Building Inclusive Teams Based on Shared History – DCI Honors Black History Month
History is defined as the study of past events, actions and experiences that have shaped the world we live in today. It involves analyzing and interpreting the recorded evidence of human activities, societies, and civilizations over time.
Everything has some history to it, your family, your city, the countries we reside in, the company we work for, everything. So, let’s take that thought a bit further and explore why understanding history is important. History is crucial for understanding the past, learning from it, and shaping the future. Understanding a company’s history is important as it provides insights into its evolution, successes, challenges, and its overall trajectory. It helps stakeholders, including employees and customers, comprehend the company’s values and decision-making patterns.
This historical context aids in making informed predictions about a company’s future, assessing its stability, and understanding the foundation on which the company has been built. DCI has a rich and very compelling history born from the combination of great legacy companies over time. Our history matters greatly and defines who we are today and informs who and what we want the company to become.
As we celebrate Black History Month this month, we must consider it through the very same lens, a lens that suggests it is powerful to understand our past when building for our future and as it relates to DCI, assisting us with continuing to craft our corporate culture and DEI direction. Black History Month is essential for recognizing and celebrating the contributions and achievements of black individuals, fostering inclusivity, and promoting a more comprehensive understanding of our shared history.
We miss the boat and the ship sails without us all if we do not appreciate the shared nature of our histories. The histories of our legacy companies are shared in many facets, serving the same industry, operating in common regions of the world, combating common industry trends or global economic conditions. And the list goes on. It is no different when we consider black History month that history is shared as well. The more we can understand that journey and that history, the stronger we are and the more capable we become of building a compassionate, inclusive world, a compassionate and inclusive company.
Black History Month and this sentiment of shared history doesn’t end with February. We urge you to keep shared histories in mind throughout the year. We at DCI will do the same because this is exactly what gives us the strength to be excellent industry leaders and partners not just to our customers but our employees as well.
-Edie Reaves, Chief Transformation Officer – DCI
Bonus – DCI Honors Black History Month by Highlighting the many contributions by Black Americans to the Transportation Industry. Click each image below to learn more about these incredible entrepreneurs and inventors.
