This week on The Seed, I welcomed back someone I deeply admire—Stacey Gordon. She’s not just a global leadership strategist and DEI expert… she’s a truth-teller, a disruptor, and someone who has been doing this work long before it became a corporate checkbox.

Bringing Stacey back on wasn’t just a catch-up. It was necessary.

With everything going on right now—from illegal attacks on DEI to the quiet unraveling of policies that were meant to create safer, more inclusive spaces—I knew it was time for us to have the hard conversations again. And if I’m being honest, Stacey’s first episode on The Seed felt like a warning we didn’t want to hear, but absolutely needed to.

This episode? It’s the follow-up we all need.

We talked about:

Why DEI is not illegal, despite the rhetoric.

What “making work work” really means—and who’s being left out.

How fear, bias, and legacy hiring are holding companies back.

Why employee retention is suffering—and what leaders can do today to change that.

How to lead with courage and strategy instead of fear and reaction.

And yes, we talked about unconscious bias, the performative nonsense some companies still call DEI, and the leadership vacuum we’re seeing in real time.

It’s not light listening. But it’s vital.

Stacey said something that stuck with me: “You can’t fight an elephant you won’t name.” And that’s what this episode is about—naming the issues, not sugarcoating the truth, and figuring out how to lead better from wherever you are.

If you’re in a leadership role, an HR seat, or even just someone showing up for your team every day—you need to hear this one. Because staying silent isn’t neutral. And making decisions out of fear will never lead to real change.

So take a deep breath, hit play, and lean in.