Tayo Rockson

Connecting across cultures can be enriching and educational, yet also challenging. Markets, worldviews, customs and traditions often become barriers that prevent people from developing cross-cultural relationships. In this talk, Tayo provides a framework for understanding our internal and external strategies as well as several strategies that allow us to overcome barriers to connecting across cultures. According to Tayo, the type of people that know how to effectively connect across cultures do three things: they educate, they don't perpetuate, and they, instead communicate. Tayo dives into just how we all can learn to implement this framework. By the end of this talk, audiences will learn to become more self-aware of their own communication style, communicate clearly, and act appropriately with people that come from different environments both at work and at home.

Our inability to connect is at the root of all our problems today. Everyone wants to connect in some way, shape or form. We want to connect to something, someone, or somewhere. It creates a sense of belonging and it is at the base of our humanity as social animals. We are primed to connect yet we have a disconnection problem. We are disconnected from others and ourselves. Many of us don’t know how to handle conflict and our egos. Many of us are too reactive and not introspective enough. Many of us prioritize the concept of right and might over curiosity, empathy and humility. Many of us don’t utilize our privileges to bridge enough gaps. Many of us don’t prioritize self-care and mental health because it takes time and it’s hard to measure. We aren’t patient enough because there is no immediate gratification to be gained from it. But as a world, Tayo believes we can change. He believes that the key to that change lies in how we give language to our emotions. It's not enough to be aware of it, we also have to understand what it is that we are feeling. Otherwise we are constantly in output mode instead of learning how to water the gardens of our minds. The ability to give language to any and all of your emotions is also a necessary ingredient for developing cultural competency, cultural agility, collaboration skills and inclusive leadership. Tayo builds on the ideas of both emotional literacy and emotional intelligence to highlight how and why emotions form. He explores the long standing debate about whether all emotions are fixed or fluid and closes with how and what we can learn from our traumas and suppressed emotions.

In today's world, it is more important than ever to understand and consider the nuances of a situation before taking action or forming an opinion. Nuance is the subtlety or complexity of something, and it is a crucial aspect of understanding any topic or issue. In a world that is often divided by political and ideological differences, considering the nuances of a situation can help us to better understand the perspectives of others and to find common ground. It can also help us to avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions without fully considering all of the factors at play. Tayo Rockson believes that we live in a world of nuance yet, it is governed by binary systems. These binary systems end up being the engine that fuels all of the culture wars we see today. Culture wars that limit expression of self and accountability. In this talk, Tayo explores two frameworks to expand our way of thinking. The first framework is called "the anatomy of the binaries". This framework analyzes how and why worldviews are formed. The second framework is called "the anatomy of 'normal' and 'success'" and highlights the best ways to create new normals and safe environments for multigenerational and cross-cultural surroundings.

The goal of this speech is to enable us to think about ways that we can be more reflective as opposed to being reactive. It's about working towards humanization!

It’s not enough for institutions to look different. They have to think differently as well. Sustainable diversity and inclusion only occurs when there’s actual behavioral change. Intentionality needs to happen at all levels: upper management, middle management & entry level. A commitment to understanding how and why people of different backgrounds behave the way they do is imperative for success. It's how awareness, humanization and empathy starts. A top down approach is just as important as a bottom up approach when it comes to diversity and inclusion. In this talk, Tayo will help you learn 5 systematic ways to build a sustainable diversity and inclusion program. By understanding the 5 A’s (assess, arrange, apply, accountability & analysis, and affinity), Tayo guides you in examining the origin of your beliefs, the reasoning behind them and the purpose they serve in order to understand their effects on your behavior and ability to commit to change.

Based on his 2020 national anti-racism campaign created in the midst of the Black Lives Matters’ protests, Tayo works with audiences in this 4 phase training to help them create an anti-racist organization. Broken down into modules, the themes of module 1 are awareness, identities, conditioning & unlearning. The themes of module 2 are breaking down systems of oppression in and out of the workplace. The themes of module 3 are best practices and debiasing. The themes of module 4 are role play & collective action. These role plays are meant to equip employees with discussing problematic assumptions and discussions that come up with race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion and immigration. By the conclusion of this program, your organization will understand where bias comes from in all aspects of their personal and professional lives and be armed with the knowledge needed to build an anti-racist organization.