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1st Quarter 2006

Considering Change

A professional associate recently explained her own newsletter lapse by announcing publication of her new book. Perhaps you noticed that you did not receive a 4th quarter issue of this newsletter, BE THE CHANGE, either.  However, I have no such announcement. While I am excited to be in the first phases of a book collaboration (more on that as it develops), this and other opportunities may have been the result of hiatus, rather than the cause. To make change, we must first make space.

There are often parallels between business growth and personal growth. The past year was a good one and we thank YOU, our friends, colleagues, customers and referral sources, for making it so. Last fall, we completed some big business projects.  At the same time on the personal front, I sent my first-born to college and my last–born to high school.  Fourth quarter 2005 became a time of simultaneous focus both on new work opportunities and on “house-cleaning”—of projects and times past. 

When we clean our “houses”—professional and personal, factual and figurative—we literally make space.  We evaluate, we organize and we toss.

• Evaluation means “taking stock”—what do we have, what do we need and what do we want?
• Organizing allows us to hold on to the things of continuing value, whether it’s by filing (storing information for easy use at another time) or framing (holding up accomplishments, milestones or memories to inspire and affirm). 
• And tossing—letting go of those things that either we don’t use, have outgrown or have proved ineffective—makes space for growth and change.

To create positive change, we must make space for new things. As my calendar turned to 2006, I found things unfolding into space I created as if I’d actually made New Year’s resolutions with a commitment to keep them! In business, we have new keynotes, trainings and service packages. Then, there’s that book. Personally, I added a piano class! 

Diversity leaders are catalysts for change. The turning of the calendar marked one of many opportunities for change. Spring cleaning might be next.  When do you evaluate your diversity progress? How do you organize, file and frame accomplishments? And what will you toss (or simply let go of) to make room for new growth—in your company and in your own life?

Write and let us know how you are making room for new diversity growth in 2006!

Diversity Matters

No one does the “stupid stuff” anymore, noted Stephen Young in a D.C. speech a few years ago.  Young, then vice president of global diversity at JP Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, said it’s not the “macro” messages—the overt comments or inappropriate actions—that stymie organizational diversity efforts.  It’s the “micro” messages that do us in. 

Some might say that the “stupid stuff” has been on the rise since Young made those remarks; however, no one can deny the impact of more subtle forms of communication.   

Micro-messages are defined by Mary Rowe at MIT as “apparently small events which are often ephemeral and hard-to-prove; events which are covert, often unintentional, and frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator"  (SHRM HR News, Jan. 2002).  The average 10-minute conversation between two people contains somewhere around 140 micro-messages. These micro-messages include things like body language—non-verbal and postural cues—or the quality of eye-contact and attentiveness. They might include word choice or inflection.  This kind of communication is often sub- or semi-conscious.

Culture shapes the way we communicate. Because subtle cues may differ between cultures and because we take them for granted, the potential for simple miscommunication in intercultural interactions may be greater.  But when persistent micro-messages devalue, discourage or otherwise diminish a person or group, they become micro-inequities—subtle discrimination that Rowe called “now the principal scaffolding for segregation in the United States.” 

Young likened the effects of long-term micro-inequities on employees to the old analogy of boiling a frog.  (If you put a frog in boiling water, it immediately jumps out.  If you put a frog in cold water and slowly raise the heat, the frog doesn’t detect the temperature change and boils to death.)  People on the receiving end of micro-inequities, said Young, are being slowly boiled to death.  One Colorado employee, who ultimately filed suit against his former employer, likened the process to “death by a thousand small cuts”.

Micro-inequities are not limited to what some call “primary” or “the basics”:  race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability and sexual orientation. They can occur for almost every dimension of diversity, from personality or communication style to work role and function. They can also intrude on organizational diversity efforts themselves. Subtle messages about the relative merit of diversity projects or toward those involved in diversity implementation can do damage.  So can micro-messages from diversity proponents about who is and isn’t included in definitions of diversity.

Small stuff is best addressed just like the big stuff.  Call attention to behavior in question—non-defensively.  Ask polite questions about meaning and intent.  Include micro-messages and intercultural communication in awareness and skills training.  And set clear expectations about workplace behavior, macro and micro. The goal is congruence. Commitment to diversity goals must be seamless, from the most subtle interpersonal micro-messages to the most obvious leadership accountabilities, communication strategies and organizational policies. 

Even in the face of the “stupid stuff”, small can work to an advantage.  Subtle actions allow us to validate, encourage or educate others in being more inclusive.  Just as micro-inequities act as “small cuts”, micro-inclusions can act as drips of water on stone.  They can erode the most calcified organizational barriers and add power to your efforts for positive change.

Best Practices

A successful friend and colleague speaks, writes, consults and trains in the communications business. Diversity is not her field. She rarely uses the word. Yet here are some of the “small” things she uses to align her business with inclusive practices. She: 

• Greets and talks to people equitably, no matter what their role or position;
• Uses stories that highlight diverse subjects;
• Illustrates points with examples that reflect a wide variety of individuals and issues;
• Quotes diverse leaders;
• Acknowledges everyone in her audience and customer base;
• Chooses culturally sensitive and inclusive language when she writes and speaks.

Perhaps most important of all, however, is that my friend asks for input when she wants to communicate cross-culturally with groups or on subjects with which she has less exposure. She then uses the input she gets to make course corrections that boost her effectiveness. She knows that subtle mistakes could hurt her business, where inclusive micro-messages improve her ability to get her messages and products to market.  

Transformation Tip

REACH OUT

Look for new ways to connect—formal and informal!  Networking with people who vary in age, race, gender, ability, background, skills and in other ways adds to your understanding as well as to your visibility. Attend an event that stretches you culturally. Schedule time with new people. Join a professional or community group that broadens your contacts—and contribute your time and talent. 

Q & A

Q:  We had so many of those discussions about “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” at our office.  No matter how much we talked about it, it seems like people just didn’t get it.  What is so difficult about people being polite to one another?  And when I’d talk about it, they’d get angry!  They would tell me I was just being PC and to get over it!  What can you say to people when they get into that space?  Do you just drop it?

A:  I’m very glad that we’re not dropping it just because the holiday season is past.  It can’t hurt to revisit these issues when we’re out of the heat of the season.  Maybe it would help to talk about the insidious nature of prejudice. 

Psychologist Alfred Adler recognized the importance of language many years ago when he described a multi-stage continuum of prejudice.  The first stage in Adler’s model is “avoidance” where we simply distance ourselves from those who are different.  Stage two involves language, jokes and slurs—where it becomes socially acceptable to separate “them” from “us” and to denigrate with words.  From there, societies move to stage three, discrimination—legitimized bias and institutionalized inequalities— and then to stages four (violence and attacks) and five (genocide). 

Nazi Germany is often used as an example of how a society moves along this continuum.  We see the same pattern in the history of Native Americans, African Americans and others in the U.S. as well as in ethnic conflicts all over the world: Bosnia/Serbia, Iraq and Rwanda, to name but a few.   

Adler’s model offers a compelling reason to choose the words we use with care.  It also suggests that the concept of “political correctness” is of very limited value—we might do well to drop that label entirely from our vocabulary!  Ask instead what someone means when they use the "PC" term.

At a recent MLK commemoration, one speaker said:  “Christians are being denied our basic rights—we’re being told not to be who we are!  Dr. King was a Christian and we affirm his teachings when we publicly affirm our commitment to Jesus Christ.”  Despite the deeper wisdom of the speaker’s other comments, this theme seemed like a perilous carryover from the holiday cry:  "They're telling me I can't celebrate Christmas!"  It simply isn't so.

Language is the tool by which we shape opinion, attitude and thought.  Language is the means by which we spur ourselves and others to action.  It can be used for a greater good—or not.  Language that paints the majority as victim of a minority in this way has a disturbing impact. Diversity leadership requires us to both evaluate and influence the language of public and workplace discourse.  So keep the conversation going!

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."                

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Strength to Love, 1963

Send your questions and comments to: info@bethechange.biz.

Leader Learning

Diversity leadership requires continually learning.  Check out these opportunities and resources: 

Upcoming events and items of note

Hear Jody speak:

February 15, 2006. Using Diversity to Strengthen Your Business.  2006 kickoff of the Van Gilder Breakfast Club!  8 AM. 24 S. Weber Street, Suite 200.  RSVP to Scott Stafford at Van Gilder.  More...

March 20, 2006. Better Angels:  Diversity Leadership for the 21st Century.  Big changes in our workforce and communities offer big opportunities, yet we face divides of historic proportions... Zonta International.  More...

Participate in the community:

February 4 and 7, 2006.  Soul of the West: Tribute to the African American Cavalry Campaign in the American West.  Black Film Festival (2/4) and opening reception (2/7). ProRodeo Hall of Fame.  719.528.4764.   More...

February 9 through February 24, 2006.  Visions:  A Tribute to August Wilson.   Presented by the Shadow Theatre Company in honor of Black History Month at the Cable Center in Denver.  303.837.9355.  More...

March 11, 2006.  Children of Uganda. 20 children, aged 8 to 18, each of whom have lost a parent (often both) to AIDS or war, perform with quicksilver movements, powerful drums, lyric flutes and songs of joy and hope to raise funds for fellow orphans at home.  Children of Uganda confirm the transformative power of art and demonstrate the importance of sharing culture across generations and borders...  Newman Center for the Performing Arts:  Gates Concert Hall.  303.871.7720.  More...

Congratulations to Booz, Allen, Hamilton and Memorial Hospital, winners of the 2005 Pikes Peak Coalition of Chambers Diversity Awards.

The Nigerian Women’s Association of Colorado is selling their 2005-2006 Cultural Calendar for $25. Proceeds to go to HIV and breast cancer assistance and support for orphans. Contact Tessy at Omaego African Shop: 720.364.0102.

If you have an Africa-related event in Colorado that you would like to promote, please send details to events@africacentre.org.  Thanks to Marvin Adams at Colorado Springs School District Eleven for this update.

More Local Events:

http://www.coloradocollege.edu/library/Instruction/BlackHistory

Links

February is Black History Month.  Women's History Month is March.  These and other observances increase our awareness of different contributions made by groups whose histories have often been "invisible" in texts and common knowledge. 

With access provided by the web, there is no reason to limit your learning to one group, one month at a time!  Check out these new links for more info.  (Cut and paste into your browser.) And always, go beyond the internet to real interaction with others in your workplace, school and community.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/index.htm

http://www.historychannel.com/blackhistory/

http://www.nwhp.org/

http://www.internews.org/activities/gender_issues/gender_issues.htm

Photo Essay:
http://www.internews.org/activities/gender_issues/wday2005/frame0001.htm

Recommended Readings

Edward R Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism by Bob Edwards. 2004. Besides telling the story of this trailblazing investigative journalist (most recently celebrated in the film, “Good Night and Good Luck"), Edwards reminds us of the critical role of substantive, well-researched news and of the constant tension between journalistic integrity and corporate profit.

Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall.  This searing 1994 memoir serves as a powerful entrée to discussion on the experience of young black men in the United States.  In a more recent interview, author McCall, formerly a Washington Post journalist and now professor of journalism and African-American studies at Emory University, and Harry Edwards, professor emeritus of sociology at CU Berkeley, reflect on the issues: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4966879.

More...

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