[acb-hsp] Diversity training session at ACB convention

[Mmorrowfarrell at aol.com]

“ Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your  words.  
Keep your words positive  because your words become your behaviors.  Keep your 
behavior positive because your behaviors become habits.  Keep your habits 
positive because your  habits become your values.  Keep  your values positive 
because your values become your destiny. “ ~  Gandhi 
>From Mary Morrow-Farrell, Philadelphia PA  

 
In a message dated 7/14/2012 8:54:11 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
paltschul at centurytel.net writes:

Blog  post for July 16, 2012
Improving Diversity Training
How  many times have we left some sort of diversity training 
feeling bored,  disconnected, and perhaps a bit guilty (but not 
motivated to do anything  about the guilt)? How might we increase 
the possibility that these  experiences might result in real 
change? I recently led a session where  ten people with visual 
impairments wrestled with these questions, and a  summary of our 
thoughts appears below.
I began by splitting  participants into three groups and asked 
each group to come up with goals  for a day-long diversity 
workshop.  As they worked, I noticed some of  them falling into an 
all-too-common trap: confusing goals (what should be  
accomplished) with methods (how to reach the goals).
After  several minutes, I asked each group to share their goals 
with the rest of  us; they included:
* Educating about the "business case" for  diversity and "best 
practices";
* Exploring what "diversity"  means; and
* Enhancing communication skills and the ability to  respect 
others.
I next asked whether they believed diversity was  more about 
increasing knowledge or developing skills.  Contradictory  
responses bounced off the walls.
"Why skills?" I asked, handing  a microphone to a woman so that 
people who were hard of hearing could  follow the discussion 
better.
"You're trying to help people do  things better," she said.
"But," protested a man from across the  room.
"Hold on," I said, striding over and handing him the  
microphone.
"People need to be given information to understand  better why 
diversity is important," he argued."
"But if I'm  hearing you right," I said, "increasing knowledge 
is a method to motivate  people to develop skills."
After some more give and take, I argued  that diversity is far 
more about skill development than increasing  knowledge.
"So how do you increase knowledge?" I asked.   Participants 
suggested reading, asking questions, listening to lectures,  and 
doing research.
"And how do you develop skills?"
"Practice!" a man half-shouted from the back of the room.
"That's  right," I agreed.  "And if you spend most of your time 
reading about  something, you may be increasing your knowledge but 
not increasing your  ability to do that thing better.  And if you 
spend most of your time  dispensing information instead of 
developing skills while doing diversity  work, you're wasting 
everyone's time."
I then talked about how  some organizations require 
up-and-coming leaders to play leadership roles  in organizations 
serving people different from them both for PR purposes  and to 
allow these leaders to practice working with people different  
from them.  I talked about the reverse mentoring program I ran  
for a large multinational corporation where people of diverse  
backgrounds mentored members of their leadership team on 
diversity and  culture change.  (Additional information about this 
program is  available in my book and at www.peteraltschul.com.)
"But?" a woman  asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" I handed her the microphone.
She  talked about how an organization seemed to be dragging its 
feet after  being ordered by the federal government to hire more 
people with  disabilities, and wanted to know how to encourage the 
leadership team to  start moving forward.  "That can be really 
hard," I said quietly  while thinking about encouraging our group 
to develop a  "let's-get-started" activity.  I decided instead to 
point out that  each of us have developed successful relationships 
with people different  from us.  "What did you do to make these 
relationships work?" I  asked.  The list the group developed 
included:
* Finding  things in common;
* Being vulnerable;
* Being yourself;  and
* Listening deeply.
"All of us want to be loved and  respected," someone said.
I pointed out that activities like this  tended to draw in 
participants because they are reminded that each of them  already 
have a reservoir of strengths to draw upon.  "It's much  easier to 
build on strengths than to start from scratch," I said, "and  
reminding people that they have things in common makes it more 
likely  that they can effectively address the conflicts caused by 
their  differences."
"And how do feelings play into this?" a woman asked as  I 
prepared to wrap up.
"Feelings drive actions," I said.   "Thoughts help, but feelings 
are the main motivators of  change."

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