What if the thing that made you feel out of place everywhere you went is exactly what your organization is missing right now? Behavioral data scientist Tayo Rockson joins Lori Adams-Brown to revisit his book Use Your Difference to Make a Difference seven years later, and to ask what it means in a world shaped by polarization, power, and AI.
Raised by a Nigerian diplomat father across Nigeria, Sweden, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and the United States, Tayo learned to read rooms before he learned to belong in them. He shares what that cost him, the inner work (including therapy) that helped him lead with his own identity, and why he now believes most organizations already know where their problems are. What is missing is the willingness to act.
In this episode:
• Why the 2019 version of his book underestimated power and incentive, and what he would write differently today
• The LORA framework (Listen, Observe, Reflect, Act) and why "reflect" is the step almost everyone skips
• Why "the alternative to measuring people is not freedom from judgment. It is judgment without evidence."
• What workforce data can reveal, what it can never hold, and who never fills out the survey
• The one lever every leader can pull right now: invite people into the data instead of deciding for them
Recorded days before Californians voted on Proposition 40, a one-time billionaire tax, this conversation also takes on leadership, power, and what it costs when people who can see the problem choose not to act.
About Tayo: Tayo Rockson is a behavioral data scientist who makes data human and translates identities, cultures, and ideologies. He leads business intelligence and people analytics work within People Practices at DPR Construction, is the author of Use Your Difference to Make a Difference (Wiley), and is a TEDx speaker.
Timestamps:
00:00 Hook: Organizations already know where the problems are
00:25 Meet Tayo Rockson
02:15 Five countries, four continents: what being different cost him
07:08 "It must be sad not to be from anywhere"
09:24 Why third culture kids go deep, fast
12:43 Strangers in crowded rooms
13:57 Use Your Difference to Make a Difference, seven years later
15:23 It was never just ignorance: incentive and power
17:33 Lori on leadership, power, and the vote
18:54 Reframing the language of difference
22:12 The LORA framework: Listen, Observe, Reflect, Act
26:26 Self-awareness, power, and listening to yourself first
31:24 We have punished people for being human
34:37 Translating ideologies inside a team
37:39 Judgment without evidence is not more dignified
40:09 What data can reveal and what it can never hold
44:11 The one lever: invite people into the data
46:45 Where to find Tayo
47:15 Passport Stamp: Nigeria
Find Tayo Rockson at: https://tayorockson.com | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tayorockson) | Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tayorockson) | Get his book, Use Your Difference to Make a Difference (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119590698)
Hear Tayo's bonus answer, the part of his story he is still learning to say out loud, with our Difference Makers on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/aworldofdifference) .
Want to know where your culture, your people data, and your leadership are telling different stories? Brava Global Advisory helps leadership teams find the gap and act on it. Start with the VOICE Diagnostic (https://www.bravaglobaladvisory.com/voice) .
When unfair treatment at work becomes a pattern, The SAFE Ground Framework (https://loriadamsbrown.com/safe) ™ helps leaders and the people they lead scan, assess, fortify, and establish safer workplaces.
Thinking about a life abroad? I use and recommend Expatsi (https://www.expatsi.com/?ref=2kJ926HZ) to help navigate the move. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission.
Love the show? Buy me a coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/loriadamsbr) .
Connect with Lori: https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/loriadamsbrown | https://loriadamsbrown.substack.com
Subscribe, leave a review at https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com/reviews/new/, and share this episode.
Visit https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com for more resources.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices)
