Janklin

05/20/2026

"This is an inclusive space! All are welcome here."

How often do we post these slogans across the doorposts of our break room, do our best to incubate them into our HR policies and position our leadership to emulate them in our team sprint meetings.

As much as we try, people still leave. People don't feel safe. People wonder what punishment may befall them if they respond honestly. How? With all our good intentions how does this continue to happen?

If we’re honest, one area that we continually neglect is the inherited workplace expectations that we’ve normalized. In our western world, our teams are built for compliance, productivity and any conflict must be contained. They are not created for friction, for uniqueness or creativity.

A neutral, ‘everyone belongs here’ workplace often neglects the actual people who are not finding belonging. And this is simply because their identity is being ignored or intentionally and unintentionally dismissed.

It's 2026 and our world isn't making space anymore for only inputs and KPIs. Our world and our workplaces are asking us to transform these inherited systems into spaces of belonging and safety.

This month I'm focussing on what belonging is and how leaders can cultivate that within their organizations and teams. Next week I'll be providing a resource page on my website that includes:

🌟 An inclusive team charter to help set an inclusive and mindful tone at the beginning of your project launch.
🌟 Podcast links of personal stories of belonging and inclusion from equity deserving groups.
🌟 Belonging discussion cards to begin the conversation with trauma-informed and culturally safe care in mind.

You can also read my latest newsletter 'The Invisible Briefcase Series' where I unpack belonging and how it is gate kept: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7445559455171371008

You can also attend my Relational Project Management Course this coming September where we will spend a full Saturday immersing ourselves in how to create inclusive and human-centred leadership with practical tools you can apply the next week. Currently taking expressions of interest: https://www.janklin.ca/eoi-rpmc

I would also love to explore an opportunity to work with you and your teams. It starts with a conversation and I would be honoured to explore more with you: https://www.janklin.ca/connect

The harder question isn't "How do I create belonging?"
It's "What systems am I upholding, without realizing it, that generate exclusion and fear instead?"

05/14/2026

🌎 Whether or not your organization is actively investing in diversity, your project teams are already operating across cultural complexity. 🤔

This is not a future consideration. It is your current operating environment.

Our teams, our schools, our workplaces are, without question, multicultural. The question is not what do we do but in who we become.

📈 Consider a study of over 800 individuals across 38 countries which found that individuals with a higher cultural competence sustained performance under stress(https://lnkd.in/gBVAc-7X).

Those without?

📉 A significant drop in performance across projects.

Inclusion is no longer an add-on, a 'nice to have' or something that we might plan to do. It is the very essence of being present - working and living - in a globalized world.

🌟 Join me this September for a Relational Human Management Course where we will incubate cultural intelligence in how we lead, manage and engage with teams. What a gift we can give ourselves and others by leaning into the beauty of diverse people around us, seeing differences not as threats but opportunities to expand our minds, our innovation and our heart.

Currently taking expressions of interest so please message me here or fill out this form: https://www.janklin.ca/eoi-rpmc

📚 And if you like reading, like me, check out the other study that this post cites: https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-how-cultural-differences-can-impact-global-teams

Check out my inclusive resources on my website https://www.janklin.ca/ and if you haven't subscribed, I offer a monthly newsletter on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7445559455171371008. This month's theme is belonging.

Stay well, friends. 🤗

05/07/2026

Belonging shouldn't be determined by a select few. Especially where we work.

When we think of safe or psychologically safe work places, belonging is often found as a value that we strive to create. But what happens when our attempts to create belonging, to create safety or to make someone feel included do the opposite?

We come with good intentions but rarely to we understand how those intentions land.

Ever ask the question "Where are you from?" It feels like small talk. It feels like a way for me to 'get to know' someone. But for many people, this question can do the exact opposite.

💼 In my latest newsletter series, 'The Invisible Briefcase', I unpack what this question really signals, the cost of not creating belonging in our workplace and practical dos and don'ts for leaders who want to create belonging. It will serve as a series of posts and resources I will be sharing for the month of May. https://www.janklin.ca/articles/who-gets-to-belong-and-who-doesnt

🫡 Stay tuned for more information and visit my website to read last month's Invisible Briefcase series on power and authority! I've created a resource page with a quiz, podcast links, resources and practical tools you can use Monday morning: https://www.janklin.ca/hierarchy-and-me.

🌟 I'm currently taking expressions of interest for my upcoming Relational Project Management Course this September. Please reach out to me if you are interested, [email protected] or DM me.

👇 And let me know what you think about this question? Have you asked it? Have you been the one asked? How did it land for you? I'd love to hear 🤗

What does "Where are you from?" really communicate? Leadership consultant Andrea explores the Invisible Briefcase — the unseen privileges and assumptions that shape who feels like they belong — and offers practical Dos & Don'ts for leaders building culturally safe, inclusive workplaces

05/01/2026

🌎 Culture is not something to bolt on and consider afterwards . . . culture is an integral part of how projects and people work.

Consider this statistic: revisions on projects happen 40% more on projects where cultural barriers exist. 😳 According to PMI, for construction teams, this costs $17 billion dollars in rework annually.

That's a huge chunk of change! 💰 😔

The reality is that the rework and the extra money to fix errors could have been avoided.

Cultural barriers can include:
🪜 Refusing to engage with or listen to someone's perspective who has a different country of origin than you do.
🪜 Assuming that a person's limited English is equivalent to their comprehension level.

And sometimes it can be all the more subtle ways where we mistake silence as indifference, earnestness as dominance and collaboration as subordination.

How we communicate is cultural. How we lead, how we see our teams and engage with other people is all cultural.

The biggest question to you is, not how do you see other cultures, but your own?

I don't know about you, but I like saving money. And great ideas and successes can be made when we honour the whole of someone, not just their functionality.

I'd love to explore more with you in this messy place of culture and people.

🗓️ Please join me September 12 where we will explore how to be relational and inclusive leaders while honouring diversity in the rooms we share. Please send your expression of interest to me, [email protected] or let me know below 👇 and I'll reach out to you. 🤗

04/26/2026

Has this ever happened to you? 👇

I called a colleague 'sir' and he shot back: "I'm not your dad!"

Then in my very next conversation, someone else looked at me and said: "Please call me Doctor."

Same workplace. Completely opposite expectations about respect, titles, and how power works.

I didn't do anything wrong in either moment. And what I learned real quickly was that reading the room meant experiencing how other people saw power and authority in language.

That experience is a big part of why I created the Relational Order Layer (ROL). It's a simple visual system you add to your interest holder documents — a small symbol next to each person's name that reminds you how *they* understand authority, how they expect to be addressed and how they will engage with you:

▲ Triangle = Hierarchical (titles, formal channels, protocol matter to this person)
● Circle = Egalitarian (direct, first-name, collaborative engagement works best)
▲● Both = Hybrid (they hold both — stay curious)

I built it because I needed it. I was juggling so many tasks or relationships that I'd forget. I'd forget a preference, a tone, a dynamic. I would then walk into a conversation unprepared, experiencing that cringy friction and possible conflict.

This little visual cue changed that for me. And I think it can help you too.

What do YOU think? If you tried it for one week, do you think it might help you engage with your teams, clients or co workers more? Let me know below 👇

I've created an in-depth look at ROL and how to use it. It's a free resource so I invite you to download it: https://lnkd.in/ghQmZdki

This month I'm focussing on Hierarchy and Egalitarian systems, a cultural intelligence that shapes how we embody relational leadership. There's a quiz, podcast episodes, links and tools to enable a more conscious and inclusive leadership. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gTxXCD5v

And if your team or organization could benefit from culturally intelligent leadership support — reach out. This is exactly the work I do. 👋

04/22/2026

I want to introduce you to something I created — and I'm pretty excited about it. 🙂

It's called the Relational Order Layer (ROL) — a simple framework I built because I needed it myself as a project manager.

Here's the problem it solves:
We're good at mapping who matters on a project. But we rarely ask how that person understands power, protocol, and relationship. And that gap? It causes miscommunication, missed trust, and friction that's hard to name.

ROL adds three visual symbols to your existing documents:
▲ Triangle — this person likely expects hierarchy, formal channels, titles
● Circle — this person likely expects direct, flat, collaborative engagement
▲● Both — layered or mixed signals; hold both with curiosity

That little symbol next to a name becomes a cultural cue, a reminder before you send that email, walk into that meeting, or hand off to a new leader. It signals how to show up, how to respond and how to listen.

It's especially helpful when organizations go through leadership changes. When authority shifts, so does relational order. ROL helps your team navigate that thoughtfully.

You can download the link to the ROL here:https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:e47f6436-776e-48ae-ae18-47725b1a3ec3 and learn more about it on my website: t 👉 https://www.janklin.ca/hierarchy-and-me

And if your team could use support navigating cultural intelligence and relational leadership — I'd love to be invited in. That's exactly what I do. 💬

Let me know if this helps you!

04/19/2026

Friends — I've been working on something I'm really proud of, and it's finally live! 🎉 AND IT'S FOR YOU!! 🤗

My new Resource page is a free hub for leaders (and honestly, anyone who works with other humans) to better understand power dynamics in the workplace. This month I'm focussing on Hierarchy and Egalitarianism (if you haven't subscribed, please check out my Invisible Briefcase monthly newsletter).

Ever wondered why your open-door policy goes unused?
Or why one team member never speaks up in meetings?

These aren't problems with you or them — they're signals of how each of us was shaped to view power and authority.

On the page, you'll find:
✨ A Power Distance Quiz to reflect on your own view of power and authority and how to navigate those who might think differently than you (and who doesn't love a good quiz! 🙂 )
✨ My Relational Order Layer Framework — a visual tool for leaders and project managers (I'll unpack this more in another video!)
✨ Two Canadian Salad Podcast episodes on power and culture
✨ Recommended reading from the greats — Hofstede, Erin Meyer, Edward T. Hall
✨ A printable summary PDF of the whole thing to share with your team

Everything is free and built to be used — in your workplace, your team meetings, even at home.

A new resource page is in the works as we speak. But for now, take a look and let me know what resonates 👇

🌍 https://www.janklin.ca/hierarchy-and-me

04/14/2026

I grew up with very narrow hierarchies.

🫡 The first was in my home with both parents from military families. High views of respecting those in authority, using titles like 'sir' or 'maam', and timeliness conditioned and formed me.

🌎 The second was in my North American upbringing with racial hierarchies, where art, media, government, policy and infrastructure were built around the "supremacy of the most privileged". It was how Canada and the United States were constructed.

So my view of hierarchy, was very negative. And rightly so.

What I didn't see or experience, however, were other forms of hierarchy. Hierarchies not based on absolute power, as those that I grew up with, but based on having power WITH people instead of over them. Hierarchies marked by mutual concern and reciprocity. Hierarchies marked by how generous you were instead of how much you hoarded.

So when I engaged with someone who was from a more formal hierarchy or form of social order, I was repulsed by it and didn't try to understand it.

You see the biggest hierarchy, I believe, we have to examine is the one within us. My judgement of hierarchy was because I witnessed the harm of absolute power within those structures. And my judgement clouded me from seeing the healing of collective, interrelated power within other structures.

My invitation to you is: How do you see power? How do you see hierarchy?

Because, dear friend, if we want a world that we deserve, we have to learn and unlearn the structures that were designed to narrow, obscure and isolate relationships - relationships, I believe, we all deserve.

Honouring how we see the world will enable us to honour how we see others.

I'd love to hear your relationship with hierarchical systems! Please leave a comment below 👇 🙂

And stay tuned as part two of "Inherited Power. Imagined Equality" drops tomorrow on Canadian Salad podcast. If you haven't listened to part one, please do and share your thoughts with me: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/canadian-salad/id1704170473?i=1000760013754

04/10/2026

Canadian egalitarianism isn't neutral. It's a cultural default — and it has a cost.

We've built workplaces that celebrate flat hierarchies, consensus decisions, and casual first-name cultures. And we call it inclusive.

But for many people — those from high-context cultures, hierarchical backgrounds, or communities where deference is respect — our "everyone is equal here" can feel like erasure.

Burley Design Cooperative ran as a worker-owned co-op for nearly 30 years on exactly these principles: equal pay, equal voice, equal ownership. A genuinely radical and beautiful idea. But as the company grew, new members who didn't share the founding cultural DNA struggled to connect with the model. The cooperative eroded — not from outside pressure alone, but from within.

The lesson isn't that egalitarianism is bad. It's that any dominant culture — even a progressive one — creates insiders and outsiders.

Leading with cultural intelligence means asking: whose comfort are we centring when we say "we treat everyone the same"?

This month, I'm focusing on power distance as a cultural lens that impacts how we communicate, how we listen and how we engage with each other. And I'd love to hear what you think about it all. 🤗

👇 For you, how does your workplace lean?
🇨🇦 Flat & egalitarian — everyone has equal say
🏛️ Structured & hierarchical — clear roles and authority

Let me know! I'm genuinely curious.

You can read more about the Burley Bike Story here: https://bikeportland.org/2017/11/22/how-eugene-based-burley-built-the-market-for-child-bicycle-trailers-256287