A new book by Tim Terrentine with Heather Baker
Inclusion needs more than a slogan. It needs
SOMEBODINESS STANDARDS
44 Commitments for Leaders Ready to Build Cultures Where Everybody Is Somebody
Why inclusion needs standards, not slogans
— SHRM HR Daily Headline, July 23, 2026
We wrote an answer. They put it in their subject line.
You can tell within minutes of walking into a room whether you matter there.
Everybody feels it. Most of us never say it out loud. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a word for what we're all hoping to find: Somebodiness.
This book takes that word and makes it something you can practice. Not a poster for the breakroom wall. Forty-four commitments for how you carry yourself, how you treat people, how you use the influence you have, and what you build with others.
It's a human book. Not a corporate one, and not tied to any movement or moment. If you're tired of the conversation about people being complicated, politicized, and exhausting, and you want something you can use tomorrow morning, you're in the right place.
This book is not written from the mountaintop. It's written from the road.
— Tim Terrentine, Author of Somebodiness Standards &
Founder and Chief Translator at Translator’s Consulting Group
Built the way leadership actually works:
from the inside out.
The book starts with you, then widens to the people around you, the power you hold, the lines you draw, and the community you build together. Here is one commitment from each of the five sections.
SELF
How I Stand
My Worth Is Not Up for Negotiation
SELF & OTHER
How I Move With People
Listening Is an Act of Dignity
POWER & POSITION
How I Handle Influence
If I Want the Truth; I Have to Make It Safe to Tell Me
BOUNDARIES & COURAGE
How I Hold the Line
What I Tolerate Teachers Others to Behave
COMMUNITY & BECOMING
How We Build Together
Leadership Is About Building Tables, Not Platforms
Every commitment comes with a real story, a Make It Real section to put it into practice, and a Reflect question to carry into your week. Read it straight through, or open to the one you need today.
18
downloadable tools are included with the book for you to use by yourself and with your team
This is more than a book.
Reading about dignity is a start. Practicing it is the point. That's why your copy comes with access to 18 downloadable tools, placed right where you'll need them.
Finish a chapter
Each tool sits right after the commitment it supports
Scan the QR code
The tool downloads straight to your phone or computer.
Put it to work the same day
On your own, in a one-on-one, or with your whole team.
Meet Tim Terrentine
Tim is the founder and Chief Translator of Translator's Consulting Group in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has spent years in rooms with people trying to lead well, work well, and live well together. These standards came out of those rooms, from his own hard lessons and from the coaches, mentors, scholars, and leaders who shared what they'd learned.
He'll be the first to tell you he isn't a perfect example of any of it. The standards aren't a report card. They're a map of where he's trying to go, and an open invitation for you to come along.
Written with Heather Baker
Reading it together changes the conversation.
Bulk orders are available for leadership teams, cohorts, classrooms, and conferences.
isn't a destination you arrive at. It's a direction you keep choosing.
This book helps you choose it on purpose.
Use code SOMEBODY to get your copy for $25 through November 27, 2026.
Paperback available November 1.