Growing the Elephant: Increasing earned advantage for all

** Business Book Awards 2023 Finalist **

‘Amazing book: Clever, insightful, relevant, and actionable.’ Dave Ulrich

If you find discussions of inequality painful, aggravating, exhausting, or even scary, it’s time to explore the elephant.

Growing the Elephant is the story of Advantage - Earned and Unearned. Earned Advantage is the part of the Elephant we know. Work hard – get rewarded; form relationships – get opportunities. But while anyone can earn Advantage, some have more opportunity than others. That’s the story of Unearned Advantage.

Unearned Advantage is the part of the Elephant we avoid. It is so hard to talk or even think about that those with it ignore or deny it while those without it are exhausted or incensed by it.

Growing the Elephant is for anyone working to increase innovation, performance, and inclusion by building practices and mindset to meet and stay with what's difficult. It is for leaders and contributors at any level and those who help them build and sustain diversity, equity and inclusion.

A seasoned human resources executive, CHRIS ALTIZER, MBA, MA consults and coaches executives and lectures on business, management. and inclusive leadership. He has led teams and worked with senior leaders across industries around the globe. His research and work have been published in journals and covered by Forbes Magazine. Chris practices and teaches mindfulness, yoga, and martial arts.
GLORIA JOHNSON-CUSACK, MPA, is a servant leader and changemaker who consults to leadership teams and boards of public and private foundations committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in education, financial security, and health. She lectures at Columbia University and serves as Board Chair of the Firelight Foundation supporting communities in Africa. She holds degrees from American University and Columbia University.

Currently teaching at Florida International University, Chris Altizer, MBA, MA has led teams and worked with C-suite and senior leaders around the globe. He holds MBA and MAHRD degrees, has written extensively and published peer-reviewed research, and teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction®, yoga, and martial arts.

Gloria Johnson-Cusack, MPA, is a servant leader and changemaker who consults to leadership teams and boards of public and private foundations committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in education, financial security, and health. She lectures at Columbia University and serves as Board Chair of the Firelight Foundation supporting communities in Africa. She holds degrees from American University and Columbia University.