Should We Be teaching New Dogs Old Tricks?

Two summers ago I decided that it was time for my oldest son to get a job. He was 17 years old at the time, and I felt it was time for him to begin learning what it feels like to actually earn his own money. Plus, I was having no parts of him sitting around the house all summer playing video games or asking me and his mom for money to go hang out with his friends. I myself had been working since age 15 and remembered how much I had looked forward to the day that I could get a job, so this should be a piece of cake. However, my son and I are different, and I (like most parents I know) had done a pretty good job of helping him develop a sense of entitlement that it was time to retire. Therefore, I knew that this was not going to be an easy conversation, but I was not backing down for a second.

As I made my announcement to my son, I got the usual slumped shoulders and deep sighs of disappointment, but I had learned to easily deflect them with a pretty stern look. Then, he hit me with this: “it will be impossible to find a job because my friends told me that businesses around here are not hiring high school kids”. I deflected again. I then told him to get dressed. We were going out to the mall and he was going to go to every store, ask for the Manager or person otherwise in charge, introduce himself and ask if they were currently hiring new talent. If the answer was yes, he was to politely ask for an application for employment that he would complete on the spot. If the answer was no, he was to keep it moving. He was going to follow the same time-honored process I had used successfully without fail over two decades ago. I knew better than to drop him off alone, so I waited for him to finish the deed and report how many applications he had completed. After four attempts, I found a pattern that I wasn’t prepared for and had not considered. Every one of the stores told him that they did not have printed applications, and if he were interested, he needed to apply online. This went on for three or four more stores. I then ended his misery and we left.

That got me to thinking about how the game has changed, and the impact that new technology, cultures and techniques have on the things that we have been doing forever. For my son, if successful finding a job, the new and the old would have to collide in some way. He would find and apply for the job electronically, but he would have to get the job offer the old fashion way….by interviewing in person with someone. I’m pretty tech-savvy (I can text, friend and tweet with the best of them), but as far as I know, there is no technological substitute for eye contact, a firm handshake and a friendly smile (emoticons don’t count). But, I’m also thinking that that’s a very small part of what the future will soon look like. The way we work is changing every day, and although there are some traditional tools and techniques that still hold success, we probably need to view many of them as perishable.

This entire experience also got me to thinking about the cultural diversity associated with the multiple generations in the workplace and how organizations need to really be sensitive about how different generations have to adapt differently. Most of the information about generation diversity that I have seen and read is about it being four generations in the workplace: The Traditionals (born 1930-1945), The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1977) and Generation Y or Millennials (born 1978 – 1990).  However, if “Traditionals” are indeed still in the workplace, and some are, then there is fifth generation that is emerging. That generation is comprised of people born after 1990. Since the legal working age in most states is 16 years old, then anyone born from 1990 – 1994 would now comprise this new workforce generation. There have been some attempts to name this generation, such as Generation 2020 and Generation 9/11, but I don’t think an official moniker has been decided. With that being said, what “old tricks” do we need to help preserve for the generations in the workplace that will be dominant for the foreseeable future, or is everything up for renewal?  

While to good old “9-5” schedule is quickly becoming a thing of the past as is working for the same company for over five years, there are some things that I think transcend time and generations:

1.    Quality – Quality must remain personal. Every person from every generation must maintain a passion for creating quality work, providing quality service, developing quality processes and expecting quality results. Quality defines your brand, whether it be personal or professional.

2.    The Entrepreneurial Spirit – Trust me, it takes a lot of guts to start and successfully run a business. However, it also takes a strong commitment to resilience, creativity and tenacity. These are the qualities of successful people everywhere and I don't expect them to change.

3.    Ambition – Ambition is under-rated. Traditionals, Baby Boomers and some Gen X people will tell you that ambition is all about getting the big title and corner office by any means necessary. But ambition is really about wanting something more and never settling for what you have when something greater can be achieved.

4.    Change – Everything changes all of the time. In fact, I just found out that there is a company that is even experimenting with doing away with the cardboard tube found in the middle of the toilet paper roll! Those that are resistant to change perish, those that accept change survive and those that CAUSE change flourish.

So, to the question “should we teach new dogs old tricks?” my answer is yes, but they only need to be taught the ones that were built to last. And if you are the one teaching... be prepared to become the student at some point as well.

As always, I look forward to your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.

Out Of The Night That Covers Me

I love movies. I really do. I especially like the ones that I can’t figure out until the very end. Those movies keep me engaged as I search my mind to connect the clues and events in order to predict the ending. Now, most of the time I chose the movies that I want to see by the trailer that comes out to promote the movie a month or so before it actually comes out.

One movie that came out last year titled Invictus was one that I was luke-warm about seeing. I was interested because the title of the movie was the same as one of my all-time favorite poems by William Ernest Henley, and the movie starred two of my favorite actors Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. However, the trailer suggested that it was a movie about Rugby – one of the few sports that I have little interest in or knowledge about. I’d catch it on DVD or cable “On Demand” one day if there was nothing else out to see, but I wasn’t spending the $9.00 at the movies for the ticket. So yesterday, while scrolling through the On Demand menu, I found Invictus. Nothing better to do, so I decided to watch it. Guess what? Invictus IS NOT a movie about Rugby. I never imagined that this would become one of the most impactful movies that I had ever seen and likely become one of the greatest examples of why Diversity & Inclusion simply must work that I have ever witnessed.

As it turns out, the movie Invictus is based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin. Essentially, the movie is about the initial months of Nelson Mandela’s South African Presidency and how he used a national symbol of hate and separation to unite the country and speed up the true eradication of Apartheid. Black South African’s and white South Africans were separated by many things before the end of Apartheid in 1994, including their national sport. Nelson Mandella saw this as an early opportunity to unite a nation that had been torn apart by oppression and racism. With Black South Africans representing the majority of the population, and Nelson Mandella being a black South African himself, one would think that it would make perfect sense for him to disband the South African national Rugby team, the Springboks, and allow the country to unite under the sport of Soccer, which was the preferred sport of black South Africans…..right? wrong.

Nelson Mandella took the opposite approach. He believed that if he could get the two groups to recognize that the what they have in common is more important than what separates them, then and only then could South Africa heal and unite. Yes they were "Black South Africans" and "White South Africans"….but they needed to focus on the fact that they were ALL "South Africans". To do this, they needed to celebrate the one thing they had in common, their nation, together. The Springboks were in the best position for this as the World Cup was approaching. To inspire the players, Mandella called upon the one thing that got him through each day of his 27 years in prison, the poem Invictus (latin for undefeated or unconquered). As he puts it, it was the one thing that made him “stand up when all he wanted to do is lay down.”

Now, most members of Fraternities and Sororities are familiar with the poem Invictus, which is often recited by candidates for membership to encourage and motivate them to complete the process despite the odds. This is how I came to know this poem. However, the more I think about the words of the poem and the passion it seeks to evoke, I have come to realize that these words are the fuel that must accelerate the fundamental notion that our differences make us interdependent upon each other for true success and therefore we are greater together than we are apart. Invictus says that regardless of the historical obstacles to inclusion for all, regardless of the current biases and stereotypes, regardless of the unbalance of economic power and access to opportunities, we MUST not be deterred. And we must seek success from unlikely sources and in unconventional ways. Marches, vigils and boycotts were fine before. We need a new approach now. That approach needs to include identifying and embracing the value that all people can bring, even if it means reaching out to those that thought you had no value at all. Simply put, we need to be unconquerable in our quest for diversity and inclusion.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me                

Black as the pit for pole to pole              

I thank whatever gods may be                

For my unconquerable soul.                    

Beyond this place of wrath and tears    

Looms the horror of the shade              

And yet the menace o the years            

Finds, and shall find me unafraid.   

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or cried allowed
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloodied but unbowed.
      

It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

Thanks. As always I look forward to your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.

What Women Want.....I Think

Greetings. Many of you remember or saw the movie "What Women Want" that came out in 2000 starring the now embattled Mel Gibson. If not, let me refresh your memory. In the movie, Mel's character Nick Marshall is a "womanizer" that gains the power to hear the thoughts of every woman he encounters through a freak accident in a bathtub with a hair dryer (Mel probably wishes he had the power in real life right about now). While he initially uses this power for his own selfish gain, he eventually comes to better appreciate the value, talents and gifts that women bring, and ultimately is able to develop more functional and powerful relationships with them. The movie was a HUGE success, grossing over $374 million worldwide.

Now, I don't think we all need to risk electrocution to gain the strange and unnatural powers of Nick Marshall, but we do need a reality check.  It is a fact that a gender gap exists in America that not only prevents women from achieving simple equality and advancement in the workplace and entrepreneurial ranks, it threatens to stall the progress that Diversity & Inclusion seeks to make. Here are some fast and alarming facts:

·         While woman comprise almost half of the U.S. labor force (46%), they still only make 77.5 cents for every dollar a man earns AND women earn less that men in 99% of all occupations.

·         Even worse, African-American women earn 64 cents to every dollar earned by white men and Hispanic women just 52 cents per dollar.

·          40% of all of the businesses in the United States have no women in Senior Management.

·         Women business owners comprise close to 40% of all businesses in the U.S. and employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies YET their annual sales represent less than 5% of all sales in the United States.

·         Despite that fact that woman with Bachelor’s degrees outnumber men by about 1.2 million, the more education a woman has, the greater the disparity in her wages. Research conducted by the New York Times in April, 2010 states that women in professional specialty occupations earned only 72.7% of what men in the same position earned, and women in upper level executive, administrative and managerial occupations earned even less at 72.3%.

Source: www.jobprofiles.org/library/students/10_surprising_stats_on_women_in_workplace.htm

Do Women Want the Same Things As Everyone Else?

In some ways……yes. Allow me to explain. Minorities and woman have a lot in common in both how they have been historically under-represented and locked out of opportunities in the United States disproportionately. The rights and respect both have fought for are for equal access to opportunities, information and mobility. However, the sacrifices that women are sometimes required to make to achieve these things can be a heavier load to carry. Here is an example. One friend shared with me that at her company, the unofficial and unwritten model of success for mothers (of young and school-aged children) to advance through the leadership ranks is that their husband’s must become stay-at-home Dads. If these women are successful in convincing their husbands to abandon their careers to help their wives grow and succeed at this company, then and only then are they considered Executive Material. Now, in fairness to the company, this could be that their experience indicates that Executives are far more likely to have a greater time commitment to the company and don’t believe that this can be achieved if the Executive needs to also be the primary caregiver for their children. As a former corporate Executive, I understand the challenges that come along with the job. It’s hard. Also, in fairness to those that have made this decision, the sacrifice may actually improve the financial position of the family and allow the fathers to create stronger bonds with their children. However, think of the message that sends to women at this company.

I think women want what everybody else wants. They want respect and recognition for the contribution they make, they want a good balance between career and life and they want to be free to advance. However, they also don’t want to have to sacrifice their femininity, motherhood or self-respect to achieve these things. These are dimensions that we should be trying to figure out how to leverage to improve innovation and inclusion, not eliminate from the profile of success for women.

Thanks. As always, I look forward to your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.

Is Anyone Benefiting From the Educational Divide?

My wife has a noble job. She's not a Doctor, Firefighter, Minister or Missionary. She does not put bad people in prison or professionally counsel people with serious problems. Also, she's not a teacher. She's the next best thing. She works for a company that owns and manages charter schools, many of which are in economically depressed areas that serve poor, minority and otherwise disadvantaged students. Her job is to recruit the best and brightest Teachers possible that are willing to put aside fears, assumptions and stereotypes and use their training to help provide some hope for these children. My wife is very good at what she does.

Many are very familiar with something called the "Educational Divide" (also referred to as the Achievement Gap) which essentially describes the gaps in the quality of schools, teachers and education that seem to follow race and socio-economic lines. Indeed, it is known that the college preparation, application and entrance rates for poor and minority students are much lower than other groups. Regardless of what side of the "charter school vs. public school" argument you find yourself on,  we have to wonder if anyone is ultimately benefiting from the disparities in quality education that unfortunately exist.

Companies like the one my wife works for are in business to make a profit. They compete for the same state and federal funding that public schools seek to operate and pay administrative salaries. Colleges then rely on charter and public schools to ensure that these students can get admitted to their schools so that they can then in turn get Federal grant money, loan money and any tuition dollars the families can afford to pay in exchange for preparing a new group of workers and taxpayers. Companies then rely on the colleges to churn out a workforce that can help their organizations turn a profit and pay shareholder dividends while the Federal Government gets a new batch of taxpayers to fund the needs of the country. Some food chain, huh?

Yesterday I tweeted about the The Obama Administration's renewed commitment to improving education  for Hispanic students, including the passage of the Dream Act, which is aimed at helping undocumented students become legal citizens of the United States. Other efforts under the focus on education for Hispanics are the reduction of the dropout rate and improved connections between pre-K-12 and post secondary education. Because of this, it makes perfect sense that President Obama would see this as a fundamental problem in growing a future professional and technical workforce or business base of new Entrepreneurs and actually do something about it. I loudly applaud this. It's definitely a step in the right direction.

However, as long as the Educational Divide exists, the chain will remain broken and benefits for all will be few and far between. Charter and Public Schools alike need the same great teachers, solid educational tools, state-of-the art facilities and parental partnerships that the more "high performing" schools have access to.
According to a recent report from the Manhattan Institute, only nine percent of all college-ready High School graduates are black and nine percent are Hispanic. The report ultimately concludes that  the financial barriers or affirmative action policies that are keeping minority and low-income students out of college are less of the problem than the fact that these students are not gaining the college-ready skills they need to continue with their education.

Consequently, it is my view that nobody is truly benefiting from the Educational Divide. Not the kids, schools, colleges, employers or government. Nobody. If we want to close the gaps that exist, we must create equity at the beginning of the chain and to ensure that the links at the end of the chain will hold.

Thanks. As always I look forward to your comments and reactions. Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.

Diversity 2.0: What is it REALLY About

Just read an interesting article published on Color Magazine's website regarding the 2010 World Diversity Leadership Summit that was held at Harvard Medical School in Boston last month. The conference was attended by over 350 Diversity & Inclusion professionals from a wide variety of industries and geographies.

The article suggests that the particiapants all agreed on one clear concept: the traditional approach and methods to Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace and marketplace are no longer relevant, and therefore, a "Diversity 2.0" needs to be created. Diversity 2.0 would become the new approach to Diversity & Inclusion with more contemporary principles and strategies. So far, I agree. While Diversity & Inclusion has evolved, the basic understanding has not. People still want to associate D&I with simply race & gender relations, EEO and Affirmative Action or  the "disadvantaged" and "under-represented". What they fail to realize, is these can all also be considered exclusionary (versus inclusive) and don't come anywhere close to what Diversity & Inclusion is supposed to accomplish.

While we Diversity & Inclusion Professionals continue to struggle with answering the question "is the word Diversity still the right word?", participants at the World Diversity Leadership Summit landed on three themes for Diversity 2.0 to attempt to move us forward: Innovation, Inclusion and Interdependence. These are what are proposed as the new focus for Diversity & Inclusion to allow individuals and organizations to better connect with the benefits and results associated with this strategic imperative. I like this as well...but let's take a look at each:

Innovation - Participants believe that Innovation and diversity are strongly related. "Diversity of thought and perspective is the catalyst for innovation"  and that new ideas come from approaching a challenges in different ways.

Inclusion -  According to the Summit, "Inclusion plays a strategic and tactical role since its main goal is to replace the event driven nature of past diversity initiatives with an ongoing effort that is part of the organizational strategy." In other words, Inclusion so more that Taco Tuesdays, Fried Chicken Fridays or Women's Appreciation Day at work. It means that everyone and every idea is considered and included in the fabric and DNA of the corporation everyday.

Interdependence -  The theme of Interdependence highlighted in the conference means that organizations must now recognize trust and collaboration as an essential function for  diverse, highly functioning work teams that cross continents, cultural backgrounds and title. "Businesses are painfully discovering that the days of the stand-alone employee are over. Instead, with the help of technology, collaboration speeds up the innovation and communication process."

Powerful stuff! I agree 100% with the principles, direction and need for Diversity 2.0, but I am most encouraged by the theme of Interdependence. Innovation and Inclusion are Diversity themes that have been taught and focused on over the last 3-5 years in an effort to move people from the negative emotions of race and gender relations and answer the "what's in it for me (WIIFM)" for everyone. Interdependence adds the dimension of necessity for Diversity & Inclusion because no viable work team can truly function well without trust and collaboration.

Thanks. As always, I look forward to your comments and reactions.Tune in tomorrow for another Daily Diversity Download.