Transcript

Annalisa Holcombe (00:09): Welcome to season four of the 92,000 Hours Podcast. I'm your host, Annalisa Holcombe. If you've been listening over the past few years, you know that this is the podcast where we acknowledge that we spend the majority of our lives at work during a lifetime. 92,000 hours, in fact. And that throughout the pandemic, this number has most assuredly grown. Knowing that it's true, we want to explore the possibility of giving those hours more meaning, passion, and purpose.

Annalisa Holcombe (00:40): We talk about how we might construct a working world that values and accommodates our humanity that is not separate from, but fueled by the purpose we find in our work. In the first three seasons, we've engaged in deep conversations with individuals we consider to be experts next door. But this season, we're doing something different. We're providing real how to info about what happens when we really engage these questions. Instead of asking questions of my podcast guests, this season I'm asking you. If you're cooking dinner or driving or going on a walk while listening, that's okay.

Annalisa Holcombe (01:19): Sometimes we definitely need to multitask. But if you have the space and time, this episode and this whole season is best if you can sit down and engage more directly. Please pause the podcast when you need to. Go back to something when you want to reflect more, but give yourself this gift. We're really looking forward to digging into this with you, and I'm in it with you. Let's get started. Our first episode this season was based on trust, and our second on vulnerability.

Annalisa Holcombe (01:58): If you haven't listened to those episodes yet, I encourage you to go back and do so. This season, unlike others, our episodes build on each other to help you better get to know yourself. Before I get into this episode on identity, I want to take a moment to reflect on our second episode on vulnerability and courage. We now know that vulnerability is defined as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. I asked you, our listener, to reflect on those moments in the past week or year in which you felt uncertain, emotionally exposed, or facing risk.

Annalisa Holcombe (02:37): Certainly we can all talk about different levels of uncertainty and risk in a global pandemic, and we each faced different challenges, but it was all vulnerability. As a global society, we have all experienced vulnerability over the past several years, and it's important that we acknowledge that this vulnerability is also now affecting us in new ways, societally and individually, as we move forward.

Annalisa Holcombe (03:03): The notion that I described in the past episode of learning to acknowledgeable vulnerability as a constant companion and understanding our own boundaries is even more crucial to functioning in a healthy way and even finding a way to thrive in these coming years. What did you learn about vulnerability, courage, and your own understanding of those feelings inside yourself? I know I keep asking, but again, I'd love to hear from you about what you learned about yourself in this process. That feedback loop, both for you and for me, is an important part of learning and growth.

Annalisa Holcombe (03:40): Please let us know. Send an email or call. We're really interested in what you have to say. But now, we're going to talk about identity. I've had the opportunity to really work on this with different working groups over the past few years, and I've come out of those conversations even more humbled by the deep thinking that people bring to this subject. I also want to be clear that I'm not an expert on this subject in any way, and I don't claim to be. There's a lot of information available from terrific experts on social identity that's out there on the internet.

Annalisa Holcombe (04:15): And if you're interested in a deeper dive, it is really there for you. But on this episode in particular, I want to acknowledge that I am deeply reliant on the work that I was able to do through the Center For Creative Leadership and their work on social identities. First when we say identity and particularly talking about social identities, what do we mean? As described by the Center For Creative Leadership, social identities are labels that people use to categorize or identify themselves and/or others as members of specific groups.

Annalisa Holcombe (04:54): Some common social identities include things like generation, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, even political affiliation, or relationship status, or profession, or socioeconomic status. Those are social identities. But remember, we also all have personal identities such as being tall or a daughter or great at math. Those social identities combined with personal identities create the way that we see ourselves operating in the world and even create the ways that we see the world itself. Why does this matter? Why should we even take the time to work on this?

Annalisa Holcombe (05:47): Well, because as humans, we inherently categorize ourselves and others into groups based on these identities. Think about that. You do it all the time. These people are whatever. These people are part of the group that likes sports and I don't, or these people are all into skiing, or these people... Like even in simple ways, we do that in our lives all the time. We create those constructs. When we look at others, those identities can lead to biases and stereotypes and marginalization. We look at ourselves, these identities can serve to catalyze motivation and action, and also to create self-censorship and misunderstanding.

Annalisa Holcombe (06:44): I'm going to ask you to really spend some time on this, and I've created a companion worksheet on this on the Connection Collaborative Blog. You'll need this to really dig into this work. You can find it at www.connectioncollaborative.com/blog. You'll notice that we have on that worksheet there are three concentric circles on the sheet. If you don't have access to that worksheet right now, I encourage you stop this, go get a piece of paper, and come back. If you've done that, now's the time. Take that piece of paper and draw three circles.

Annalisa Holcombe (07:27): First, a large circle, taking up the whole space of the paper, then a smaller circle within that, and then an even smaller circle within that one. Label each of those circles. The first one, largest circle, label that given. The second circle label that chosen, and finally, label the small center circle core. Now you have a piece of paper in front of you with three concentric circles that say given, then inside that, chosen, then core. I'd want you to think about these identities in three ways: those identities that are given to you by someone else, those that are chosen, and those that are core.

Annalisa Holcombe (08:18): For example, when we think of identities given to us by someone else, it could be that I have an identity as a daughter or a sister or some other familial or birth circumstance, the state in which you're born. I'm a westerner. I'm female. I am American. Those types of things, those gender, nationality, ethnicity, even... One of my given identities is that I'm short. Those types of things. Then think about those identities that you have chosen, wife, mother, academic, lawyer, friend, colleague, athlete, those identities.

Annalisa Holcombe (09:06): Finally, think of those that are core to you, such as learner or nurturer or adventurous or optimistic. But take some time to really think about it. Who are you? How are you comprised of all these different identities? Which ones do you share with people around you in your family or your work or your community? And which ones don't you share? Why do you choose to share some of those identities? And which ones do people pick out about you more often? How much power does one or a few of these identities have over your life and why? Does that matter to you?

Annalisa Holcombe (09:56): How can understanding your various identities help you to be more successful in your personal and professional life? Dig in. Think about that. Did you have any epiphanies about yourself? When you consider identities and work, consider this. Are there aspects of your identity that you keep hidden at work? What impact might that have on you and on those around you? Are there aspects about your identity that you try to make explicitly known about you? And what impact does that have on how you move through the world?

Annalisa Holcombe (10:49): If this worksheet and all of these questions aren't enough for you when it comes to this work and you want to dig in even a little more, you could also go to our blog at connectioncollaborative.com/blog and read two posts in particular that I think are helpful. One is entitled Privilege and Belonging at Work, and the other is Loneliness at Work. Both of those may be of interest. I also would suggest going back to listen to our very first episode of 92,000 Hours. Season one episode one is about power and privilege and it features Wendy Anderton. Any of the above are worth your while.

Annalisa Holcombe (11:38): Once you've done that work really thinking about yourself and your identities and combinations of identities, then I'm going to ask yourself, what assumptions do you think other people are making about you based on your social identities? What assumptions may you have made about other people based on their social identities? And finally, consider how your various social identities have an impact on all of these things, such as your access to resources and to people in positions of authority, on your ability to direct your own or other people's work, on your authority to make decisions, and on your ability to influence through your own position or your own relationships.

Annalisa Holcombe (12:32): Whew! That was a lot. I mean, that is a lot, and it's really hard work. As you consider these big questions, I really want you to give yourself grace. You'll probably find that you have inadvertently or even purposefully stereotyped or marginalized others based on their social identities. You may find that you're now facing strong feelings because you realize that your own social identities have been used to silence you or to censor your own voice. I want to acknowledge how difficult this is and recognize your courage and your resilience in looking into this for yourself.

Annalisa Holcombe (13:15): To help you work through this, I encourage you to remember the work that we did on vulnerability in episode two of this season. We had to identify your square squad, the few people with whom you can be vulnerable and who've earned the right to hear your story. I encourage you to reach out to those folks as you work through this. You'll need understanding and support, and you may find that it really helps to talk this through. Of course, speaking of talking this through, this is where we are here for you.

Annalisa Holcombe (13:45): Email your thoughts to me directly at annalisa@connectioncollaborative.com or call and leave a voice message at 385-501-7333. And just know, identity is important, and also know that it's multiple. Each of us have many identities and the combination of those different identities matter. The combination can contribute very significantly to our lived experiences. I always like to remind people that there are three aspects to this. Our identities are dynamic. Those ones in that chosen circle can and will change throughout our lives.

Annalisa Holcombe (14:31): Identity is sociological. It is society that is generally determining which of those identities matter, and society is often creating the labels and sorting that happens after that. And it's also salient. Identity can matter more or less depending on the context. For example, nationality may not seem as relevant when you live within your own country. But if you're an immigrant or a refugee, nationality takes on a very important role within your own identity.

Annalisa Holcombe (15:05): And understanding your identities is going to help you navigate your own life, understanding how those multiple identities of others can lead to truly developing opportunities to respect diversity, practice inclusion, and develop belonging within the individuals you engage with in your personal professional and community life. This is big, hard work, but it's worth doing. Now it's time to do your homework. Go back and listen again. Throughout this episode, I've asked a lot of questions about identity, and I've asked you to do a specific exercise.

Annalisa Holcombe (15:46): We've included all of those questions and more as a companion to this episode and as a self-reflection worksheet. You can find it at our Connection Collaborative Blog, www.connectioncollaborative.com/blog. I have also found that social psychologist Dr. Andrew Luttrell has some really great info on this in both his podcast and video form. You can find that at opinionsciencepodcast.com. The episode is Us versus Them with Jay Van Bavel. Call and write us. Post your thoughts on social media. We'd love to dig into this with you.

Annalisa Holcombe (16:28): We're called Connection Collaborative because we really do want to connect and collaborate with you. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for our next episode. We look forward to continuing to build on the work this season.

Annalisa Holcombe (17:31): As always, thank you for listening to 92,000 Hours. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review. We really appreciate the support. If you're interested in learning more about our work, please visit our website at connectioncollaborative.com or follow us on social media. We're everywhere now, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even TikTok. We would like to thank everyone who's called in and left us a voicemail. And If you haven't called, we'd love to hear from you. Our number again is 385-501-7333. This episode was produced and edited by Breanna Steggell, and I'm your host, Annalisa Holcombe.