18 August 2023

Linbert Spencer OBE, EMCC Non-executive Director and the EMCC Global Lead on Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality, continues his series on affirmations for use by inclusive mentors, coaches, and supervisors.

Welcome back to affirmations for inclusive mentors, coaches, and supervisors. Inclusive mentoring, coaching, or supervising is an intentional relationship of influence, the purpose of which is to cause ‘the other’ to consistently experience a sense of inclusion during the process. This is effected when they feel respected, valued, safe, trusted, and have a sense of belonging.

Each month I’m sharing suggested affirmations for inclusive mentors, coaches, and supervisors. I want this to be a useful contribution to our professional activities, so I welcome feedback as to whether you find it useful, or if it’s simply used up 10 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back!

Over the years, I have experienced affirmations as an extremely powerful way to stay ‘on purpose’. We are all always affirming. The question is, are we using our affirmations to help ourselves, or are they abusing us? I wonder if any of these questions remind you of any of your self-talk:

Who do think you are – you can’t do that?
Why don’t you give up on her/him/them?
You don’t seriously believe that’s possible, do you?

To be a more effective inclusive mentor, coach, or supervisor, take control of your self-talk by practising affirmations daily. Don’t only use the ones I suggest. Build on them as your situation changes, but stick to the basic rules: powerful affirmations are personal, present tense and positive, and focused on who you want to be and what you want to do, not on what you don’t want.

Affirming first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and speaking out or writing the affirmation down rather than just thinking it, is a powerful way to move more quickly towards being who you want to be, and consistently doing what you have committed to do.

Writing (not typing) your affirmations as you speak them helps you to develop a stronger understanding of what you are affirming. Writing them is a good habit to form.

Here is a foundational affirmation for the inclusive mentor, coach, or supervisor and I recommend you use it as the start to all your affirmations:

I am an inclusive mentor/coach/supervisor. I actively manage inclusion. I value diversity. I promote equality and I combat discrimination.

And here are our next two affirmations:

Affirmation 3 – I know that diversity and inclusion are different things, and that my commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality does not make me immune from bias, stereotypes, or assumptions.

Affirmation 4 – I create environments in which people feel valued, safe, respected and trusted, and I value differences; even those that challenge my own thinking.

I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts about the affirmations as we move through the series. Please contact me on the link below. Find the first two affirmations here.

Linbert Spencer OBE is an EMCC UK Non-Executive Director. He is the EMCC Global Lead on Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality.

Image by Charlie Harris on Unsplash