The power of positivity in diversity: a conversation with Sofi Musleh

Sofi Musleh, Head of DEI for LGBTQI and Gender at Novartis, spoke to myGwork about how working in diversity and inclusion can be difficult – but is always, ultimately, worth it for the moments of positivity it brings. She also shares some reading recommendations for those who want to make a positive impact on others.

Hi Sofi! To start with, could you tell us a bit about your career journey to date?

DEI has been a part of my life for 18 years now, and that is just counting the professional element of it. I graduated with a degree in Nursing, and as I worked in a large teaching hospital, I was lucky enough to be part of an inaugural team working on making the experience of families losing a loved one in a hospital setting a more inclusive and holistic one. We were called the Hospice Friendly Hospitals group, and the path from there was almost chosen for me. My life story and the experience of being born to refugee parents, growing up in the middle east, being a bereaved parent.. it all came together.

I moved from nursing into learning and development, and coaching. It is in that capacity that I started engaging with ERGs in my workplace. It was only around two years ago that I officially jumped into the world of DEI as a full time job, and I share that experience often as people tend to underestimate what they do when they volunteer in an ERG, but I genuinely believe in the power of volunteer work driving you forwards in your career journey.

What would you say is the most challenging aspect of managing people right now?

My role is a global one, and that means that I not only have to be conscious of the different geographies we operate in, but also stay on top of the news and what is happening in each of these countries as it affects our people and how we best serve them. Just recently, I was delighted to hear of Greece making same-sex marriage legal and allowing adoption rights to same sex couples. It is moments like these that keep my faith in the change that DEI can bring.

Don’t get me wrong, the majority of what we do in DEI is not necessarily uplifting, it is hard work that requires strategy, stakeholder engagement, challenging with humility and adapting your approaches to win hearts and minds, it can be draining… but every now and then, something really positive happens, and it all starts to make sense.

So, when it comes to the challenging part of managing all of the above, I think it ends up being those days when I am too involved in the details, or in someone’s resistance, that I fail to see the bigger picture or to connect with my why.

What was the last book you read? Do you have any interesting take-aways for fellow leaders?

I am one of those people who leave bookshops with a stack of 10 books and take 2 years to go back and read one of them! I love books, and collect them obsessively, yet my reading habits need improving. However, the last 4 books I read, that are worth recommending are as follows: - The Happiness Habit by Brian Colbert- great, easy to follow coaching guidelines for all coaches but also for anyone looking to make a positive improvement in their lives. - The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi- a difficult read for me, but an insightful and important book for anyone wanting to learn about Palestine. - The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright- I believe that Enright is one of the best authors Ireland ever had, and I love everything that she writes. - Bad Blood by John Carreyrou- I read this in the space of a day… one of the best books I read in 2023 and one that I recommend to everyone interested in the Theranos scandal.