Excellence Without Exclusion
3 Keys for Leading a Diverse Workforce
Workplace and campus culture expert Dr. Dionne Wright Poulton sets the politics aside and gives leaders a practical plan for workplaces and campuses where everyone feels respected. She’s a former Organizational Ombuds, HR Executive, VP/Chief Diversity Officer, and Head of Organizational Learning and Development with nearly 30 years in this work. She isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers and say what needs to be said.
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The shouting match over DEI didn’t change what the law requires
Companies rushed to hire diversity officers in 2020, and by 2024 many of them had cut those roles or quietly renamed the work. The law didn’t move. Leaders are still responsible for keeping discrimination and harassment out of their workplaces, whatever they decide to call the program.
Dr. Dionne believes in DEI, and she’s also watched it go wrong. She’s worked for leaders who championed diversity in public and bullied people behind closed doors, and she’s cleaned up after consultants whose main qualification was that they cared. In this book she makes a common-sense case for doing the work properly, and she holds everyone to the same standard, including her own profession.
If you’re facing a culture problem at work or on campus right now, schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
“We have moved from decency to incivility, excellence to exclusion, and integrity to idiocy.”
DR. DIONNE WRIGHT POULTON, EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCLUSION
Seven chapters built on three keys
Dr. Dionne tells stories from her own career throughout the book, and each chapter ends with something you can try with your team this week.
D
Decency
Everyone at work knows they matter, whatever their background.
Chapter 1: Why DEI Still Matters
Chapter 2: From Civil Rights to Corporate Strategy
You’ll meet the professor who asked “Who are you?” twice and learn what termites have to do with diversity officers.
E
Excellence
Leaders hire and promote on merit, using a fair process.
Chapter 3: DEI: Rebranded But Not Removed
Chapter 4: Striving for Excellence
You’ll follow Raymond and his son Joey on vacation and find out what a wobbly restaurant table suggests about reverse discrimination.
I
Integrity
The organization shuts down bullying and discrimination and holds everyone to the same rules, leaders included.
Chapter 5: The Rise of Cancel Culture
Chapter 6: The Value of DEI Remains
Chapter 7: Three Keys for Leading a Diverse Workforce
Dr. Dionne walks through case studies from Wells Fargo to Michigan State and asks, “What do you do in the small moments when no one’s watching?”
Praise for Excellence Without Exclusion
“Dionne takes a topic that can often become complicated or divisive and brings it back to three straightforward principles: decency, excellence, and integrity. Rather than relying on buzzwords, she focuses on what leaders can actually do to create workplaces where people feel respected, valued, and included. Well written, timely, and worth the read.”
J. Soleil
“We don’t usually lose workplace culture all at once. It erodes quietly. Excellence Without Exclusion moves beyond surface-level conversations into something more foundational: culture as an expression of values in action. It offers more than answers. It offers questions worth carrying.”
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Dr. Dionne
She helps people get past surface-level conversations and build real connections across their differences.
Dr. Dionne Wright Poulton is an award-winning workplace and campus culture expert and author who has taught and consulted for nearly 30 years. She began as a classroom teacher and later turned her doctoral research on unconscious bias into training programs used everywhere from school districts and universities, to Fortune 500 companies.
Today, Dr. Dionne helps people move beyond surface-level conversations, identify what they have in common, and connect across their differences. She works with organizations to build cultures where people do their best work and want to stay, and she trains employees and leaders to spot workplace bullying and stop it early.