UncategorizedMay 12, 2021

Meet Shelton Goode | CEO and President, Icarus Consulting

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Today we’re excited to introduce you to Shelton Goode. Shelton is the CEO and President of Icarus Consulting and is also a content partner. Content partners help Voyage in so many ways from spreading the word about the work that we do, sponsoring our mission and collaborating with us on content like this.

Icarus Consulting is a veteran-owned firm that helps companies build a diverse workforce and create an inclusive workplace. This is accomplished by partnering with clients to develop strategies to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled talent from an emerging diverse workforce and, at the same time, enhance the engagement, knowledge, and skill of current employees.

Dr. Goode has over 20-years of HR and D&I experience, and he has held executive positions in several global companies. He has earned the reputation for being a strategic yet results-oriented leader whose expertise includes Talent Management, Change Management, and Executive Coaching.

He has also taught at several colleges and universities and is currently an adjunct professor with Duke University’s Corporate Education department. Dr. Goode has published several books. His most recent book is “Beyond Inclusion: reimagining the Future of Work, Workers, and the Workplace”.

Dr. Goode received his Doctorate from the University of Alabama and his master’s degree in human resources from Troy University. He serves on the board of several organizations and has won several awards. Dr. Goode currently resides in the Atlanta area.

Check out our conversation with Shelton below.

There are a lot of diversity and inclusion consultants; what makes Icarus Consulting unique?
The mission of Icarus Consulting is to unleash the power of human potential by helping people—and organizations—to defy gravity and fly. We help organizations achieve excellence through inclusion by ensuring employees feel valued, respected, and connected at every level in the organization. We do this by helping organizations develop strategies that attract, develop, and retain highly skilled talent from an emerging diverse workforce and, at the same time, enhance the engagement, knowledge, and skill of current employees. With our help, organizations create the type of workplace where their people no longer feel pressure to downplay aspects of their identity to thrive and contribute in a way that fuels the organization’s bottom-line growth.

What are some of the successes you are most proud of?
As one of the top D&I firms in the country, I am most proud that for several of our clients, we developed and implemented D&I performance dashboards that provided critical data that improved productivity and turned around several poor performing departments. On several occasions, we conducted strategic D&I analysis, which helped increase revenue, improved efficiency, and enhanced client relationships. We have earned a reputation for collaborating with clients and identifying opportunities for improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency, supplier diversity spending, and diversity in senior leadership ranks.

What have been some of the firm’s toughest challenges in the past 12 months?
One of our toughest challenges is helping companies deal with the impact of multiple crises impacted employee engagement. We have focused on helping company leaders understand the importance of asking themselves the “tough” questions” about the organization’s diversity and inclusion performance, commitment, and involvement. The goal was to help them develop the leadership skills and behaviors needed to create alignment and agreement on advancing the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts by fostering open and candid dialogue.

We have helped our clients exchange ideas, make higher-quality decisions, and then act on those decisions with unity and commitment. After the death of George Floyd, our efforts initially focused on increasing diversity and inclusion awareness, but in late 2020 our efforts turned to skill-building and action planning activities. Because of our work, our clients now understand:

• How our lenses, layers, legacies, and cultural identity shape our communications and impact decision-making, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.

• Barriers to healthy conversations and how they play out at work when discussing sensitive issues.

• Best practices for conducting healthy and productive conversations and a skill-based methodology to talk about various sensitive issues.

• Action steps needed to create and sustain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

Without giving away too much, what are the top 2-3 things you are advising companies to do in light of the pandemic, social justice movements, and changing customer expectations?
Managers play a pivotal role in how their teams navigate this incredibly challenging time. While it is helpful for employees to hear from company leaders, it is equally critical that they feel directly supported by their manager. If managers proceed with “business as usual,” it sends a message to people that you do not believe this is an important topic worthy of time and conversation. To Black employees, it can send a signal that you do not value them. So, how do you lead your team through this challenging time, mainly when it can be hard to find the words to say, and when different team members may need different things? I recommend three specific actions: (1) Listen to your team. Not just once. Make sure that when you meet as a group, your team understands that this is on your mind, and it is essential to you. (2) Use your emotional intelligence. (3) Continue your personal learning.

What are some of the interesting projects you are personally working on?
We are working on various project s that help our clients thrive in fast-paced and demanding environments that require constant decisiveness, energy, and speed. At Icarus, we are known for achieving results ahead of schedule and under budget because we have a team of high-performing professionals who develop, implement, and monitor D&I and HR strategies that improve our client’s performance. As a result, we help our clients develop a D&I strategy that connects the company with their employees, communities, customers, and suppliers, ultimately the company’s bottom line.

Some of our current projects include developing and delivering training on unconscious bias, establishing D&I Councils, leveraging our proprietary BRG Leadership Academy℠ to transform resource groups into real business partners, launching an executive learning curriculum, rolling out diverse mentoring programs, and providing coaching to hi-potential and emerging leaders. We customize everything we do and channel our extensive experience to resolve our clients’ toughest challenges.

How does the business look for Icarus Consulting in 2021?
Because of our past performance, 2021 looks good for Icarus Consulting. There is no shortage of companies that want us to help them build a culture of respect and trust. We look forward to helping our future clients leverage their workforce to accomplish organizational goals and establish a competitive advantage in their respective markets. We anticipate that organizations will want to partner with Icarus Consulting because we can partner with them to develop an effective D&I strategy and processes.

Thank you so much again for sharing all of this with us. Before we go, can you share with our readers how they can connect with you, learn more or show support?
Companies who want to learn more about Icarus Consulting should visit our website at www.icarusconsult.net