EXPLORING DIVERSITY DOES IMPROVE LEADERSHIP. Dr. Thomas RaShad Easley North Carolina Parks and Recreation Directors Conference February 8, 2017

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1 EXPLORING DIVERSITY DOES IMPROVE LEADERSHIP Dr. Thomas RaShad Easley North Carolina Parks and Recreation Directors Conference February 8, 2017

2 DIVERSITY WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

3 DIVERSITY DIFFERENCE

4 Emotions Anxiety Hurt Disgusted Sad Curious\Annoying Upset Mad Ridiculous Frustrated Angry Shocking

5 DIVERSITY Fairness- everyone has the same access Equity- everyone gets what they need Equality- everyone is treated the same

6 Welcoming and Inclusive We do things that make people feel unwelcome Sometimes its unintentional and its tied to our norms and values - Prayer - Compliments - Comments about groups that we are not a part of - If you are not a part of what we do, you don t belong here

7 DIVERSITY Want our organization to look diverse but not to operate differently Let s make organizational change, but don t touch my benefits

8 DIVERSITY How many people get confused when this term is brought up How many people feel unprepared to discuss this topic How many people feel like I don t know

9 Cognitive Dissonance In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, when performing an action that contradicts those beliefs, ideas, and values; or when confronted with new information that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas, and values

10 KNOWLEDGES Elicit Knowledge is defined as calling forth, drawing out, or provoking a response. Simply, elicit knowledge is something that can be told or showed to another person. Tacit Knowledge is defined as skills, ideas, and experiences that people have in their minds and can be difficult to access. Shared by word of mouth

11 Justification for Diversity Diversity in the workplace is important for employees because it manifests itself in building a great reputation for the company, leading to increased profitability and opportunities for workers. If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center. Of the 117 million people added to the population during this period due to the effect of new immigration, 67 million will be the immigrants themselves and 50 million will be their U.S.-born children or grandchildren. Among the other key population projections: Nearly one in five Americans (19%) will be an immigrant in 2050, compared with one in eight (12%) in T - See more at:

12 Write down first thought What s Wrong with this picture? What s Right with this picture?

13 PERCEPTION

14 Was the designer being racist?

15 DESIGNER Jeremy Scott Said he designed these shoes after his childhood, favorite monster

16 What the benefits of unifying and diversifying the movement? Diversity is a problem-solving tool. When groups are exposed to a more diverse range of perspectives, their values are forced to confront different viewpoints. Diversity does not just expand the common ground of consensus, it also increases the larger group s ability to solve problems (Mickey Fearn)

17 Relevancy, Diversity, and Inclusion Relevancy, Diversity, and Inclusion (RDI) is the deliberate, systematic inclusion of diverse and contrasting perspectives and viewpoints to create innovative, meaningful, and lasting results (see document appendix for working definition of RDI). RDI is the mindset and skill-set from which every employee of the National Park Service must operate. To be effective and provide a high return on investment, diversity training should: Be directly and clearly tied to measurable, meaningful business goals. Yield a measurable improvement in participants awareness, knowledge and skills.

18 Actions

19 HIRING SCENARIO Company wants to address its diversity challenge Draft a job description Appoint a search committee Describe what the position will do (pay, budget, responsibilities)- 40 hours/week, $50,000, and a budget. Work with every stage of professional in the unit, and make the unit a model among other units (regionally, nationally) Send the job out Applications come in

20 PUBLIC.PRIVATE Hiring Officer goes through the applications and pulls out certain ones Search committee goes through the applications Three people are chosen Job description is based on a certain person s resume that has been chosen

21 PUBLIC.PRIVATE Interviews Person A is chosen Person A is offered the job and takes the job Hiring officer wants Person B so they announce they are going to extend the opportunity to this one. Search committee member threatens to go to newspaper about the choice

22 The Job Offer $42,000 No Budget Work only on recruitment

23 Why is Diversity so Hard? You can t solve the problem until you realize you re part of the problem you re trying to solve!

24 Organizations unconsciously perpetuate accretive and replicative growth Accretive/Additive growth- an extension of the existing boundaries-accumulation of samenessgetting larger without changing basic form Replicative growth Likeness influencing other things to take on the qualities of the initiator Mutual growth the equilateral sharing or joining of unlike entities- combining of new and different information, ideas and cultures

25 What diversity challenges have you had? What is it that you think is unique in your environment that is an opportunity and/or a challenge. Be specific. Would you mind telling us about a time a diversity issue came up and how you handled it? (One you re proud of and you didn t handle well)

26 Tips on Diversity Takes Power & Influence to enhance Diversity Everyone has to be involved Macro- vision with micro managing hurts diversity. You must trust those you work with As you think about diversity, don t negate your policies/rules that govern how you operate. You must be willing to look at this as well.

27 Mind your blind spots- what you don t notice or willingly ignore, can hurt someone Diversity workshops must be tied to goals at all levels Remember, people are more than their jobs. At times they have more skills than what they were hired to do If the morale is low, you waste time and energy trying to get people to move. You waste resources as people leave

28 Confirmation bias and analysis When individuals have very strong emotional beliefs and are confronted with rational logical information that challenge, or contradict, their beliefs their beliefs get stronger and more rigid.

29 MY EXPERIENCE HBCU, Historically Black College University HWI, Historically White University Worked in places where I was one of the few or the only person that looked like me I had to learn to operate in multiple environments HBCUs gave push, nurturing, structure HWIS gave challenges, idea development and solutions

30 SUGGESTIONS

31 Show the employees how they belong and strengthen them for when the challenges come Affirm them in their identity and their experience Do what you say you re going to do- building trust Don t make excuses for why you can t support their advancement Let them tell you who they are Push them to do more and share opportunities with them as they develop Give them more responsibility, but don t over extend it without thinking about their pay Don t change the dynamics of the relationships without checking in Learn who they are through relationship and not by questioning

32 RECIPROCATION WHAT YOU WANT IS WHAT YOU DO THE WAY YOU WANT PEOPLE TO BEHAVE YOU EXHIBIT YOU DON T HOLD PEOPLE TO THE SAME STANDARD YOU HOLD YOURSELF TO.

33 QUESTIONS

34 CONTACT Dr. Thomas RaShad Easley