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 this series: I’m handed a dilemma about how to do diversity without division. I’m invited…
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 individuals into bite-sized identities, as if human beings are morsels meant to be easily digested.…
“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 less than 90 seconds. After all, professionals are busier than ever! My reply? Let’s get…
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. Funny how the diversity hires tend to be excluded from meetings of decision-makers but are…
Last year, an organization that promotes dialogue invited two authors to hold a “respectful exchange” about racism. I was one of them. The other was Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility. I accepted the invitation. DiAngelo declined. And that was before she went viral. White Fragility has become a bible for diversity advocates in institutional…