A little image popped up on my screen the other day that made me smile…
It offers a simple, two-step guide for what to do if you can’t figure out a stranger’s gender: 1. Don’t worry about it.
It’s funny, but it also gets to the heart of something I’ve been thinking about and working on a lot recently: inclusion. At its core, inclusion is about letting people be themselves, and recognising that their value isn’t tied to a label we might want to give them.
This really resonates with the work I’ve been doing lately, both in reviewing my own training materials and in my role as Co-Director at Families First, where we provide specialist inclusion training for childcare providers.
True inclusion in any setting, whether it’s a corporate office or a day care setting, isn’t just a tick-box exercise. It’s about creating a culture where everyone genuinely feels they belong. According to the British Standards Institution’s (BSI) published code of practice on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion, belonging is the “sense, knowledge or feeling of fitting in and being accepted unconditionally… allowing individuals to participate in the same way as others without any conscious awareness of being different”. That’s the goal: to create spaces where feeling valued is the norm, not the exception.
This formal guidance is a fantastic resource that provides a comprehensive framework for organisations of any size, anywhere in the world. It lays out practical steps for everything from developing an effective strategy to putting inclusive policies and practices into action. It reminds organisations that inclusion isn’t about perfection. It’s about intentional progress—clear values, consistent reflection, and continuous improvement.
Sometimes it all comes back to the small things. Like a moment of curiosity we choose not to act on. A bias we pause before voicing. A habit we gently challenge. That’s where real inclusion lives: in the day-to-day choices that make our spaces safer, fairer, kinder.
So if you’re not sure where to start with inclusion—start small. Start with not worrying about it quite so much. And if you want to take it further, I’d love to work with you.