Employees with disabilities and long-term conditions live rich and varied lives. 

We contribute to the success of our organisations and, as we demonstrated last year in our Purple Tax Impact report (in partnership with KPMG), we add more to our economies than we take.

Yet, many media stories would have us believe the opposite. They often focus on the negative aspects of our lives such as lack of employment, lack of good health care or the rise of hate crime.

In her latest book, ‘Positively Purple’, PurpleSpace founder and CEO Kate Nash calls the constant barrage of negative information that is churned out about our lives, ‘Mis-Dis-information’. 

Go into any social media feed and prepare to feel gloomy within seconds. 

The prevalence and ease of Mis-Dis-information presents a challenge for disability ERG/Network leaders that want to build a positive and more realistic narrative about managing disability and work.

Disability ERG/Network leaders increasingly understand that the method of driving change via bad news stories is no longer helpful and a significant barrier to future change. 

Bad news doesn’t paint new pictures about what can be done or offer practical advice to genuine allies about how to build a better working world.

Bad news can perpetuate myths and untruths about the full texture of our lives. 

It encourages apathy and inaction and reduces hope and direction to those who acquire a disability and are trying to make sense of a new future.

How can disability ERG/Network leaders help allies learn to ignore some of the unhelpful information that is churned out about our lives?

The answer is in creating a more nuanced, realistic and ultimately positive narrative about our lives and experiences at work. 

Peer Leadership Roundtables

One of the most valuable aspects of PurpleSpace membership is the opportunity to build your leadership capacity via quality conversation with other disability ERG/Network leaders.

Each month we convene groups of disability ERG/Network leaders to stimulate discussion on the issues that matter most to our members.

Connect with your peers during these interactive one-hour sessions for disability ERG/Network leaders. These sessions are a great way to share good practice and challenges, swap ideas and build your ERG/Network leadership capacity. 

We have two sessions to choose from to explore how to lead with positivity:

• 6 April 08:00 – 09:00 GMT (19:00 – 20:00 ACT)

• 19 April 16:00 – 17:00 GMT (11:00 – 12:00 AST)

Resources and Recommendations 

Tap into our Networkology know-how and check out some of the external learning that links into this month’s leadership lesson: 

• Virtually Purple – Our resource to support ERGs/Networks to ‘brand’ disability via social media. Take control of the messages to steer beyond Mis-Dis information.
• Increasing Participation and Engagement - This resource helps you to formulate a plan to keep your ERG/Network thriving and recognise the role you play as an engaging hub for disabled people and their allies
• I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much – Late Australian comedian and journalist, Stella Young