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Belonging as a Behaviour
Daniel Dixon
April 16, 2025
What Belonging Really Means in 2025The term belonging has had a rough year. Budgets have been cut. DEIB roles dissolved. Conversations softened into vague commitments. But despite all that, the human need for belonging hasn’t disappeared, it’s deepened. This week, we’re asking: what does belonging really look like now?Not as a value statement or initiative, but as a lived experience, felt in team calls, messages, and micro-moments of work life. |  |
It Still Drives Everything
When people feel like they don’t belong, they:
Overwork to prove themselves
Avoid speaking up
Start disengaging quietly
When they do feel they belong, they:
Contribute ideas
Ask for help
Show up more fully, and stay
Belonging doesn’t live in posters or platitudes.
It lives in everyday behaviours.
One Behaviour That Builds Belonging
Next time you start a meeting, try this:
“Before we dive in, I’d love to hear one word from each of you on how you’re arriving today.”
It sounds simple, but it’s a small action that signals: You matter here.
This small habit humanises interaction, encourages openness, and helps create the kind of space where people feel seen, whether they’re leading or listening, in-person or remote.
Small moments. Big impact.
Everyday Belonging: Beyond Buzzwords
Belonging isn’t about whether someone fits in.
It’s about whether they feel safe not to.
It shows up in moments like:
Being heard without interruption
Feeling safe to say, “I’m not sure”
Knowing your difference won’t be held against you
These aren’t grand initiatives. They’re behavioural signals. And over time, they shape how people experience the culture, whether they feel invited in, or left out.
But belonging isn’t experienced the same way by everyone.
For someone who is racialised, queer, neurodivergent, disabled, or navigating the workplace at the intersection of several of these identities, the stakes are often higher.
What helps one person feel included may leave someone else feeling unseen.
That’s why we bring an intersectional lens to our Everyday Belonging work. Because without it, we risk designing cultures that feel inclusive in theory, but only for some.
The most effective teams don’t just talk about inclusion. They practice it. In meetings, in messages, in micro-moments that signal: You’re safe here. You matter here.
“Belonging isn’t something you wait for, it’s something we make possible for each other.”
👉 Want to explore these ideas with others?
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