Diversity Thinking
The news abounds with stories of how individuals have, either unwittingly or on purpose, insulted someone else because of their heritage, their religion, their race, or whatever is different (like Don Imus, the Dog House radio show, or Michael Richards of "Kramer" fame). Control your message! Make sure to vet speeches. Make sure your corporate language is slur-free (spell-check and fact-check while you're at it). Limit opportunities for off-the-cuff remarks, especially if the speaker is somewhat "loose in the lips."
Make sure your products and services make sense: focus test, if need be, to make sure your message is consistent. Do your offerings make sense to a variety of types of people? Do you offer your products in red, brown, or black? Would a Spanish- or Chinese-speaking person understand what you offer? Mind your assumptions: when I was growing up there was a "flesh-colored" Crayon. Whose flesh? Certainly not mine! I like how bandages started to appear in different colors and styles instead of plain pink: from expanding their offerings from one (pink colored) to many (dinosaurs, cartoon characters, silly designs), they created more sales.
Our typical behavior is to assume everyone is just like us and that "others" are different.
Let's take a little test relating to minority women, shall we? Go ahead and fill in the blanks, just in your mind.
Arab American women are ___________________.
African American women are ___________________.
Hispanic American women are ___________________.
Asian American women are ___________________.
Native American women are ___________________.
Which of your gut responses might bother you if you applied the same words to your mother or father? These are truly helpful in identifying some of our internal blocks. Learn from yourself: when we challenge our assumptions, we grow. When we change our behaviors, we are able to deal with more complex situations.
Finally, my thoughts in this blog always turn to women of color in business. We may choose to see barriers and obstacles in front of us, or we may see many opportunities to expand our abilities. If you've felt wronged, take a moment to feel bad, but after that moment has passed, pick yourself up and resolve to focus on the positive. What have you learned? How will you create a situation where you encourage understanding, knowledge, empowerment, and communication? Lean on those pillars and back away from short-sightedness, ignorance, self-pity, or name-calling.
Let's move past negative feelings and knee-jerk reactions and move forward with a conscious agenda of inclusion, awareness, and productivity. It's time for us to be mindful about our communications, to be sensitive about our statements and remarks, and to practice tolerance, education, and discipline when it's needed... all of these will assist us in building a better business climate.
