When I was growing up in Canada, ho-ho-ho was a no-no-no — not because my parents said so, but because I did. At nine years old, I challenged my family’s decision to put up a Christmas tree. The twinkle and…
Category: Irshad Blog
“I will never understand…”
On November 4th, then again on the 5th, 6th, and 7th, I heard from friends around the world. They wanted to know one thing: How in the hell could so many Americans (at last count, 72 million) have voted for…
The Star-Spangled mask
I’m a Canadian who’s been teaching leadership in the U.S. for almost 15 years. Yet this is the first election cycle in which I’ve been labeled a “foreigner” and told to stop “meddling.” It happened more than once, each time…
Diversity Dilemma #3
This is the third installment of a special series that I’ve contributed to “Modern Mentor,” a podcast that explores what helps and hinders success in the workplace. If you’ve read the first and second installments, you know the context of…
Diversity Dilemma #2
Welcome to the second installment of my series for “Modern Mentor,” a podcast that explores what helps and hinders success in the workplace. In this post, I’ll explain why we should avoid the kind of diversity that slices and dices…
Diversity Dilemma #1
“Modern Mentor,” a podcast that explores what helps and hinders success in the workplace, invited me to address several dilemmas that professionals experience when trying to practice diversity without being divisive. The catch? I’d have to address each dilemma in…
Can democracy survive without religion?
In most of the world today, organized religion is being rejected. More and more young people are flipping the bird to theological authority, even in Muslim countries! At the same time, those who abuse political power appear to be filling…
When corporate diversity programs are like chicken wings
In America’s transactional culture, workplace diversity often amounts to slapping labels on individuals. Professionals wind up being packaged like products. They’re crammed into prefabricated molds (“Black woman,” for example) and get showcased to make the company look cutting-edge. Emphasize look.…
AMERICA IS CHANGING. THE LEFT SHOULD, TOO
Let’s face it: For all our gushing about diversity, many advocates of it hold a hefty slice of America in contempt. We assume that Republicans despise difference, that Trump voters are lodged in a backward past, and that they plan…
Never Again? It’s Happening Again — This Time, to China’s Muslims
Imagine that millions of people of one faith, one heritage, and one community are being targeted by their government. Imagine that these people are being rounded up by the hundreds of thousands and forced into so-called “re-education camps,” where they…