I was aware of the idea that followers could influence leaders. However, I never knew how deep the idea was until I was introduced to what Patrice Gordon (2020) identifies as reverse mentorship.

Her TED Talk video does a great job explaining what it is and the benefits of it. Basically, reverse mentorship is encouraging employees to form professional relationships (regardless of seniority) to exchange skills, knowledge, and understanding.

Gordon (2020) outlines in the video five effective ways to make reverse mentorship work for you:

1. Make your match thoughtfully

2. Set ground rules

3. Start with an icebreaker

4. Beware of role reversion

5. Make time for reflection

6. Give credit where credit is due

To me, reverse mentorship has a lot to do with ethical leadership principles because it involves the leader respecting others by listening to them, serving others by allowing them the freedom to showcase their abilities and skills, and manifests honesty by being realistic about certain circumstances (e.g., if the leader is not capable of performing a certain task but a follower is).

Kulkarni (2021) defines inclusive language as words and phrases that do no exclude specific groups of people. In the workplace, I feel this is especially important because to effectively work together as a group or team to reach a common goal, respectful language regarding a person's identity should be carefully monitored to facilitate unity and cohesion among all members of the organization.

Here are 3 pro tips to utilizing inclusive language in your professional lives:

1. Use gender-neutral pronouns, such as "they", "them", "their", "theirs", and "themselves". It's also a good idea to learn what pronouns your colleagues identify with. You can do this by either asking or take the lead and make known your preferred pronouns when introducing yourself.

2. Be aware of heteronormative phrasing. This assumes your colleague is either heterosexual, lives in a traditional "mom and dad" family structure, or assumes there are traditional gender roles at home.

3. Be cautious with unintended ableism, which is discrimination against anyone with a physical or mental disability. Stay away from terms such as "blind", "deaf", "dumb", "idiot", "insane", "lame", "nuts", and "psycho" (Kulkarni, 2021).

Living abroad for as long as I did in a country where inclusive behaviors and reverse mentorship were not in the cards, both topics were generally new to me. Naturally, I believe in DEI practices but applying them in my personal and professional life has been somewhat of an adjustment of attitudes for me. Specifically, I still struggle with practicing inclusive language more so from a professional standpoint because it’s simply not something I’ve been used to doing. Because of this, I’ve been inspired to follow Grant’s (2019) model of busing these bad habits of using exclusive language by attempting to use alternate terminology. I’ve recognized the fact that I don’t have enough experience in this area and try my best to stop and think before I say something. Maintaining this new habit is something I’m still currently in the process of doing.