe when company’s begin to believe the data that suggests that the ROI on implementing DEIB frameworks is $19 to ever $1 invested they will be a little less hesitant in either building internal teams or hiring external consultants to address whatever issues are present. When employees say they feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood, this is because your culture has too many disparities and inequities present.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Shaun Wanzo: My business superpower would be the ability to predict the trends of the marketplace long before there enough indicators for anyone else. I would use it to keep my organization innovative and on the cutting edge.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Shaun Wanzo: Success to me is the procurement of time, that’s really are most precious resource. The with loved ones and friends, time to advocate and help others. When there is an abundance of time or time is available that means a lot of other things people consider success has been lined up already.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Shaun Wanzo for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Shaun Wanzo or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
