Can I Say That? Dr. Poornima Luthra on Fear, DEI and Real Inclusion

This episode presents Dr. Poornima Luthra as an accomplished global expert on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), highlighting her role as Principal Lecturer in People, Culture, and Inclusion at Imperial College London, her award winning authorship, and her advisory work with leading international organizations. In this episode, she shares core insights from her book Can I Say That?: Your Go-To Guide for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, situating today’s DEI debates within a longer history of social movements and showing how contemporary backlash is deeply rooted in fear. Drawing on nearly two decades of research and teaching across Asia and Europe, she explains how five key fears of change, discomfort, vulnerability, inadequate progress, and being labelled, shape people’s reactions to DEI initiatives, often discouraging open engagement even among supporters. To move beyond polarization, she calls for a shift from debate to dialogue, encouraging curious, evidence seeking questions that create psychological safety and ensure more people feel heard rather than silenced. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. Disclaimer: 1. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. 2. Dr. Poornima Luthra shared key insights from her book, “Can I Say That?: Your go-to guide for diversity, equity and inclusion”, in an engaging episode of the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.