Why We Still Need Racial Tension

August 1st, 2011

Reading Amy Ta’s “Race, Rage and Reality in America” article on NPR.com was intriguing as authors Ellis Cose and Eugene Robinson discussed their books outlining 2011 perspectives on race and racism in the U.S. But as is so often the case, the really interesting stuff was in the back and forth of the comments that followed the article. There were a variety of arguments being wagered—most passionate, many hard to follow and others even harder to take seriously. Most ironic in all of it was the incongruence between the rhetoric of those who declared that race was no longer important, and the vitriol with which they proclaimed it. The commenters “doth protest too much, methinks.” This disconnect between message and delivery reinforces the fact that in the midst of the traditional race debate, we’ve begun to forget why racial dialogue is really important.

The tensions surfaced by race talk actually represent our struggle with inequality, discrimination, and privilege in our modern society. Race talk in the U.S. is, in part, dialogue about dealing with the plight of an historically significant minority population and the ongoing impact of many decades of discrimination. We could have similar conversations about indigenous people in the U.S. (as one commenter noted) or about gender, or immigration. Each of these conversations is unique as the issues that arise have unique origins and present-day dynamics. The black-white race discussion has had particular heat about it for many reasons and has served as a focal laboratory for this most critical societal conversation.

But the critical conversation is not really just about black and white people. Whether the race problem is solved or not is not the only thing at stake in race dialogue. It is also a conversation about how we come to terms as a society in dealing with injustice, discrimination, privilege, and forgiveness. The issue of black-white race differences may someday fade into the background of society. Racial difference may someday no longer dictate how we live with one another. That was certainly Martin Luther King’s dream. But that does not mean that we will not still be challenged in how we deal with inequality and inequity. I think it unlikely that all bias and unfairness will somehow be eradicated. History suggests that the odds of that are not in our favor. So for today, we would do well to remain engaged in racial dialogue as a way of continuing to learn about ourselves and our society.

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Why Being Moderate Equals Being Immoral

July 25th, 2011

Sometimes, to be moderate is to be homophobic or racist.

CNN is reporting that The Justice Department together with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights are looking into “allegations of harassment and discrimination in Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes.”  The investigation comes after a string of seven student suicides in less than two years, which stirred public debate over the district’s sexual orientation curriculum policy. Adopted in 2009, the policy states that school staff must “remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation.” And that “such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches or community organizations.”

This so-called “neutrality policy” is as dangerous, flawed, and immoral as “don’t ask, don’t tell” was, or as “separate but equal” was regarding race.

Proponents of this policy probably fall into two camps.  One camp consists of those who forcefully deny rights to people who are not heterosexual.  These people may oppose gay marriage and may see anyone who is not heterosexual as morally deficient.  A second, probably larger, camp of people interests me more.   They are not anti-gay necessarily, but they are likely conflicted and want to be able to reflect on and sort out their beliefs and opinions about sexual orientation.  They are more “moderate” in their positions.

In Minnesota, these people are doing as much harm as the bullies who harass kids who may not be heterosexual. These moderate leaders and decision-makers must understand that policies like those in Anoka-Hennepin are built to reinforce the feeling that they are being reasonable people by slowing down change.  These policies are appealing because they seem to allow us to be more deliberate and thoughtful.  They let us off the hook to have to do anything immediately and promote the delusion that things are OK, if not perfect, just as they are.

But in Minnesota, things are not OK as they are.  Children there (and in many other places in this country) are dying due in part to the aggressive actions by their peers.  When young people are being bullied, harassed, terrorized, and driven to suicide, it is immoral to hide behind words like “deliberate” and “thoughtful.”  Being “moderate” and “cautious” are simply ways of avoiding taking responsibility to change what you know to be wrong.

Personally, I deeply value the characteristic of moderation and I am frequently moderate in my opinions and perspectives. Caution, deliberation, and measured movement are reasonable and have their place.  But you are not being reasonable when you support a status quo that fosters harm, and in this case, kills children.  Upholding the status quo means approving of the violence that terrorizes people because of their sexual orientation.  When discrimination and intimidation are the norm, calling for neutrality just means people get to keep on discriminating and intimidating.  You can’t only go half-way if half-way fails to protect a person’s dignity and human rights.  This is not negotiable.

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Your Greatest Advantage

May 13th, 2011

I was recently asked by the Washington Post’s On Leadership series for which I occasionally write that if I was asked to give a commencement speech to this year’s college graduates on their role as future leaders, what would I say?

The greatest enemy you will face in your role as future leaders is you.  I work with profoundly talented people, some of whom are successful leaders, and some of whom are not.  The difference is not in intelligence, education, or even willingness to work hard.  Rather it is in how able a person is to accept him or herself.  And that means accepting both flaws and virtues.

Accepting flaws means knowing where we are imperfect and being willing to work to improve in those areas.  It means not beating yourself up because you aren’t getting it right.  It means being able to forgive yourself for not achieving your ideal goals and aspirations. And it means rolling up your sleeves and starting over once again.  The very best leaders I know are used to failure.  They measure themselves not by how much they fail, but how often they can persist and improve on those setbacks.

Accepting one’s virtues is a little different.  That requires you to skillfully strike a balance between the tendency to indulge in your strengths and success and the tendency to discount them.  Some people have big heads and can’t wait to tell the world how great they are; their hubris undermines their leadership.  But others conceal their strengths in modesty or silence.  Sometimes they think they are being team players or are avoiding being egotists.  But more often than not, they are, ironically, just being selfish.  Having a gift—a strength or a success—and hiding it is not a virtue.  You do a disservice to all the people who can be helped by learning about and learning from your strength.  You have to be able to share your strengths and successes openly and without ego.  It’s not easy to navigate between arrogance and excessive shyness.  But great leaders learn to do it.

Accepting yourself—whether the flaws or the virtues—means not being afraid to be whoever you are.  Let that self-acceptance begin with striving to express yourself authentically. Be willing to share your mistakes and your achievements alike.   One of the greatest barriers to being ourselves is the fear that we won’t be accepted by our peers.  We fear that if we really reveal some parts of ourselves, we’ll be ostracized because we aren’t like most people.  But the truth is that none of us are like most people.  We all bring uniqueness to every encounter and to every relationship.  Make that uniqueness visible.  It is your greatest advantage.

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Are Women Really Better Off?

April 4th, 2011

In response to a question posed by the Washington Post in their online On Leadership series, the recent female workers’ suit against Wal-Mart going to the Supreme Court March 29, perhaps becoming the largest job discrimination case in history, I pose the question, “Are women really better off?”

The greatest challenge that women face at work today is, paradoxically, the success they’ve had in overcoming discrimination and bias.

Women are thriving in companies today. More women are advancing to higher levels in their companies and wielding increasing amounts of influence and power. High profile examples like Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft and Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo illustrate the tremendous strides women have made in corporations. These visible successes in achieving equity for women are held up as symbols of how we are overcoming the stigma of centuries of gender discrimination. From a cultural perspective, the successes sharpen the contrast in the conditions for women in the U.S. and women in underdeveloped countries or predominantly Islamic societies. We are drawn to these stories because they are inspiring and make us feel great about our businesses and our society.

But these celebrations also nurture the illusion that conditions for working women are better than they really are. This is partially caused by presence of human psychological biases we all share. Highly visible examples (like stories of successful women) are easy to notice and easy to remember. As a result, we assume that this must be the trend for working women in general. Moreover, we begin to think that these successes, are probably just the tip of the iceberg and all kinds of great opportunities are emerging for women everywhere.

In fact, women at work face many of the same challenges they have always faced. Pay differentials that favor men still abound. Women continue to advance less swiftly than male counterparts. Experiences of discrimination and bias plague women at work on a daily basis. After twenty years of work with professional women, I still hear the classic corporate gender bias tale. In a meeting, a woman contributes an idea and is ignored. Minutes later, a male colleague shares the same idea and the room erupts in wild enthusiasm over his insight. I hear this story from junior associates and senior executives alike.

I frequently caution corporate leaders that while many pressing concerns about cultural and racial differences exist in their companies, they should never assume that all is well for women. Continue to learn from women colleagues about their experience in the company. Measure and assess the conditions for women inside the company and in the larger society. And be vigilant about avoiding the comfortable fiction that we can stop worrying about gender inequity in companies. Examples of successful women, no matter how high profile, do not negate the fact that discrimination and injustice for women persists. If you need a reminder, check out Wal-Mart.

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Come to a Great Conference on Education and Business

February 16th, 2011

I’ve been working with public school educators a lot in recent weeks.  Teachers, principals, superintendents and education scholars are all challenged to improve our education system.  That makes the Darden School of Business’ upcoming conference, Education in the New Economy—all the more exciting for me.  It takes place Friday, February 25, 2011 beginning at 9:00 AM and is presented by the Black Business Student Forum at Darden.

The 20th century economy was built on manufacturing power and scale, but the economic powers of the 21st century will be defined by an innovation economy anchored by an educated citizenry.  The future of the American economy depends on our education system; a system that has prepared far too few to be the next generation of leaders. The gap in the education system that we have and the education system we need affects all facets of our society. Re-thinking this system is a collective responsibility.

The conference brings together a diverse group of experts from the education and business community, to thoroughly examine how schools prepare students to be successful in the workforce, and why the business community should be partners in this challenge.  Highlights include:

  • Lunch Keynote by Dr. Steve Perry, renowned educator, author, and contributor for CNN
  • Keynote by Dr. Christopher B. Howard, the dynamic President of Hampden-Sydney College
  • Amazing line up of panelists ranging from policy analysts, business leaders, consultants and entrepreneurs. Highlights: Dr. Pam Moran, superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools, Secretary of Education for the State of Virginia Gerard Robinson.
  • Great Darden alums, including Victor de la Paz, Nicole Lindsay, and James Temple. Tierney Fairchild will serve as a moderator.
  • Darden School/Curry Education School Partnership for Leaders in Education will also support the conference as Senior Director William Robinson moderates a panel entitled “MBAs in the Schoolhouse.”

Come to this conference if you are a:

  • Business-minded professional—you’ll gain insight into how public education systems are preparing the next generation of talent: YOUR next hires.
  • Current student with an interest in education—come hear how others have successfully established careers in the intersection of business and education.

Come to Darden and check out this terrific event!

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On the importance of minority faculty

February 9th, 2011

I was recently asked to answer a series of questions on why it is important to have minority faculty represented at business schools. While it seemed like the answer to the question would be obvious, I was happy to go through the exercise, and found that it may not be as straightforward as one might think.

Minority representation among our faculty is essential because we know that being competitive in the global business school market means getting smarter and smarter about how we create high quality learning for an increasingly diverse student body.   Having excellent minority faculty means that we are better able to leverage the diversity of background and perspective among all of our faculty colleagues to create that high quality learning environment.  Here are a few examples:

a)     Our faculty collaborate extensively in teaching.  In our teaching meetings, everything from the selection of cases to the pedagogy we use to teach our students is informed by the multiple perspectives of our faculty teams, many of which are racially and culturally diverse.

b)    In the classroom itself, our minority faculty serve as role models, not only for our minority students, but also for our majority students.  Students and typically build strong learning relationships together and when the faculty member is a minority, students are exposed to perspectives that expand their models of who they can learn from.

c)     Our faculty collaborate extensively in conducting cutting-edge research.  Our minority and majority faculty work together to produce new research ideas that contribute to academic scholarship and to our mission of informing practicing managers.  For example, I’m working with a colleague on a new research project explaining what prevents organizations from developing minority and women managers sustainably.

I can’t help but reflect back twelve years ago when I came to Darden from Tuck as the only minority faculty member at Darden. In twelve years since, five more minority faculty have joined our faculty (raising our percentage of minority faculty well above industry averages).  More significant, five of the six minority faculty member at Darden have earned tenure (the sixth is a junior colleague) and all continue to thrive at the institution.  The absolute numbers are impressive; the retention is remarkable.

This success has been achieved for several reasons: 1) the three deans who have led Darden during the past twelve years have consistently supported the hiring of minority faculty; 2) our current dean, Bob Bruner, has overseen the promotion of 4 of the 5 tenured faculty at Darden; 3) the school—faculty, students, and administration—has embraced eagerly the trend toward increased diversity among faculty.  Most important, the environment at Darden is welcoming.

I’m afraid there is likely to be a shortage of minority faculty in top 20 business schools and in international business schools because networks that provide talent to these institutions have not yet been widely opened to U.S. minorities. So one of the most important goals 21st century business schools must achieve is to develop and transform their way of doing business education;  business schools have to be “fluent” in diversity because our global stakeholders—students, recruiters, faculty, alumni, donors—are demanding this of us.  U.S. minority faculty have a critical role to play in helping business schools gain this fluency. Together, members of a culturally diverse faculty can create “laboratories” to help everyone learn how to build processes and organizational cultures that better produce relevant, high quality business education.

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Why You Have to Align Diversity with Business Goals

January 31st, 2011

“For a sustainable change in diversity, make sure every activity is well aligned with the business strategy; it is much more likely to last!”

In reference to this statement, key to my teachings on Leveraging Difference, Mistinguette Smith recently posed this question to me through Facebook: “Every CEO knows to say this, but what does it really mean? Where have you seen good examples of it in the private sector? Public sector?”

All it really means is that altruistic-driven stuff has an expiration date. “We’ll bring more women in because it’s the right thing to do” usually means, “We’ll bring more women in and they’ll all be gone in two years.”

If any organization wants the changes in diversity to stick, the leaders and the people in the organization have to have skin in the game—they have to want to change. The best way to drive that is to align changes in diversity with things that really make the organization work better. For example: A U.S. software company makes a big push to retain Indian engineers who are leaving at a rapid rate. Having the Indians means two things: it creates greater diversity, and they can make better software. And making software is the mission of the company. That company will learn to maintain its cultural diversity.

This works for any organization. You just have to decide what differences make a difference for that organization (easier said than done).

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Black Russians

December 16th, 2010

I met Black Russians today.

No, I don’t mean Russians of African descent. And I’m not using a euphemism for going on a bender of delicious vodka-laced drinks during this exciting trip to Moscow. Rather, I’ve just finished teaching an amazing session with a sharp group of Russian executives who I’ve been helping foster a high-engagement, high-performance culture in their company. They have been struggling with a culture that has pockets of cynical, demoralized people and they really want to do better. But it wasn’t until we dove more deeply into what was happening in the company that I stumbled onto this fundamental insight:

This young, talented group of Russians is having an experience inside the company that is remarkably similar to that of black people in U.S. corporations.

The parallels are fascinating. I’ve learned that the history of this generation of Russians is, in some ways, disheartening. First, the demographic patterns over the past couple of generations mirror the story of African Americans. Just after World War II, there was a major shortage of males in the population: there were 2.2 females for every male in the population.[1] While those numbers have evened out over the years (1.2 females for every male in 2009), the legacy of the devastation of the male population during the 20th century remains—significantly higher health vulnerabilities than women, shorter life expectancy, and higher incidences of substance abuse, especially alcoholism. 2 These are all issues that have been visible and widely discussed in the African American community, too.

Culturally, the Soviet political structure left many challenges in its wake. For example, one participant shared with me that one consequence of Russia’s late entry into a capitalist economy is that Russian professionals receive a pretty consistent message from the multinational business world: your markets are lucrative, but as skilled managers and leaders in those markets you are lacking. No matter how competent they are objectively, there is a sense that many young Russian professionals feel as though they are not perceived to be competent enough to take senior leadership positions locally in global corporations. They don’t yet see many role models in their organizations that would counter that concern. And while they acknowledge that as a group, they do have a lot to learn professionally, they also feel that some are talented, experiences, and very ready. And they are frustrated by not having that talent, experience, and potential recognized. They spoke of wanting to have more authority and responsibility and of simply wanting a fair chance to advance to the highest levels of the company, messages I continue to hear in my work with black professionals in the U.S.

So often, I hear that “diversity” is a U.S. thing that has limited relevance globally. No one denies there is tremendous diversity globally—that’s obvious. But often, executives and students I work with see the way U.S. folks deal with difference as idiosyncratic. We are obsessed with race, they say, and we are too focused on attending to differences without seeing how similar we are.

Ironically, my experience reinforces how similar we truly are all over the world. We struggle with similar inequities borne of the unique circumstances of our societies and our histories. Whether it is slavery in the U.S., or the government political system in Russia and the former Soviet Union, or the ethnic divides in Vietnam (I learned that some people from certain provinces in Vietnam tend to receive preferential treatment within the labor force), every nation and every society has a story of difference, power, and inequity. Leaders and managers do a disservice to all of their stakeholders when they deny these realities in their organizations.

Leaders and their organizations do better when we engage these issues and these differences with openness and an attitude of exploration and learning. Today, my Russian colleagues will initiate a conversation about their experience as Russian professionals with their ex-pat leaders. It’s a great start.

[1] Age structure of the Russian population as of January 1, 2009 Rosstat Retrieved on 2009-10-08.
[2] Wikipedia entry “Demographics of Russia”

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Every Trip A New Beginning

December 13th, 2010

The phrase “Every Trip a New Beginning” is rattling around in my head as I sit quietly on my plane ride out of Hanoi.  I have been in Vietnam for the past seven days working with a group of brilliant young managers who had been selected from their respective companies as having outstanding potential as future leaders.  They hailed from four continents—Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America—and seven countries and my task was to help impart knowledge and insight about what it means to lead a 21st century global organization.  The classroom conversations that emerged throughout the week were stunningly illuminating.  These bright participants (they were called delegates in the program) were curious, challenging, and willing to be challenged by me and by each other.  But it wasn’t until after I witnessed their summary group presentations on the last day of the program that I was truly altered.

Being with the delegates in this program continually surprised me.  Each person I met had a story that challenged how I perceived the world.  One delegate from Norway talked to me about the ways in which the culture there was more private and that people don’t naturally congregate out in community gatherings, but rather come together in peoples’ home.  Another delegate from the Vietnam described how one’s province of birth in the country can influence how fair an opportunity that person has to be successful at work.  And yet another delegate shared the story of living an incredibly multicultural life which was stimulating and rewarding but also left one with a sense of wondering where you belong.

These stories captured me and widened my understanding of the variety of global realities.  But the delegates’ final presentations moved me even more deeply.  Six teams presented on challenges in their organizations and on how what they had been learning in the program shapes how those challenges can be engaged.  And each team created something that wholly surprised me.  One team created a large group drawing that captured the business realities facing the company.  Another group prepared a skit that creatively demonstrated the challenge of creating value for customers.  Yet another group offered a wordless, text-less, performance piece that challenged their peers to engage in ongoing discussion and learning as the program continues.

I think the root of my surprise was in how my interactions with the delegates prompted me to understand myself differently.  I saw my nationality and my professional identity in new ways:

  • A U.S. citizen—my many conversations with people from a variety of cultures reminded me of how narrow my day-to-day experience of culture and global realities really is.  Being immersed in so many discussions about world events taking place in Asia and Europe that did not necessarily reference anything about the U.S. reminded me how obsessed I am, typically, with my U.S. perspective.  I was reminded how my habit is to let the rest of the world’s issues become virtually invisible unless they somehow affect my sense of myself in the U.S.
  • A teacher—the delegates’ presentations served as a mirror to me of how they had internalized the lessons I had hoped to communicate throughout the week.  But the way they crafted the presentations defied any expectation of how I assumed they were learning.  By using multiple modes of communication—art, theater, movement—they helped me see how people learn and integrate new ideas into their worldviews.  I can’t wait to hear about what they do to change their companies in the coming weeks, months, and years.

My experience in a new land with new people who were also living in a new land created a context in which I could see myself differently.  And it reminded me of the value of examining the habits and assumptions I hold about other cultures, about other people, and about myself.

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Walking In Traffic

December 8th, 2010

Hanoi Traffic

In Hanoi, there are millions of motor scooters in the streets and not so much traffic management.  You get across the busy thoroughfare by simply walking into it.  If you wait for an opening in traffic, often you would never be able to get across the street.  So the new skill I learned is to just walk into oncoming traffic…

I’m becoming way too comfortable traveling all over the world.  I’m on an excursion that began in Hanoi, Vietnam, and sends me to Paris and then Moscow in the space of three weeks. When I first traveled overseas, I remember that difficult and exciting time when you first have global encounters and it seems as though there is something new to learn every hour of every day.  But in my recent travels and global engagements, I had been feeling increasingly confident of my ability to navigate in different cultures, to manage both the logistics of getting around in places where I don’t know the language, for example, as well as to manage the emotion of being immersed in situations that are ambiguous and sometimes scary.  I learned to just walk into oncoming traffic.  And I felt good doing it.  I felt like I had mastered a new skill and with my new ability, I could afford to relax and daydream as I walked.  I wasn’t in danger.  I was untouchable.

Then I took a walk in Hanoi, about 1 kilometer, through bustling streets.  I was on my way to find a belt from a local mall (I thought I had packed everything) and as I walked, I noticed how chilly it was.  There was a cool breeze blowing off of Westlake where I was walking and I was a little underdressed.  The streets were generally narrow, but seemed to get more constricted when scooters and cars came zooming through at me, horns blaring (beeping horns are a way of life on the Hanoi motorways.  People just drive with their hands on the horn all the time).  There were vendors and kids and chickens and roosters all along the roads I walked (rarely was there a sidewalk) and there was all kinds of wet blotches in the road.  Not sure what they all were.  The air was full of exhaust and I started coughing a little.  As I walked the sun began to set and by the time I was halfway into the walk, it was dark.  The oncoming traffic became only oncoming bright lights and I was increasingly uneasy as I walked.  It was rush hour now and there was much more traffic on the road.  Suddenly, I was dodging bright-light-scooters and weird wet spots and horns constantly blaring, nervously looking in front of me and behind to make sure I wasn’t about to be swiped.  And all I can remember is the story I had heard from another visitor of a bloody accident he saw on the way in from the airport a few days earlier.

I got to the mall, got my belt and got back to my hotel.  But I realized that I was not safe and sound and in control in Hanoi.  It was scary and dangerous and just because I learned to walk into traffic arrogantly did not mean that I would not get hit by a scooter or car.  I was just lucky up to that point.

It’s not that confidence in new cultural contexts is necessarily bad.  It’s just that it’s hard to balance that confidence with the reality that when I am out of my home country, I am in a pretty precarious position.  Always.  I live in the illusion that it will all work out, an illusion that has a particularly American quality to it borne out the pervasive comfort with which I, as a U.S. citizen, experience on a regular basis.  My problem was just that I started to believe my own hype that I had this global thing down.  I’ll never have it all down.  I’ll just keep experiencing and learning and trying to remember with clarity how challenging it is to be present in the world.

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