Module 1 of 6
Awareness in everyday leadership
Awareness is element 1 of the Equity in Action Model: understand how assumptions, experiences, and organizational patterns influence decisions. This module from Equity in Action Practice gives you four decision moments, a five-step practice, and one exercise to try this week.
Last updated: November 2026 · Published by CRW Diversity
What does awareness mean for a manager practicing equity?
Awareness means noticing how your assumptions, your own experiences, and the patterns of your organization are steering a decision while you are making it. In the Equity in Action Model it is the first element because every other element depends on seeing the decision clearly first.
Why awareness matters
Awareness is not a feeling of being informed. It is a habit of pausing at the moments that shape people’s work: who gets the stretch project, whose idea gets airtime, how “ready” gets defined. Most of these moments feel routine, which is exactly why patterns form inside them.
Where awarenessshows up in a manager's week
Staffing a project
Do you default to the person you have worked with longest?
Reading a meeting
Whose silence do you read as disengagement, and whose as focus?
Describing potential
Which words do you use for some people and not for others?
Following the norm
Which unwritten rules on your team were never actually decided?
The five-step practice
Use your own recent decisions as the material. Most managers can complete these steps within one or two weeks of normal work.
- 1Pick one recurring decision you make, such as assigning work or choosing who presents.
- 2Write down the last three times you made it and who benefited each time.
- 3Name the assumption that made each choice feel obvious.
- 4Ask one colleague how they would have decided, and note any difference.
- 5Change one input next time, such as widening the list of names you consider.
Reflection questions
- Which of my decisions this month felt automatic?
- Where did my own career experience shape what I expect of others?
- What pattern would a new team member notice that I no longer see?
Try this week
Before your next assignment decision, list every person who could do the work, not just the first name that comes to mind. Then decide.
For senior executives
For executives, awareness scales up: which organizational patterns, such as who gets visible roles or how performance language is used, repeat across many managers at once?
Read the executive guideOther modules
- 01AwarenessUnderstand how assumptions, experiences, and organizational patterns influence decisions.
- 02AccessExamine who has access to information, opportunities, relationships, and resources.
- 03AdvocacyUse your influence to ensure talent, ideas, and perspectives aren’t overlooked.
- 04ActionTurn awareness and good intentions into deliberate leadership decisions.
- 05AccountabilityLook beyond intentions and pay attention to outcomes.
- 06EmpowermentCreate the conditions for people to contribute, grow, and use their voices.
Common questions
See all questions in the Equity in Action FAQ- What is the Equity in Action Model?
- The Equity in Action Model is a practical framework from Celeste Warren of CRW Diversity that helps leaders examine how their decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape people’s experiences and opportunities. It has six elements: Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment. Each element turns a principle into a daily leadership habit.
- What are the six elements of Equity in Action?
- The six elements are Awareness (how assumptions shape decisions), Access (who gets information and opportunities), Advocacy (using influence so talent is not overlooked), Action (turning intentions into decisions), Accountability (paying attention to outcomes), and Empowerment (creating conditions for people to contribute and use their voices). Each has its own module on this site.
- What is an example of equity in action?
- A simple example of equity in action is a manager who announces a stretch assignment to the whole team with clear criteria, instead of offering it quietly to the person they know best. The change is small, but it widens access to information and opportunity, two areas the Equity in Action Model asks leaders to examine.
- Where should a manager start with Equity in Action?
- Start with Awareness, the first element, because the other five depend on seeing your own decisions clearly. Then move to Access, which gives you a concrete grid to complete for your team. After that, the modules can be taken in order or chosen based on the decision you most want to improve.
- How long does each module take?
- Each free module on this site is designed to be read in a few minutes and applied the same week. Every module includes a short explanation, four decision moments, a five-step practice, reflection questions, and one exercise to try this week. Reading time depends on how much time you spend on the reflection questions.
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