Category: Diversity & Inclusion

At church, our current sermon series is entitled, “The Journey…”  Today, we focused on the journey to significance.  Our Pastor noted that it is a journey of discovery, a journey of self-realization, and a journey of transformation.  The journey towards spiritual significance certainly parallels the journey towards building competency in diversity & inclusion as a leader.  In fact, I read recently that a psychologist was asked about the best way to prevent the on-set of mental illness…especially if you felt you or a loved one were on the brink of such illness.  Interestingly, his response was that you should focus on serving others.  If you’re focused on meeting the needs of others, it’s difficult to be overcome by the downward spiral of self-destructive tendencies…

In the leadership context, there are certainly good applications.  Get to know your people…their needs and their desires…  That’s more complicated in a diverse organization.  Again, I turn to the writings of Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr.  His work “Building on the Promise of Diversity” proves instructive.

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Earlier this year, on May 17^th, Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr.—a pioneer in diversity management in the workplace—passed away.  Some of his books helped shape my thinking on diversity and inclusion.  It started for me in 2007 when as a participant of NASA’s Leadership Development Program, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator Charles Scales recommended that we read Thomas’ Beyond Race & Gender—the best book on diversity management he’d ever read.

Coincidentally, while I was spending my year in Washington, D.C., I learned that Roosevelt Thomas, Jr. was scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the first-ever Federal Agencies’ Diversity Day on November 28, 2007.  I attended and eagerly scribed notes on his talk about “Diversity Today:  A Business Case for the Federal Government.”  Thomas walked through the evolution in approaches to diversity from the Traditional (1960’s) focus on social justice and workforce representation to Diversity (1980’s), which introduced the concepts of diversity and inclusion.  Thomas noted that we’re stuck on “numbers” and “relationships” because society rewards progress on both.  Then, he went on to challenge the title of his talk, noting that diversity itself is not good or bad—instead, diversity management will help you move forward as a leader…

To learn more about Thomas’ views, continue here.