What Happened
Lenskart, the Indian eyewear company, published a detailed internal policy explicitly welcoming religious and cultural symbols at work. Bindis, tilaks, hijabs, turbans: all protected, all welcome. The company framed the policy around a specific identity claim: a brand built in India, for Indians, by Indians. This was not a quiet HR update. It was a public statement.
The Communication Angle
Lenskart did something most companies are afraid to do. They got specific. Most corporate inclusion policies are written in fog: "We respect diversity and celebrate our differences." Nobody believes that language anymore because it costs nothing to say. Lenskart named actual items. Actual practices. Actual communities. The moment you name something, you own it. Vague language protects the company. Specific language protects the people.
The identity anchor is the second smart move here. "Built in Bharat, by Indians, for Indians" is not a diversity disclaimer. It is a founding story, restated as policy. That sequence matters enormously. When you attach a rule to an origin story, the rule feels inevitable rather than imposed. Employees do not feel managed. They feel seen. There is a significant difference between those two experiences, and most leaders never learn to tell them apart.
The third layer is structural. Lenskart released "detailed" rules. Not a paragraph. Not a values statement. A detailed framework. This signals something critical: they thought it through. One of the fastest ways to lose credibility when communicating a sensitive policy is to leave obvious questions unanswered. When people have to guess, they fill the gaps with suspicion. Detailed documentation kills the guesswork. It says: we anticipated your concerns before you had to raise them.
Now here is my honest criticism. Going public with this policy is a communication choice that carries risk. It invites scrutiny. If any employee experiences friction over a bindi or a turban in practice, that public statement becomes evidence against the company, not for it. The boldness of the message raises the bar for execution. Most companies are not ready for that accountability. The ones who are ready earn enormous trust. The ones who are not ready earn a lawsuit and a viral thread. Lenskart has bet on being ready.
This is exactly the kind of scenario I break down in Say It Right Every Time. The chapter on anchoring your message to identity gives you a framework for connecting what you say to who your audience already believes themselves to be. That connection is what separates a message people remember from one they scroll past. Lenskart used it well. You can too.
Never Be Lost
for Words Again
Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.
Never Be Lost
for Words Again
Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.
Key Takeaway
Before you write or present any policy that touches culture, identity, or belonging, list every specific group or practice the policy is meant to cover, and name them explicitly in the document. If you cannot name them, you do not have a policy. You have a wish. Specificity is not just clarity: it is proof of commitment.
