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Hello Everyone
Steve
Previously in our series on
attributes of a difference maker, we talked
about being a door opener and believing in others
when they don't believe in themselves. Today we want to focus on the need
to speak up when you see injustices occur. Certainly it
is easier to speak up when there are a lot of others
who agree with you. But what happens if you are the
only one who speaks up when there is an injustice
that occurs? A recent example was C. Vivian
Stringer, the head coach of the Rutger's women's
basketball team who spoke out about the very
derogatory comments made by Dom Imus on his
radio show concerning her team. I was pleased to
see that CBS and NBC took action to dismiss him.
However, a gnawing question lingers in my mind. Did
they take action based on principle or economics?
The show was not canceled until after the networks
had been pressured by black leaders and women's
groups and when advertisers began pulling out. Mr.
Imus was responsible for bringing in twenty million
dollars in revenue for CBS alone. When I saw the list of some of the
sponsors I was struck that just about every one of
them has a strong diversity initiative. I think this
signals the impact that diversity is having in our
country. I would also hope that beyond economics,
perhaps there is an element of decency among some
of the people in those high powered positions that
would motivate them to cancel sponsorship on the
basis of human sensitivity and not just money. The
outpouring of people's responses was overwhelming
thereby demonstrating the power of the collective "we"
to make a difference. Another side to this conversation is
just because someone makes a mistake why can't
we also see the good things that person is doing.
The Friday after Mr. Imus was dismissed, his wife did
the radio show and she recounted all the good he had
done for different charities. She specifically talked
about how, through his efforts, many children with
disabilities were being served. Certainly the failings
in one area by an individual do not mean that they
aren't making a contribution in other parts of life. This incident surfaces a larger
conversation about language. Who can say what to
whom? What's okay and what's not okay to say to
others. The mission at Hanamura
Consulting is to create and celebrate oneness. This
simply means that we work to help individuals and
organizations develop themselves to their fullest
potential. How we treat each other and the ability to
create a positive working climate is influenced in part
by how we talk with each other. I think there are five steps to help
bring about harmony once something has happened
that fractures relationships: 1. Apology. It was
laudable that Don Imus wanted to meet with the
Rutgers basketball team once the infraction had
become national news. It was also courageous that
the team agreed to accept his apology. So many times
people apologize, not because they feel badly about
what they did or said, but because they got caught. It is
hard to know how sincere this apology is; but we will
soon find out based on how Mr. Imus chooses to go
forward from this experience. 2. Forgiveness. To
forgive someone once you have been wronged is not
easy; in fact you may have to make that decision
based on what your head tells you to do and not your
heart. The coach was very clear in saying that we have
an opportunity to create change in this country and if
we can do something about that by offering
forgiveness then we need to do it. "We need to help
this man grow." It is important to remember that this
may have been a decision (from the head) and not a
feeling (from the heart) to offer forgiveness. One of the
commentators said the Rutgers team agreed to begin
the "process" of forgiving Mr. Imus. 3. Consequence. When
an infraction occurs and the apology is made, I think
some feel that because they have apologized and
sought forgiveness, this should be enough to allow
them to go back to doing "business as usual". I have
seen this practice a lot in the sports arena. Players
are arrested, suspended, fined and then allowed to
come back and play. Sometimes suspension doesn't
occur until after play offs. 4. Commitment. This
can only happen if a person is truly sorry and wants to
make a change. One such experience occurred many
years ago when Al Campanis, then general manager
of the Los Angeles Dodgers, made racially sensitive
remarks during a live interview. Mr. Campanis had
worked forty-four years to obtain credibility and he lost
it in thirty seconds. Once he began to learn about the
capabilities of African Americans and other minority
groups Campanis was instrumental in helping African
Americans strive for promotional opportunities in
baseball. Campanis still had to endure the
consequence of losing his job, but was able to think
differently about minorities. 5. Renewal. We must
believe that renewal is possible. This is what is so
great about the Rutgers coach. She wants something
to happen that will bring about harmony (oneness).
Each of us in our own part of the world can have
something to do that will impact change, renewal and
oneness. Comments on Virginia Tech We offer our condolences to the
many that lost loved ones in the recent shootings at
Virginia Tech. I have limited experience with work
place violence; one where a patient gunned down his
psychiatrist, another where a disgruntled employee
shot his supervisor and seven other people. I was
also a part of a suicide intervention on a college
campus. There seems to be some points of
commonness throughout these acts of violence. First,
mental illness is most likely involved. Second, the
individual is suffering from feelings of isolation, anger
and rage. Third, once an act of wrong doing has been
experienced, this person may develop a list of people
who they are not happy with and decide to do
something to retaliate. In the process other innocent
people are also affected by their plan. We invite you to go to our web site
www.hanamuraconsulting.com and read an
article we wrote on the warning signs of
hate. News Briefs I attended an incredible Diversity
Summit sponsored by our local Portland General
Electric Company. Approximately 900 to 1000
participants attended the conference. The three
keynote speakers were fabulous: Amy Tan, author of
the best seller "The Joy Luck Club", Bruce Tulgan,
founder of RainmakerThinking and the research guru
on generational differences and John Quiñones co-
anchor of ABC's Primetime. I did a breakout session on
Managing our Religious Differences in the
Workplace. It was initially awkward for all of us in the
room. Participants were asked to share their religious
perspective (including agnostic and atheist) or faith
with one other person. The feedback was good; we
started the dialog. I'm still thinking about the session
and hope to do more of this in the future. We invite readers to respond with
questions or comments to any of our content. If you
choose to send your thoughts to us we would be
happy to include them in future editions. So until next time remember to be a difference
maker. |
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Hanamura Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved.
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