I can't say that I've always had positive experiences in others recognizing the importance of
ultimate consideration for one another, but I take it as a learning experience for them and
me.Women and the disparity of leadership roles to male counterparts is a mystery to me.
The only thing that I could consider is some ultra ancient unknown code that is valued
greatly by the untouchable elite founders of mankind. No.. But seriously... I understand that
it has to do with the US maintaining a stance of a male dominated country in order to "save
face" with other countries who do not share the same point(s) of view in regards to who
should be making decisions. If that's not true, then that's a great theory because I didn't read
that anywhere. I really, just now, looked at it from a global perspective.The results of my
self-assessment proves that I do value diversity. My results show that I understand the
importance of valuing diversity and I exhibit behaviors that support my appreciation of
diversity. An example from work that shows I value diversity by respecting my coworkers
opinions and ideas being as though they are different from how I normally think or would
suggest. I think women hold few top leadership positions compared to men because women
still don't get the respect that they deserve due to archaic ideology. To change this situation
I could work towards being a women in power and giving opportunities to women who
experience being overlooked. To foster greater inclusivity in my workplace I could self-
educate and create an agenda to make the workplace a more inclusive atmosphere. I would
manage resistance to diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace by listening to to all
employees concerns, ideas, issues, and needs. I would make all opportunities available to all
employees no matter the gender or work group. Those are ways I would manage resistance.
As I reflect on my self-assessment results, it is very clear that I value diversity. As a
Human Resources Manager, it is my job to value everyone's diverse beliefs and cultures.
When a complaint passes to my desk, I treat everyone involved with respect and do not
treat anyone differently. Another example is my weekly HR forum meetings, which include
all HR positions to gather in the conference room. We go through projects that we have and
we ping ideas off each other. All of those ideas are creative, diverse, and so great.There are
more men in top leadership roles, as opposed to women in the workplace. It is so
unfortunate, and it is bothersome that this is only slowing improving. I feel that there is
zero excuse for this to be a slow transformation, and not a quick change in enterprises. I
feel that men are in these roles because they are deemed as "stronger" or "mentally
capable", which can be very offensive to women in the workplace. Slowly, we are starting
to see changes, but women need to continue this conversation and pave the way for our
future generations.If I wanted to foster inclusivity in the workplace, I would gather the
Corporate staff in a conference room and start with a SWOT analysis. From there, we could
all foster a plan for growth, and work together as a team.I deal with resistance to change
and diversity on a weekly basis in my position. There are many who fear change or who
worry about their role in the workplace when extreme change happens. The best advice I
give to those employees is "1. Don't panic. and 2. Everything is always subject to change.".
For employees who are not open to diversity in the workplace, I enroll those employees in a
sensitivity training and we attempt to grow those employees, before termination. I believe
from my results from the self assessment and personal experience I value diversity pretty
regularly. My personal opinion is most qualified women in organizations feel that top level
management is still seen as a good old boys club. Even though the research shows that
women are viewed as and make better transformational leaders, only a small percentage of
women make it to this high level of management. I would encourage all women and men
alike to challenge themselves to reach new heights within the organization. Most people
just need someone to encourage them and push them out of their comfort zone to achieve
what they have always wanted to do. In addition I believe the workers who are hard
working, reliable, and have a good attitude while they are at work deserve to get
promotions and advancement opportunities. I would openly encourage others that are
resistant to diversity to give it a fair chance to see the positives that may come from it. I
think as working professional we can learn a-lot about the people, cultures, personalities,
actions from the people we work with. This openness to diversity allows coworkers from
different background and interests to work together to achieve the company goals as one.
The results from my self-assessment shows that I have value diversity for example, while in
the military I was able to observe and learn how other countries value their beliefs and how
they are diversified by their religion and race. In the military, everyone is trained to become
a team regardless of your background or gender. This learning aspect of diversity has
allowed me to carry this through life at work, school at home and everywhere I go. I think
that previously men held more top leadership positions compared to women due to the
mindset of thinking men had more assertive personalities and spoke up more and women
were not educated or deserving. I think today things are already changing with more
women being in top leadership roles because they are deserving, and change is needed. The
best person for the position for the top leadership position need to be chosen and stop all
the diversity and political aspects that comes along.To foster greater inclusivity in the
workplace you need to provide training with question-and-answer session to ensure
employees understand the background and what we are you are trying to accomplish.
Communication and open dialogue are key for the success of the program to be established.
The way I would manage resistance to diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace is
to ensure that our workforce is trained and aware of diversity and inclusion. Most issue
arise when there is no understanding and communication, and they may not be aware in the
first place. While I was in the military, I establish a program to take one of the lower
enlisted Soldiers and put them in charge for day so they could gain an experience and
knowledge to see what leader go through every day that opened their eyes to see what
happens on the other side. I feel like I value diversity, even though I went to a HBCU and
worked in mostly all male work-fields. I value diversity because even though we are all so
similar we are so very different. I have two children and they are raised the exact same way
but they are two very different people. So how can me and the people I work be expected
to do the same job and think alike. When I was in the army there were people from all
around the world, male and female, and all kinds of different races. In the demographic
analysis, we compared the executive population of the more senior leaders to managers and
supervisors. We further analyzed the data by gender. Not surprisingly, we found that the
executives and senior leader were rated significantly higher on their ability to value
diversity and practice inclusion than were the middle managers and supervisors. There were
also absolute differences between males and females, but those differences were not
statistically significant. Repeatedly we have seen how prejudicial behavior by a senior
executive can have an extremely negative impact on the culture of an organization. As I
reflect on the results of the self-assessment, I share a great belief that I value diversity. In
previous employment, my first diversity training course was titled “Cultural Competency,”
where we learned about traditions of cultures. I lived in California (new to me) and did not
realize the number of dialects and races were represented. This course taught me how to
work with and embrace traditions of different cultures. This began my diversity journey to
today. My current employer has taken on training the company in Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion (ED&I). We have four (4) workgroups, of which I led the Communications
group. Our training is ongoing (1+ years into inceptions). All of these interactions have
certainly given me a new perspective to value diversity in the workplace.
There have been great strides for women in the workplace today. I feel women have not
exceled into top leadership positions due to a feeling of tradition that women were not
equal to be leaders. I think the workplace felt women versus men, lacked the education,
tough exterior for business meetings with men, and being a nurturer gave them a sense of
being weak. I feel to change these parameters, we must continue to provide educational
opportunities for women, encourage the start of their own business, and compete with men
and apply for leader-based positions that are currently dominated by male counterpart. If we
cheer women in on to apply for positions beyond the glass ceiling, this will transition into
confidence for belief that they can compete with men in the workplace.
To foster greater inclusivity in the workplace, using rational versus emotional approach
would be a challenge. I would initiate a round-table conversation with staff and use a series
of questions to find out what inclusivity means to each of them. After readings, I would
randomly choose a staff member to read their response and ask staff respond with ways to
turn their answers into real-world inclusivity at work.
I would create mock work scenarios and ask employees (the audience), to put themselves in
the shoes of a manager to handle resistance of an employee to company practices of
diversity and inclusion in their workspace. Another scenario could include employees
sharing family traditions to analyze how their values could enhance how to understand why
we need diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. As I reflect on the results of my self-
assessment I do believe that I value diversity. Diversity is the practice of involving people
from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders. I believe
everyone has the right to their voice their opinion differently, as long as it isn't bringing any
bodily or emotional harm to another person. If I have to host a meeting I start off with the
bases of the meeting and my thoughts in regards to the matter, but I then open the floor to
hear from others. Women hold less leadership positions compared to men due to
stereotyping. Women are viewed as nurtures and such kind and sweet individuals who may
not be able to get the job done because their emotions could cloud their vision. This
situation can be changed by providing mandatory leadership meetings , and simply
questioning the individuals of how they would handle a certain situation if it were to occur
before hand. If I wanted to foster greater inclusivity and diversity in my workplace I would
need to be transparent, and use inclusive language . I would manage resistance to diversity
and inclusion in my workplace by allowing development opportunities to be available to
everyone and not just a certain group of people. I would make sure I'm actively listening
and my assistance is available to all groups of people. In completing the self-assessment,
and reflecting on the results I do believe I value diversity. At work, I enjoy working with
others with a different background than mine, I find that I learn different methods and ways
of thinking than my own. My occupation is in Human Resources, in my course of
employment I come across different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, I enjoy
assisting these individuals and I recognize that I have to respond to them accordingly.I
believe women hold few top leadership positions compared to men because they have not
been given the same opportunities as men. Since men are in top leadership positions, they
have to have open-mindedness in order to allow women to hold those roles and become
part of their peers. What can be done to change this situation is to educate leaders and
mandate diversity training.As I mentioned before, the best method of managing resistance
to diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace is education. Education, training, and
leadership academies in the workplace are a great manner in changing people's views and
mindsets.
The results from my self-assessment were very helpful in helping me to understand some
things I already had an idea about regarding myself as a person and bring it to the work
place. I am definitely a person that values diversity. I am a person who has my beliefs and
convictions of what would be considered right , wrong, acceptable, or unacceptable.
However, I am open minded enough to know not everyone will agree with me, and that is
ok. I am very open minded that something I may deem to be right can be enhanced just by
being diverse and open minded. That is a crucial part of leading in the workplace. For
example, in my job we need to have an open mind and put the right work attitudes above
all. I am in a place where I work with and we have clients with people from all walks of
life and different lifestyles need to be accommodated and included. This would not be an
option without diversity being valued. We even have trainings regarding diversity and
inclusion in my job. It is valued highly.
When it comes to woman in leadership, I believe I have a sort of mixed view. I strongly
feel woman have to work harder to prove themselves and show we are capable of leading. I
have been very fortunate to have been promoted to leadership in many aspects and chapters
of my life. I think this is in large part to how I handle myself in general. I am a very
relaxed easy going personality and when stress arises, I almost never allow myself to show
stress or anxiety. I think this helps show I can make calm cool decisions without letting
emotions get involved. Woman unfortunately are presumed to be emotional or sensitive.
This may be the case in areas of our lives, but does not discard a woman as a leader. We
are able to multi-task like champs, so this is something that balances us out. Where I work,
there are many woman leaders all throughout the company. I think that if promotion was
based more on merit and work ethic and not on gender or even who we may be friends
with, this would not be such an issue.In order to foster greater inclusivity in my workplace,
I feel it would have to be a two part implementation. The first being with new employees
entering the company and the second with current employees all the way from the board of
directors, the CEO, and down to the first level. No one or position should be overlooked in
receiving trainings and work related activities to show the value of inclusivity and diversity.
The goals of the meetings and trainings would be to show we are all one company working
for the same mission. A good example would be pairing buddies randomly throughout the
company no matter the level of position to come up with an activity to focus on inclusivity.
This way everyone can meet and learn to work.
