leadership essay

During a cultural awareness exercise, the human resource trainer at my workplace attached large posters with bolded words to the walls of the conference room. Labeled on each were marginalized identities (woman, differently abled, person of color, etc.). The point of this exercise was to demonstrate that our company was composed of diverse peoples. “Please stand next to the poster you identify with,” she instructed. Slowly, my peers rose from their seats and shuffled around the room. However, I stood frozen in place surveying my options. After all, I am a woman, a person of color, and a Millennial—and there were many people hovering around those posters. But towards the far side of the room was a label no one else stood by. Feeling brave and a little bit terrified, I walked toward that poster well aware that people were staring. “LGBTQ,” it read.

It is important to note that disclosing one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity (i.e. coming out) is a strategic and complex process. It is also an ongoing process, meaning individuals must repeatedly decide whether or not to come out, when to come out, how to come out, and to whom to come out throughout their life in a myriad of settings—including at work (Salter & Sasso, 2022). At that time, the county I worked in was only one of three in the state with an ordinance prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Therefore, coming out at work was technically a ‘safe’ choice in that I could not legally be fired for my identity, and it was specifically mentioned in my company’s nondiscrimination policy. Yet, standing there was still risky, and that lingering fear of experiencing homophobia came to fruition a week later during my in-person training. The negative commentary was not about me, but about a relative of my trainer who she described as a lesbian. “At least she’s moral enough to not date at all instead of dating women,” she preached. A coworker standing near us nodded her head in agreement. They were obviously unaware of the poster I stood next to the week prior, and I was certainly not inclined to share that information.

Suffice to say ‘diversity’ is a deeply personal topic, and one that informed my decision to study sociology at the undergraduate level. More importantly, though, my decision to double major in organizational leadership (and to ultimately study this content at the graduate level) was borne of experiences where I encountered homophobic, sexist, racist, and ageist behavior at work. There is a disconnect, I always noticed, between what is written in corporate policy and the behavior of employees. In my opinion, the remedy begins with promoting inclusivity at all levels of an organization—especially through the words and actions of its leaders.

In my studies, I have learned that the impetus for organizational change often varies. The most compelling reason is compliance with the law—for example, the local ordinances that protected me from discrimination at work. The business cases for promoting diversity include attracting top talent, following requirements for working with other businesses, and aligning with customers’ views and beliefs. Regardless of motivation, the most authentic change occurs when it is championed by a visionary leader.

In general, creating meaningful change requires more than nondiscrimination policies and diversity trainings (although they are good places to start). Sweeney and Bothwick offer a four-part process to bolster diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices with actionable steps. Some of these steps include assessing your organization’s current position, creating a case for change, building your team, and removing barriers to change. While their process was specifically created for promoting D&I initiatives, other change models are also relevant.

Specifically, Gentile’s Giving Voice to Values (GVV) model instructs individuals on how to push back and respond to situations when their values are contradicted. This three-step curriculum includes: 1) clarification and articulation of one’s values, 2) post-decision making analysis and implementation plan, and 3) the practice of speaking one’s values and receiving feedback. In the first step, participants accept the universality of five widely shared, cross-cultural values—honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion. Case studies are then reviewed in the second step, where participants vicariously walk in the shoes of protagonists as they perform stakeholder analyses and implement change tailored to the situation. In the final step, participants practice what they have learned by pre-scripting responses and acting out potential scenarios. They are then provided with feedback from a neutral third-party. I believe learning (GVV) will encourage me to speak up for myself and others who experience different forms of oppression and intolerance.

It is unfortunate that exclusionary practices and behaviors are still prominent issues despite the growing number of companies preaching acceptance and inclusion. Therefore, it is the role of leaders to educate themselves and create environments where diverse people are present, treated equitably, and feel a sense of belonging in that setting. In fact, the newest iteration of D&I is referred to as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DIEB), and this discipline is one I will practice in all future occupations regardless of my formal position.

Fortunately, though, my personal negative experiences and learned leadership theories are also supplemented by positive experiences with diverse people. For example, I was able to immerse myself in a foreign culture while living abroad in Brazil for nine months. At that time, my spouse was an English professor at a university teaching advanced language courses for students seeking to publish their research in English and students looking to apply to graduate programs in English-speaking countries. While I did not hold a formal position at the university, I was an active volunteer instructor and led conversation groups for students practicing their speaking skills. To this day, I am still humbled by their ability think cross-culturally and work successfully with people from foreign countries.

Moreover, this and the previously mentioned events are reminders that there is no equivalent for an individual’s personal experience. As social theorist Dorothy Smith asserts:

“The relations underlying and generating the characteristics of our own directly experienced world bring us into unseen relations with others. Their experience is necessarily different from ours. [Thus,] if we would begin from our experienced world and attempt to analyze and account for how it is, we must posit others whose experience is not the same as ours.”

In short, we must recognize that there will always be limitations to our understanding of ‘diversity’ despite our best efforts to learn about others’ experiences. This, in turn, necessitates that those with privileges and power defer to diverse individuals and uplift diverse voices. Therefore, while I have had the unique opportunity to study organizational leadership at such an advanced level, I also believe that I have a duty to impart this knowledge and develop the skills of others who may one day lead me. Ultimately, this is my core tenet regarding diversity and leadership.