Meaningful Work and Inclusive Leadership with Justin Jones-Fosu

What does it mean to truly see people—not just acknowledge them, but deeply understand and value their perspectives? How can leaders create environments where diverse voices are not only heard but embraced?

In this episode of the Inspirational Leadership podcast, I speak with Justin Jones-Fosu about how to build inclusive workplaces and meaningful connections with curiosity and intentionality. Justin is a husband and full-time daddy of 4 high-energy kids, and he also recently summited one of the 7 Summits (the tallest mountain on each continent). He is a highly sought-after business speaker, social entrepreneur, and meaningful work researcher. He is the founder and CEO of Work. Meaningful. where he speaks 50-60 times per year to companies, organizations, and associations in the US and Internationally on meaningful work and diversity/inclusion. He is the author of Your WHY Matters NOW, The Inclusive Mindset, and his latest book: I Respectfully Disagree: How to Have Difficult Conversations in a Divided World. 

Listen in to learn why curiosity is key to inclusion and transforming our perspectives and relationships in the workplace. You will also learn how to model, reward, and reinforce healthy disagreements in your organization to cultivate a culture of innovation and trust.

Key Takeaways:

• The psychological biases that shape our views and how curiosity can help us challenge them.
• The role of curiosity in leadership, personal growth, and parenting—how we can all cultivate a more open mindset.
• How leaders can foster a culture of appreciation and purpose in overlooked roles to bring meaning to work.
• The importance of creating spaces for respectful disagreement by modeling, rewarding, and reinforcing open dialogue.
• How simple acknowledgments can make a significant impact on dialogue and workplace culture.

Standout Quotes:

• “The only way to not take the exit is to be curious, to choose to hear people's stories, to get closer to people, and to put ourselves in positions of understanding and ways that we can challenge our perspective.”- Justin [11:39]
• “Growth-based mindset is that your only competition is yourself and failure is just another data point for learning and if you don't know something, you just don't know it yet.”- Justin [15:07]

⇢ Get full show notes and more information here: https://bit.ly/JustinJonesFosu

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟱-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗞𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗧𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗼𝗻-𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁: www.kristenharcourt.com