Season's Greetings from The Global Learning Team!

Season's Greetings and Warm Regards,

Elaine Newman

&

The Global Learning Team

www.egloballearning.com

@eGlobalLearning

(416) 488-0175

Hanukkah: Illuminating the Festival of Lights

From December 8^th to December 16^th, 2012, our community members of the Jewish faith will celebrate Hanukkah. Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days to commemorate the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah (candelabrum) lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Hanukkah, when all eight lights are kindled.

In the 2^nd century BCE, Judaism was outlawed by the Greek monarch, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and he had an altar to Zeus placed in the Temple. This provoked a large-scale revolt, first led by Mattityahu, a Jewish priest, and completed by his son, Judah. The Temple was liberated and rededicated, and the festival of Hanukkah was implemented to celebrate this event.

According to the Talmud, olive oil-fuelled the menorah in the Temple, and enough was required to burn through the night every night. Traditionally, the story tells that there was only enough oil for one day; yet the flames burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. The eight-day festival was created by the Jewish sages to commemorate this believed miracle. While lighting the prominently displayed menorah, Jews typically recite blessings to remind others of the miracle that inspired the holiday.

The hymn “Ma’oz Tzur”, based on a Jewish liturgical poem, is sung after the lighting of the festival lights, and is full of allusions to Biblical literature and interpretation. “Ma’oz Tzur” (known in English as “Rock of Ages”) recalls Jewish history and celebrates their salvation from four ancient enemies: Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, and Antiochus.

Other popular Hanukkah music includes hymns such as "Mi Y'malel" ("Who can retell the mighty feats of Israel?”), “Ner Li” (“I have a Candle”), “Sevivon, sov, sov, sov” (“Dreidle, spin, spin, spin”) and the Dreidel Song, “Ikh Bin A Kleyner Dreydl” (“I have a little dreidel”). While not directly associated with the holiday, George Frideric Handel wrote Judas Maccabaeus, an oratorio based on the events that led to the traditions of Hanukkah.

After lighting the menorah, it is customary in many homes to play the dreidel game. The dreidel, or sevivon in Hebrew, is a four-sided spinning top that children play with during Hanukkah. Each side is imprinted with a Hebrew letter. Studying the Torah was outlawed by the Greeks, so the Jew devised the dreidel to camouflage the fact that they were learning. The Jews secretly gathered in caves to study; if the lookout spotted Greek soldiers, the Jews would hide the scrolls and spin tops. The soldiers would leave them alone, thinking they were gambling, not studying.

Foods fried or baked in oil (preferably olive oil) is customary, to commemorate the miracle of the oil keeping the flame alight in the Temple. Traditional foods include latkes (potato pancakes), pontshkes and sufganiyot (jam-filled doughnuts), and bimuelos (fritters).

Usually comprised of small coins, children often receive Hanukkah gelt (‘money’ in Yiddish) as a gift, though grandparents and relatives oftentimes give larger sums. While adding to the excitement, gelt giving teaches a child to increase in charity and good deeds.

While the Jewish community views Hanukah with less religious significance to that of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), Passover, and Shavu'ot, it is a time for Jews to recall their history and the rededication of the Holy Temple. 

A lichtigin Chanukah (“an enlightened Hanukkah") and chag sameach (“Happy Holiday”) to all!

Creating a Community Pipeline of Healing

The majority of us encounter unexpected bumps in the road throughout our lives: illness, conflict, death, fiscal demands. Life’s unpredictable diversity can leave us feeling emotionally cornered at times, and desperate for a helping hand. Recognizing that you need the assistance of others– let alone finding it – can be a daunting experience in itself.
 

One thing social media has taught us here at Global Learning is that our communities are exploding with people and organizations that have made it their mission to assist those in need. Whatever that need may be, whenever that assistance is needed. Everything from self-help groups to demographical associations to advocacy organizations; everyone now has a place to turn. 

Emotionally overwhelming experiences have a high potential to leave anyone distracted or even volatile while at work.

Every sharp leader has a keen eye on the emotional state of their team members. If you are ignoring how emotional intelligence as a leader can be the key to innovation, then you have missed the boat. Hopefully you can row yourself along to catch up, without damaging too many people along your leadership way.

In times of need, varying the ways you choose to ‘be there’ for your team members as a leader or manager is imperative to the development of your corporate and organizational culture.

How do you care?

I advocate absolutely for creating “in-house” resources for your employees. I encourage you, however, to also think beyond the scope of your organization for a variety of reasons, as there are many benefits to encouraging your team to connect with community-driven initiatives.

First and foremost, you are leading your team member to guidance that they require and that you may not be equipped to give. 

It’s great to say “Let me know if there is anything I can do.” But it’s even greater to say “Here is what I can do for you.”

Not all employees wish to reach out to “in-house” resource groups. Sharing personal situations with co-workers or superiors may not be comfortable for everyone. Even if the fear is unfounded, some won’t reach out to their employer or employee resource group in a time of need simply because they believe it may have a negative effect on their job or potential career path. 

Offering your team access to additional services is a way to encourage a person to see that they have options; that perhaps they aren’t backed into the emotional corner they are feeling.

Community outreach is becoming imperative to corporate success. We often view community outreach as what can I do for the community. Building and curating a running resource of community groups and initiatives is a great way to collaborate with the community. It offers more chances for inclusion, as well as creating a brand advocacy pipeline to a wide range of diverse demographics.

 By connecting your team to the community, you are also connecting the community to your team.   

Employees that know you care tell the community that you care; a community which, in turn, will utilize your services because of your accountability and credibility.

If creating such a resource list for your team interests you, there are some important things to keep in mind:

• Be sure to make it clear that you are not endorsing these organizations, only mentioning their existence for your teams to further research themselves and on their own time.
• Avoid including organizations that practice discrimination.
• If including faith-based organizations, include groups of all relevant denominations.
• Make the team feel welcome to offer suggestions to add to the list.
• Offer assistance in finding an additional community group for your team member should they not find one on your list.
• Twitter is a fantastic source to locate untapped local resources.

It may take some time and effort, but the rewards are vast in understanding the benefits to all when introducing your team to the broad community resources available.

“I just might have a problem that you'll understand. We all need somebody to lean on.” – Lean on Me by Billy Withers

Sense and Sensitivity

In the last month, I have received a multitude of calls from both existing and potential new clients, asking for Global Learning’s guidance when it comes to workplace sensitivity.   

Workplace sensitivity is the physical, cultural and emotional awareness of people in a shared workspace. 

From Halloween costumes to poorly communicated frustration to lifestyle assumptions, here are some examples of the situations I have been recently hearing about:

Situation 1:

It’s Halloween, and the office is filled to the brim with pirates, kittens, and zombies. In walks a manager, a 50 year old Korean-Canadian woman wearing a Jamaican flag, colored Rastafarian hat complete with fake dreadlock extensions, baggy jeans, and an armband with a symbolic marijuana leaf on it. To make matters worse, she also chooses to carry around a fake “joint” for the day.

The issue (beyond it being blatantly racist): A subordinate of the manager is the child of Jamaican immigrants.

Situation 2:

In the midst of meeting a deadline, an employee’s computer crashes leaving their work inaccessible for over an hour. While describing the situation to a co-worker, the employee uses the phrase:

“I just want to shoot myself, I’m so frustrated. Seriously pass me the gun so I can kill myself now.”

The issue: A family member of a nearby co-worker had recently attempted to commit suicide. 

Situation 3:

An employee is reading a fashion/health magazine on her break and begins to talk about a featured article on breastfeeding. The employee turns to a co-worker and states:

“Oh my god, that is just so disgusting! This woman breast-fed her child till he was 3. That’s so gross!”

The issue: The co-worker she was speaking to has very specific views about breast-feeding, and chose to breast feed her children until they were 5. 

As to why many organizations feel motivated to deal with workplace sensitivity, the two reasons we hear most often are: “We don’t want to get sued.” and “Because it’s the right thing to do.” But as leaders, workplace sensitivity goes well beyond legal compliance and social justice.

Workplace sensitivity issues are often deeply rooted in shame. Not only does the initial person feeling offended deal with a sense of shame, but very often, shame is used as retaliation to the person who sincerely made a mistake. 

Shame invokes withdrawal, anger and fear. These emotions lead to mental distraction and any number of volatile reactions. It’s our responsibility as leaders to inspire, instill and maintain a constant flow of innovative productivity within our organization. Shame in any form is lethal to innovation.

In case you missed it, we highly recommend watching the TED talk by @BreneBrown on Shame.

You can watch it here: http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html

Workplace sensitivity issues frequently arise from what many perceive as harmlessly intended humour. Humour in the workplace can be a wonderful thing: it can attract business, enhance the relationship with clients, and can even be a clear sign of a great leader. Truly humourous people can be quick problem-solvers, all while maintaining a team’s energy level. But there has to be very clear lines drawn as to what your organization will and will not tolerate as “funny”.    

As a leader, ask yourself these two questions in regard to workplace sensibility:

How are you as an organizational leader educating your team in regard to understanding workplace sensibility?  

How do you as an organizational leader handle the situation when insensitivity occurs in your workplace?  

Your response to these sensitive, yet real life situations set the tone for your employees as well as for the reputation of your organization as a whole.

“Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.”  - Eric Hoffer

Does Everyone Deserve a Seat at the Table?

I strongly believe that everyone should be offered the opportunity to gain a seat at the proverbial “table”. Once seated, however, your behaviour dictates your worth to societal and organizational development. Should your behaviour become an intentional blockade to betterment, I firmly believe that your seat should be removed, and you should be directed to the nearest exit.  

As I have mentioned previously, we are very proud of our social media voice. We utilize our space to curate quality materials from around the globe that can all be tied back to impactful diversity, leadership, and, in turn, human resource content. 

There is a great responsibility that comes with being a media source and we have a firm understanding and appreciation of that responsibility, specifically when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Behind each piece we choose to post, we believe there is useful take-away information that will help to better yourself, your work-life and your place of business.

We uphold this responsibility with an empathetic mindset and constantly ask ourselves what the piece is saying of value, who is producing it, and what will it lead our followers to not only think, but also to feel. We must be accountable for the information we are offering and the brand names / thought-leaders we are promoting for further insights. The power of social media is so great, that even the mere mention of a name in a negative light still garners valuable attention.  Some certainly believe, “There is no such thing as bad press”.

No stranger to grabbing the headlines with aggressive discriminatory language, American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has violated her way into the media several times in the last month or so.

A couple of prime examples: 

Several weeks ago, we celebrated “National Coming Out Day”, a day where the LGBT community and their allies are encouraged to publicly identify themselves. 

Ms. Coulter chose to respond to National Coming Out by tweeting:

"Last Thursday was national 'coming out' day. This Monday is national 'disown your son' day."

Soon after, the recent U.S. Presidential debates were the dominant topic of choice in the social media world, as one would of course expect. 

Ms. Coulter chose to tweet the following about President Obama:

"I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard"

She chose to counter the beautiful letter written to her by Special Olympian John Franklin Stephens – one that politely, intelligibly, and calmly explained to her why her choice words matter – with:

“I was not referring to someone with Down syndrome. I was referring to the president of the United States,” said Coulter, adding that she views “retard” as a synonym for loser. “Do you call people with mental disabilities retards because I don’t. I think that’s a nasty thing to do.” – Disability Scoop

When it comes to aggressive behaviour, it’s important to figure out what the aggressor’s goal is in order to best assess how it will affect you.

Ms. Coulter chooses to be emotionally violent because she and her team have a very specific understanding of the outcomes that her words attract. Media outlets, large or small, will print her name, which leads to her personal financial gain, and an attraction of like-minded people to her preferred political party.

Popular television programs such as “The View” and “Piers Morgan Tonight” invited Ms. Coulter to their program to specifically discuss her “views and beliefs” of the diversity conversation.  They choose to invite her, ostensibly to offer a different view of the world to the public, no matter how puerile some might believe that view to be.

As a diversity professional, I firmly believe in hearing all sides of the story, inside and out –even if that means enduring “opinions” with which I disagree. However, by using the type of language she does and by showcasing her lack of empathy or public class, Ms. Coulter doesn’t offer an opinion, only infliction.

Seeking to outrage people by utilizing discrimination does nothing but attract attention. When there is no substance to what you are saying, you are now officially a nuisance to society. Additionally, justifying your intentional verbal violence by calling it “free speech” is dismissive and offensive to the true argument behind the reason for freedom of speech.  

Effective points can be made without defaming another person. There is so much brilliance to be shared and gained across political lines, cultures, and beliefs. People such as Ms. Coulter are the true barricades to that un-tapped and sorely-needed innovation.  

We can certainly be bold with what we have to say. We can even be “shocking”. But to be bold and shocking for the sake of public attention and notoriety is just plain wrong in our opinion. Arrow-pointing discriminatory language accompanied with a complete disregard for all around you is just a cheap sucker punch.  

Global Learning encourages all persons – be they liberal, conservative or moderate – to speak their minds; but when you seek to provoke harm to others, we should no longer offer you the space or venue in which to promote your narrow-minded goals. We hope all bloggers and media sources might consider the same tactic.

This will be the last time we post anything about Ann Coulter to any of our accounts. She is not worthy of our time, nor yours, if you are a true diversity champion.

She is no longer welcome at our table.

“Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude.”

  ~Maurice Baring