Diversity MBA Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 47) EXECUTIVE the respondents reported having daily contact with another Black woman at their place of employment; only 7.3% reported that they actually socialized with that woman outside of their place of employment.” I maintain that if you don’t know where a woman gets her hair done, you really don’t know her at all. Certainly, as a leader, you don’t know her well enough to ask her to put it all on the line to support your own leadership. It’s simple. We need to be with each other a lot in order to sustain the intimacy that allows us to trust each other. It also means that organizations that lure you in with promises of opportunity for all, then switch up and impede or discourage in any way your efforts to enrich communal cohesion and support one another, are toxic zones that should be avoided at all costs. A few individuals may heroically rise in these places despite undermining barriers, but the kind of positioning they endure isn’t the prescriptive path. It will ultimately have you out there as stressed and lonely as the only duck on the pond DEVELOPMENT during hunting season. Here are 5 cues that you’re on the pond: • Insisting that you refer to yourself as a person of color rather then your preferred racial or cultural identity. • Advising you that it’s not smart for you to be seen too often with people who look like you. • Challenging your efforts to mentor, hire, or promote others of your same race or gender. • Telling you that your race or gender hurts your chances to rise, so you need to work twice as hard to get half as far. • Insisting that you mask your natural style of communication in order to appear more acceptable. Authentic leaders present themselves honestly. They’re known for their distinctive style and admired for their courage of conviction. They’re passionate about what they do, and that passion kicks up the heat that carries that authentic primal scent that reassures followers that they know that the true measure of their success rests on how well they serve and embrace “We the people.” ■ 47 M arch 2008 Top 5 0 Co m p ani e s http://www.fbijobs.gov http://www.fbijobs.gov http://www.fbijobs.gov
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