Your PLN and Inclusion

If I were to assess my network constituents this using age, ethnicity, socio-economic background, education level, drug history, and gender I would conclude that I have a truly diverse PLN. I have learned wisdom from former drug-addict skateboarders, I have learned determination from a young Japanese entrepreneur. My PLN includes poor people that I met in my 7 years of volunteering at a soup kitchen, and some of the wealthiest individuals in Vancouver. I can attribute lessons that I have learned from each of these people to my success in running my own small business. A majority of the clients to my business were minorities living in Vancouver, so I spend a lot of time gaining their trust by listening and including my diverse friend group in my business decisions. I ended up being better off because of this since my friend’s diversity gave me insight on how I could communicate with my clientele more effectively. I have learned to understand the importance of everyone’s experience and therefore I now listen much more to others. I think that it is also important to return ideas and thoughts to those who you listen to. It is sometimes difficult to learn how to perfectly balance this process of listening and sharing, but once achieved I was better equipped to handle my business environment.

I can diverse my PLN to broaden my views of inclusion by uniformly entering each new networking situations with understanding that there is no basic approach to base inclusion off. Everyone’s difference is unique. This collection of diversity within my PLN is what strengthens it, and therefore having an open mind is the most beneficial way to include others.

Finally, after reviewing the videos and readings about inclusion and PLN I have come to understand that inclusion is one of the pillars of having a successful PLN. The readings helped me to identify the rational behind the logic of incorporating diversity into my PLN and showed me that sometimes we must reconsider practices in order to achieve a more beneficial outcome for all.

References:

Moore, Shelley. One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion. ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=6.