Diversity Executive - November 2008 - (Page 4)

FROM THE EDITOR You Can’t See It, but It’s There More than 10 years ago, I had an early morning job interview at a prominent Chicago public relations ﬁrm. I arrived before the ofﬁce opened and had to wait outside its locked doors for someone to arrive. When someone did, I smiled and stated my name and why I was there. The white woman did a double take and asked, “You’re Kellye Whitney?” in a tone of voice that suggested I probably shouldn’t be. Then there was the time I laughingly joked to a white colleague that it was funny how surprised some people are when they meet me in person. Having corresponded with me most often by phone and e-mail, they have no idea I’m black until we meet face-to-face for the ﬁrst time. She replied, “I think that’s all in your head.” Actually, no, I don’t think it is. It’s pretty safe to say it was my skin color that threw people in both scenarios. After all, in the case of the PR ﬁrm, my resume was good enough to land the interview. can be just as damaging as blood welling beneath the surface of the skin. Then, even when savvy leaders are aware of microinequities, they don’t want to admit such things still occur. And their refusal to acknowledge these truths can cause more problems. Recent data from a study by Evan Apfelbaum and Samuel Sommers of Tufts University showed that whites — some as young as 10 years old — will deliberately use tactics to avoid racial topics because they don’t want to appear prejudiced. The study, however, concluded that acknowledging race in socially appropriate situations can cause fewer problems than pretending it doesn’t exist, which can actually make the avoider appear racist. The perceptions that cause people to exhibit microinequities often are deeply rooted and unconscious. But their consequences can manifest in low self-esteem, poor job or classroom performance and high turnover when the person affected voluntarily withdraws from the situation. It takes effort, but it’s worth the extra time to be sure that our language and behavior don’t unintentionally marginalize or make someone else feel bad about who they are. Many years after these slights occurred, I can still remember the details: where they happened, what time of day it was, how I felt afterward. And employees in many companies probably have similar stories to share. These microinequities — or ways in which individuals are singled out, overlooked, ignored or otherwise discounted based on some unchangeable characteristic — likely run the gamut of stimuli beyond race to include gender, disability and sexual orientation. Even an outlandish idea might qualify as a microinequity if the person listening didn’t bother to look past the idea’s delivery to the meat of the concept and its potential business value. In today’s flat, global marketplace, there’s no such thing as being too sensitive. These subtle, sometimes invisible, but still extremely relevant incidents can prevent people from succeeding in business. And a belief that microinequities are all in your head presents one of the most pervasive hindrances for the advancement of diversity in corporate America. Diversity executives — and all of an organization’s leaders — can only sustain diversity and inclusion program efforts and effectively build a culture that welcomes, embraces and leverages diverse people and ideas when they are unafraid to acknowledge there has been some sort of injury or problem. Perpetrators of microinequities often don’t realize their gestures, tone of voice, comments or other reactions are damaging. I’m not talking about a bruise or a cut or some other physical harm with visible signs, but emotional slights that Diversity executives, who likely want a more substantive, bottom-line reason to justify microinequities training programs and the like, know that being unaware or insensitive can cost an organization in terms of lost productivity and performance. Further, this unconscious behavior might manifest in an organization’s inability to recruit and retain diverse talent, or may even appear as court costs and damages should an employee’s personal affront take a more litigious path. Just because you can’t see something, or you refuse to believe it still exists, doesn’t mean it’s not there. And in today’s ﬂat, global marketplace, there’s no such thing as being too sensitive. Whether customers are internal or external, they have the power to make you take notice — when they take their business or their talent elsewhere. « Kellye Whitney kwhitney@diversity-executive.com 4 Diversity Executive | www.diversity-executive.com | November/December 2008 http://www.diversity-executive.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Diversity Executive - November 2008

Diversity Executive - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Leadership Connections Guest Editorial Diversity Executive Online Middle Management Roadblock ‘Hidden Winds’ Hinder Progress The Domino Effect Supplier Partnerships Unlock Economic Opportunities Measuring Diversity Special Section: Who’s Who in Diversity and Inclusion Dimensions of Difference Overcoming Language Diff erences Business Intelligence: Combating Subtle Discrimination Case Study: Shifting Diversity Into Overdrive Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Strategies

Diversity Executive - November 2008

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