Coaches Take Center Stage - Hanadi Chehabeddine

My name is Hanadi and I'm an inclusion consultant and coach. I've been in the Diversity and Inclusion space for about eight years now and I came to this space through the pain point of being Muslim here in the US. I was raised and born in Lebanon. Early in my career I traveled and worked in Dubai and then I took on postgraduate studies in London. But none of these international exposures have prepared me for being a Muslim here in the US, and all the conversation around how people perceive me and who I am and what I have to deal with; with people who know me, and people who do not know me. So I have a Master's degree in Education and I'm a certified Inclusion Professional and I just enjoy every minute of it. Just changing people's perceptions and creating a better world for everyone.

I have always been fascinated by the power of communication. Initially in my career I took on advertising. So it was just a 30-second power. Now with the conversation that I'm leading in this space, it's more than one-on-one conversations in how effective we can be in just conveying ideas and thoughts, especially the ones that are difficult for us to communicate.

Yes, I do have a philosophy on coaching and that is people transform by being inspired, so transformation through inspiration and for people to change their behaviors, they have to be inspired and they are mostly inspired when they see something that they do not expect. They see a behavior that they do not expect and the way that the conversation is being led, so the best way to transform people's behavior is to really be that role model that you're preaching and as a coach, my advice is to really live through those, pieces of coaching that you're living through the values that you're coaching so that people can be inspired to change.

So what I learned from people's reactions to my coaching is that I speak truth to power and that is in the conversations that I'm leading. I don't shy away from challenging some of what people are saying, encouraging people to speak their minds but also to keep people accountable with their choice of words, or dig deeper into how we express ourselves sometimes in sessions because that sheds light on some of the preconceived notions. It's really important that when we do see something that doesn't sit well with us to give ourselves the permission to challenge it or to talk about it and do that gracefully so that people can be invited to see a different perspective.

Yeah, when we are in a difficult situation and we've all been there, it's really difficult for us to see the high level picture of that situation. So, my advice for people who are going through these difficult times is to reach out to your people that you trust, people that you care about, people that care about you and share that situation with them because oftentimes, because they are not emotionally invested in this situation, we don't have a take on it and take that you may not be aware of. So find the support that gets you through and find people that you trust, to shed light on how you see things because sometimes it you know, what makes a difference, it's just a mindset change or just a shift in the way you view things. So that's that's my advice.

Yeah, it was something that was shared in a breakout room and when we were discussing this as a group, another person asked this colleague to share what she just said, and she started her sentence by saying, "I don't want to offend anybody." but what she actually said was very supportive of communities of color. So I coached her and to understanding that her voice is actually very needed and that what she thinks is offensive is actually very supportive of communities of colors should see. In that moment she really understood her the power of her voice and the way she can make a difference just by really communicating some of the thoughts that she has authentically and with full transparency.

Dr. Isabel Wilkerson's books, specifically Caste and the Warmth of Other Suns give a deeper understanding of the African American experience and the history of this country. She just portrays stories with the great details and historical events that shed light on the experience and just brings you closer to understanding or starting to understand and grasp the history of this country.

By truly being unapologetically yourself, you help the world learn how to adjust your presence, so be who you are, have the conversations that you're having, and just be confident that people are changing. People's hearts change and they are inspired when they see authentic people teaching them to be authentic.