Building capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system

8th Annual NW Diversity Learning Series (2006)

Session Five: September 28, 2006:
Asking for and giving directions: Using coaching, mentoring and ownership as a strategy to guide you toward opportunities and growth.

Following is a special "after-session resource" provided by Greg Clark and Kay Iwata for the September 28th presentation.

Kay Iwata and Greg Clark's Tips for Dealing with Diversity Tension Points

The POWER competencies for leaders and managers and the Six Critical Keys for managing your career shared in our session are helpful regardless of what diversity dimension you may have to manage in order to have access to opportunities. At the same time there are three additional diversity tension points faced by those who have been traditionally excluded or do not map with the dominate culture. The purpose of this tip sheet is to provide ideas about how to manage these tension points for both the individual and the manager perspective.

Diversity Tension Point #1: Self Promotion and Cultural Conflicts

Organizations aspire to be merit based places of employment where "crËme rises to the top". The reality is that performance counts but so do a lot of other things. In the top three is the ability to self promote when it comes to getting recognition and becoming "known" by those who will make decisions about your career opportunities. Self promotion may be natural and done with ease for some but factors like cultural background, upbringing, personal preferences and gender norms can present challenges. For example, it is quite common for individuals to avoid presenting at key meetings due to a natural preference for introversion. The individuals confronted with this tension point often ask themselves, "How much of myself do I have to give up to succeed in this organization?" Some organizations are trying to change or adjust their cultures to eliminate barriers to access which are culturally driven and the reality is the change process is slow.

Tips for the Individual

Do an assessment of what you think are key personal barriers to you getting access to opportunities that are necessary for your growth. Consider the unique elements of your organization's culture. Verify with a couple of other reliable sources.

Once identified, do another assessment of what you would have to change about yourself to be able to manage around or to eliminate the barriers. Again verify your findings.

Once these findings are clear, assume for a moment you were willing to change or adapt your behaviors or approaches, identify how you would do so. Try not to under-estimate or over-inflate what it would take. For example, you can talk about the accomplishments of the team but also be able to point areas where you made specific contributions. Actually practice doing this to see if it becomes more comfortable. Again verify your findings.

Decide what you are willing or not willing to do. If the price is too high begin to seriously explore other options (e.g., change in career direction, change in companies, staying put but advocating for organizational change through mechanisms like employee networks). It's not that the organization does not have a responsibility to change. Unfortunately in most cases the rate of change is generally too slow to accommodate where you are in your career cycle and where you want to be.

Look for the natural, informal ways to help key leaders understand your contributions. Don't assume that people know who you are exclusively by formal interactions. For example, if you arrive for a meeting along with several others, don't fall into the trap of doing email until all arrive. Look around the room and find someone to speak with.

Tips for the Manager

Educate yourself about the different kinds of barriers faced by employees in the organization based upon cultural differences. Hold team discussions about the "unwritten rules" of the work place to both identify and understand how they can be managed effectively. Employee affinity groups or networks can be great sources of information tailored to your organization.

Provide coaching to assist employees in realistically evaluating how they can overcome the tension point between organizational norms and their own cultural norms.

Support employees by working with them to identify techniques that may help them negotiate getting past the barriers without them having to give up too much of who they are.

Advocate for changing processes and norms in the organization which create barriers based upon cultural differences. Many of these will be subtle micro inequities while others may be more obvious.

Diversity Tension Point #2: Mentor Relationships with a Gender Dynamic

When seeking mentors who are of the opposite sex, how do you manage the relationship so that the gender difference is not a distraction? Two dynamics often need to be managed. First is the internal relationship between the mentor and mentee; second is the external perception of the relationship by the rest of the organization.

Tips for the Individual

Discuss the potential for issues up front so you are both aware of and ready to manage your relationship in a way that is proactive rather than reactive. Be candid in discussing concerns. Don't allow unstated tensions to overwhelm the positive benefits to the relationship. Share past experiences that can be instructive.

Agree upon tactics that will make the gender differences additive rather than distractive to the relationship. Agree upon how you will handle uncomfortable situations should they occur. Observe and do the obvious like scheduling your meetings during work hours, at the workplace and look for open rooms where you can have privacy but still be in public setting.

Tips for the Manager

Same as for the individual and:

The manager needs to go the extra mile to maintain the relationship in a way that is professional and not subject to question.

Avoid making any comments about the relationship which have sexual overtones. Be careful not to get into the "joking around" trap.

If others make these kinds of comments do not allow them to go unchallenged.

Diversity Tension Point #3: Over-compensating

Over-compensation comes in two forms. The first is experienced as over protection. Individuals are held back from getting assignments until "success is certain". The intent is to avoid failure. This shows up as making sure one is "ready" which results in either having:

The bar constantly being raised to ensure "readiness" to take on the opportunity. Placement in assignments that is so safe there is no real impact when they are successfully completed, hence low- to-no visibility.

The second form of overcompensation is the lowering of standards and expectations out of "sympathy" for past wrongs. This often shows up as:

The lack of providing honest, constructive performance feedback.

Excuse making for the person when standards are not met.

Both forms result in lack luster performance and a reputation that marginalizes the individual even further. If allowed to persist, it quickly becomes a frustrating downward spiral for all parties involved.

Tips for the Individual

Avoid getting sucked into the vacuum of overcompensation in either form takes some heads up work on your part, especially if you are new to the organization. This begins as early as the hiring process where you have the opportunity to address them up-front. Interview sessions can be particularly helpful as times to "sense" the presence of these dynamics in the organization.

Be proactive in discussing expectations, scope of responsibilities, what success looks like with your manager and others who have a role in determining the dimensions of your job.

Share your aspirations in terms of doing your job well and ask for input. As you demonstrate your capabilities to get results, you can begin to broaden the discussion to your goals for the future.

Find out who are considered to be the great performers and probe to understand why they are perceived to be so. Take what is relevant from this information to inform you on what you need and what you need to do.

If after this proactive start you feel you are being sidelined by over-compensation discuss the situation with your manager early on. Don't let it get traction. Do this in a respectful way. Acknowledge the best of intentions but also be clear about your concerns.

Tips for the Manager

Find out what kind of barriers employees from diverse backgrounds face in getting access to opportunities. Work to eliminate those barriers by being an ally.

Do not lower standards and expectations and make certain to emphasize them early in your relationship.

Provide timely, constructive feedback and guidance on how to improve. Do so in a culturally sensitive way for the best results. If you are uncertain what those cultural sensitivities are, don't be reluctant to seek the counsel of individuals who can tell you.

Seek out and include those who have different life experiences and perspectives to broaden your ability to manage in a diverse environment.

The 2006 NW Diversity Learning Series (now in its 9th year) focused on the theme, Building Capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system.

Using the metaphor of a subway system, each of the six-bi-monthly morning seminars explored some of the ways that access to organizational opportunities and career development are hidden and therefore more difficult for women and people of color, as well as people who speak English as a second language, to utilize. The purpose of this Series was for everyone to become more aware of organizational culture and how it impacts building people's capacity, and for everyone, managers and employees, to become better at navigating these cultural obstacles along career paths.

For more information about the NW Diversity Learning Series, please visit the Series section of our website.

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