Page published on 20th June 2024
Page last modified on
Allyship is an activity, not an identity. It isn’t always easy and sometimes it will take us outside our comfort zones. In a recent IP Inclusive event, we provided reassurance, inspiration and plenty of practical guidance for people who aspire to be better allies.
This year IP Inclusive’s focus has been on Allyship and our regional networks. To this end we have been developing an idea of an IP Inclusive Roadshow, a series of hybrid events around the country, all focusing on allyship, but with each event pairing with a different community to give a unique aspect. Our 23 April 2024 event, “Help! How do I start a conversation on EDI?”, aimed to kickstart the project with an inspiring keynote speech from Trainee Patent Attorney Holly Redman, and a panel featuring representatives from all our communities. You can read more about the panel part of the event in a future blog post. We were kindly hosted by Mills and Reeve at their Cambridge office, and Appleyard Lees contributed to the refreshments.
Holly has been a trainee patent attorney at Appleyard Lees for only a year, but is already actively leading conversations around EDI and shared with us her advice on how to take those steps to becoming an active ally.
Conversations about EDI are really important, but there is often a discrepancy between our intentions and our actions. This can be due to a lack of confidence; we ask ourselves, what if no one shows up, or what if we say the wrong thing. Holly referred to the work of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who talks about “Making room for discomfort” when talking about diversity. In practical terms this means allowing the space for questions that are asked because people do not know the answer or that the questions are rude. We need to move through discomfort to arrive at a better place, and being too uncomfortable is an easy cop out.
Learn
To work through this discomfort you need to be motivated, so start by asking yourself why you want to start a conversation about EDI. For example, Holly spoke of her strong sense of fairness, anger at how other people are treated, and wanting to help others. One purpose of having conversations about EDI is to learn about your own prejudices and deconstruct them. Being open to learning and growth is key to being an ally. Holly gave examples of how to get the conversation going: you could present a fact you have heard and ask what colleagues think about it; or you could describe a discriminatory situation you have heard of and express your hope they haven’t experienced anything like that. That gives them the opportunity to open up, or to divert the conversation if they are not prepared to talk about it.
Making mistakes
You will likely make mistakes when engaging in allyship, but be prepared to learn and keep trying. Common mistakes include:
- Using ally as an identity marker – ally is not an identity, but allyship is a continuous journey. You need to be active in your allyship.
- Challenge bias – even when no one is watching
- Speaking on behalf of people
- Give individuals the space to express what they want – if that is what they want
- Using the incorrect terminology that may offend people
- Acknowledge the mistake, apologise, learn from it, use the correct terms in the future.
Taking action
Once you have thought about your motivations, and learnt from yourself and others, you can start to take actions that inform others and give people at work the space to be themselves. Action can be at many levels: adding pronouns to your Zoom call can open a discussion about the different ways people may identify; other small actions could be supporting colleagues’ actions or being curious about religious festivals; larger actions could be organising events such as webinars or walks, or even writing articles.
Support
Seeking support is vital as an ally, as it can keep you motivated, inspire and educate you. Holly suggested looking for like-minded people at EDI focused events, speaking to an EDI committee, and asking colleagues for feedback.
Summary
EDI conversations can be hard, but it is so important to work through the discomfort to get us all to a better place. Even the smallest actions can have a positive effect, so start small and work up to bigger actions. Mistakes will be made but learn from them and become a better ally.
You can see a recording of the webinar below.
You may also be interested in our Allyship playlist on YouTube, which features recordings of all our allyship focussed events.