Beyond Diversity and Intercultural Management

My background as it pertains to diversity and other areas of management is quite diverse; an attribute I value since it has provided me with the opportunity to view the topic of diversity from multiple vantage points.

Educated and trained in human resource management and organization development, I historically approached diversity from a pragmatic mind set. Yet, over the years I have learned that if individuals, organizations, countries, and global economies are to “make” diversity work in people’s daily lives, they have to embrace a mindset that transcends the traditional concepts of difference and resulting implementation strategies.

Understanding the relationship between action and reflection as referenced by Dr. Moltmann is critical to intellectual growth. I often tell the story to my students of how Dr. Alvarez and I met and the perceptions that would emerge when she and I would walk into an organization and/or academic environment. We first met in England at an organizational discourse conference. What drew us to begin talking to one another as quickly as we did was our being the only people of color in the room. Although Dr. Alvarez is a French citizen, born, raised, and educated in France, her family originated from Haiti. Consequently, our skin colors are of similar hues—which typically is one’s first identifier of difference. One of our common denominators, or microcultures, was that both of us are trained in the fields of organizational behavior and organization development. Yet, color and educational orientation were largely our only points of commonality when we first met. Noticing, acknowledging, and learning from the reactions of people when we would be together formed, as Moltmann describes, our action-reflective learning processes, which were germane to our research on diversity.

A little over three years ago, I was contacted by another academic from England regarding my work with Appreciative Inquiry as a diversity intervention strategy. This person also happened to be a journal editor and asked if I was interested in publishing the paper, which had been presented at a conference a few years prior. He viewed the paper as being ready for the peer-review publication process. I declined the offer, although I very much appreciated his offer. I did not feel that the paper accurately reflected where I now am in my understanding of what really constitutes a sound diversity intervention strategy. I have always been leery of academics who intentionally publish in stages, or are oblivious to where they are in their personal development for the sake of publishing, and as a result have worked to not fall into either trap.

It is very possible that the leadership of an organization might balk at the thought of including workers in the conversation regarding the process of analyzing and developing diversity strategies. Yet, who better knows what they need?

The increasing pace of internationalization and the changing forms of globalization are requiring organizations to be very savvy in cross culturalism, particularly if they desire to position themselves for success. If an individual aspires to have a successful global career, cross-cultural competencies are absolutely necessary (Morley and Cerdin, 2010). Yet, there are still questions as to why some individuals have very little problems navigating cross-cultural experiences versus others who struggle with the competency (Morley and Cerdin, 2010).

While I clearly understood the microcultural differences that Dr. Alvarez and I addressed in our work, my subsequent research and field work took that learning to a vastly different level within my own cultural context, which did not include country cultural differences.

As a researcher and a change agent, I am constantly analyzing my experiences and the resulting knowledge. When I first began working with diversity change strategies, my work largely focused on strategically and systemically addressing the whole organization. Having worked in organizations that did not drive their diversity initiatives from the top levels, I clearly understood how critical it was for senior leaders to articulate a diversity vision that would fully represent their support.

As our world becomes more complex, the role of leader continues to morph to new levels. Emerging economic, social, and cultural pressures in today’s global environment demand that leaders at all levels find better ways to align their vision, core values, and daily actions to produce the needed and valued results at work as well as at home (Friedman and Antal, 2005).

If we are ever going to change how we view, treat, and inspire people, the change will need to start with people who have leadership roles. And their personal transformation will morph through their respective organizational venues, inspiring the hearts and souls of others to change as well. In our self-transformation, we become a living symbol of change—metaphors that bring about metamorphosis (Chatterjee, 1998, as cited in Quinn, 2004). People who are around us become attracted to our energy in such a manner that they begin to empower themselves—actions that lead to emergent organizing—a change in the system that no one “leads” in the traditional sense (2004).

First and foremost, let me be clear as to why the model is written in a circular format (figure 10.1). This design is intentional. The arrows suggest that once the processes are complete they start over again. One can never grow comfortable in praxes and assumptions, particularly as our global environment changes. Therefore, once the organization has completed the cycle, at some point in time the process should be repeated. The rationale for doing so is simple. Our global environment continues to morph and change. Nothing is static. Consequently, we should never assume that our guiding praxes will remain static. I am not suggesting that you immediately reengage the model, but at a respectable point in time the organization and its leaders (who can also change as time lapses) will grow as will the global diversity environment.