For November’s DEI moment, we want to share some personal stories. Personal stories inspire us to think about another person’s experience and world view. They show us that these issues do exist and happen every day. They make us think about our own environments and how we can improve them to create a more diverse and inclusive culture. The following stories are anonymous to protect the privacy of the author.
“I have been in several senior management meetings where the number of men far outnumbered the women. In one such meeting, when a woman spoke up, a comment was made to the effect of, “You always have something to say, don’t you?” Although this comment was made jokingly, I did feel it came across as somewhat sexist.”
“A woman in a senior role resigned and was replaced internally by a man; his status, title and role attributes were immediately elevated compared to the prior person-woman in the role, although there is no indication he was more qualified for the role than she was.”
“I once worked for a company where the general manager interviewed people for a job and ended up throwing the Black candidates’ applications in the trash basket after they left. I felt horrible, especially because my desk was right across from him, and I could tell that some of the candidates he rejected were more qualified for the job than the ones he chose.”
“A former boss routinely noticed and referred to Asian team members and candidates as such, and seemed to perceive them differently, with a low level of trust. He also referred to past coworkers that were Asian that he didn’t trust. The same boss also seemed uncomfortable with a gay member of the team.”
These stories are heartbreaking and downright repulsive. But they show why we need to fight for DEI initiatives and why we need to look within our own organizations and teams to see what we can do to make things better for all involved. The next couple of stories show why having a diverse and inclusive culture is beneficial for all organizations.
“My team has to resolve problems on a regular basis. If everyone thinks alike, then they all solve the problem in a similar way and if a problem is seen as difficult then it will be difficult for all team members. A team made up of people that think in different ways, that come from different places, and are from different cultures, solve problems faster with more creative solutions.”
“I worked with an organization for many years that had very few women, even less in leadership positions. Most women were so frustrated after working there for a few years they often quit and could never realize their full potential. Finally, a group of like-minded leaders put together a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative that called for major changes in the organization that included a lot of training and a mentorship program. After several years and a lot of hard work there were finally women in some higher leader positions and female retention rates increased, significantly.”
Good DEI initiatives improve the culture and the talent pool of an organization. A diverse organization brings in different points of view that can improve problem-solving and increase creativity and productivity. As we can see there is still a lot of work to do before we start seeing more of these success stories. We challenge our members to look at your organizations and find ways that you can improve diversity and inclusion.