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Diversity. Everyone’s talking about it. But why aren’t efforts paying off?
Why do even well-intended diversity efforts often fall short of expected outcomes – or do little more than to increase awareness? I hear that question a lot. It’s that very question that inspired me to write my most recent article. And it all starts with a metaphor on … trifocals. Curious? Take a few minutes out to read more.
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Have Diversity Efforts at Your Organization Hit a Snag?
I do not label myself an “expert” - but I’ve had decades of training and experience that have allowed me to develop best practices for creating equitable, socially just environments that actively promote diversity and inclusion. It wasn’t always that way. Earlier in my career as a college administrator and an organizational consultant I used to teach a wide variety of courses on various interpersonal skills - with little or no direct reference to the issues of equity and inclusion. Why am I sharing this with you? To show you that change is ALWAYS possible.
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Are You Doing All You Can to Infuse Equity and Inclusion?
Judge not by appearances. How many times have you heard that statement? As adults, many of us pat ourselves on the back because we truly believe we don’t judge. But come on, you know better. We’ve been groomed by our society, parents, teachers, and friends to do exactly that. It happens so quickly – and sometimes, so subtly – we don’t even realize we’re guilty of judging by appearances. Then we try and justify in our minds. Well, I didn’t really judge…it’s just that they’re so different from me. I didn’t mean anything by it. They just took it the wrong way. Can you relate? The Building Blocks of Equity…
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Creating Inclusion: How Ready is YOUR Organization for Change?
A critical exclusionary incident occurs in your organization. You react, try to smooth the situation over with an open forum or a training session on inclusion and diversity and resume your business-as-usual routine. Case closed. You breathe a sigh of relief. But not for those affected. Like waters that ripple endlessly when a stone skips through, waves of stinging emotions brew among those involved in the exclusionary episode. Can you relate? Diversity and Inclusion Cannot Be Accomplished Piecemeal Ignoring the situation solves nothing. Pretending it’s settled is absurd. The ingredients are in place and ready to ignite again when sparked. Learning to infuse equity and inclusion into everything we do…
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5 Conversation Starters to Help a Leader Buy-In to Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace
Creating a more inclusive work environment Q: What can you do if you are asked by your boss to create a more inclusive environment in your workplace, and while your boss is supportive, they just don’t fully buy in and don’t model the behaviors consistent with the environment that you’re trying to create? A: This is an ongoing conversation for future webinars, virtual institutes, and my Master Class for Inclusion Practitioners. Click here to learn more about this program and watch my events page to see what’s coming up next. Diversity in the workplace is paramount Have you been asked by a superior to organize a diversity initiative only to…
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Interrupt Racism, The White Way Is Not The Only Way
As we grew up, most of us didn’t realize we were being educated to believe white is right. I was socialized as a college administrator in predominantly white organizations that reinforced white cultural practices as the right way – the only way – to serve students. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees – I told myself I wasn’t racist! I didn’t realize I was perpetuating the very system I was fighting against. It never occurred to me that the dances I coordinated or the training I designed and facilitated did not address the needs and issues of students of color. I simply perpetuated ideas and approaches that privileged whites had…
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Can you spot microaggressions around you?
“You have a Master’s degree…really?” asks your co-worker incredulously as she is speaking with a colleague of color. Maybe you’ve uttered (or thought) a similar statement to a person of color, not intending to hurt them, but attempting – in your own racist way – to pay them a roundabout compliment? Intended or not, you’re guilty of microaggressions – a snub or insult directed at a marginalized group member that communicates hostile, derogatory or negative messages. I can hear you protest rather loudly: But I didn’t mean it that way! Maybe not. Society and our environment has groomed us to believe comments like this are acceptable. And if the person…
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Microaggressions: Sounds Small But Hurts Big
You read the word “micro” and you may immediately judge that it must be something small. It may sound like nothing, but its impact is SOMETHING. Microagressions is a term Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce originated in 1970 to name the insults he witnessed that were doled out regularly upon African Americans by those who were not black – in particular, by whites. As the old saying goes: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Decades have passed since then, but we’re still faced with microagressions and may not even realize it. It’s those everyday messages that come in the form of verbal or nonverbal slights,…
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So You Were Called Racist. Now What?
When I was called racist, I felt shattered…confused, ashamed, incompetent… Me? I mean, really. Focusing solely on my own experiences of marginalization as a woman and as a lesbian, I believed I didn’t – couldn’t – have a racist bone in my body. But the problem? Many of us are trained to have racist beliefs and attitudes. It’s as if we’re born a white slate – and everyone writes upon it. Good, bad, ugly. We think because we don’t speak racial slurs or utter comments that are outwardly offensive, we’re not racist. But we may think them – even if we never say a word. Racism can be very subtle,…
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Can You Recognize Your Own Racist Beliefs?
Change Starts With Recognizing Your Own Racism Ever heard of the Harvard Implicit Bias Test? Years ago, a colleague urged me to take the test. When the results indicated I had negative prejudices towards African Americans, my ego roared out NO WAY! Me? So I did what most people would do: I critiqued the methodology of the test. There was something wrong with the test – certainly NOT ME. Truth is, we all need to get real with ourselves, to stop making excuses or casting blame. So often we put ourselves up on a pedestal, linking racism to an outdated image of a Confederate-flag-flying, gun-toting KKK member. The inner dialogue…
