Reconstructing Inclusion S3E15: What Was My Cause in the Matter? Reflections on Dr. Jason Arday

Welcome to Season Three of Reconstructing Inclusion!

A mentor once told me, "It is difficult for people to be honest." I thought he meant my business partners. He meant me. A reflection on Jason Arday, mirror holders, and what happens when someone feels they matter too much.

In this solo episode, Amri looks back at an article he wrote about Dr. Jason Arday, the youngest Black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge. He explore why a chorus of support is not the same as a mirror holder, what integrity means when you treat it as integration, and why feeling you matter too much can be its own kind of weight.

[00:01:00] - The Atlanta airport story: "It is difficult for people to be honest"

[00:03:00] - Building the habit of facing your cause in the matter, and why I wrote about Jason Arday

[00:04:00] - My father, the mortician, and a family code of integrity, dignity, and compassion

[00:06:00] - Roland Fryer, Claudine Gay, and Jason Arday: three public intellectuals under scrutiny

[00:07:00] - A choir versus a mirror holder, and integrity as integration

[00:09:00] - Did Arday come to feel he mattered too much?

[00:10:00] - Flett, Nepon, and Scott on mattering, and the gap between assigned and felt value

[00:11:00] - Scrutiny, bad faith critics, and why both things can be true

[00:14:00] - Cracks, anti-fragility, and truth as the bonding agent

[00:15:00] - What was my cause in the matter?

Standout Quotes:

"Enlightenment begins with the acceptance of all realities." [00:05:00]

"What wasn't front and center was a mirror holder, someone who helps you see your cause in the matter, your agency and what advances your growth and what hinders it." [00:07:00]

"The gap between the values others assign you and the value you feel able to deliver may be its own kind of boulder, its own kind of weight." [00:10:00]

Resources:The Anti-Mattering Scale Versus the General Mattering Scale in Pathological Narcissism by Gordon Flett, Taryn Nepon, and Xena Scott

Debating a Race Realist on IQ | The Glenn Show: the episode where Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discussed Nathan Cofnas’ role in Arday’s story.

---------------If this episode resonated, the Mattering and Performance Audit is where the diagnostic work begins. Find out where trust, contribution, and significance are cracking before it shows up in your organization. Explore the audit: https://www.inclusionwins.com/mattering-and-performance-audit

#Inclusion #Mattering #Leadership #Diversity #FutureofWork #AI #Belonging #DEI #ERGs #Trust

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