Commemorating Progression

On Monday January 21^st, the United States inaugurated Barack Obama for a second term as president. He is the first person of a racial minority to be elected into the role’s 225 year old history. That same day also celebrates the historic life and leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose bible was used to swear in President Obama.

Keeping in stride with his path of firsts, the president chose to use his speech to solidify his evolved position on dignity and equality, matching Dr. King’s “Dream”. 

As I listened to the president’s specific calls for gender equality and LGBT social justice, an unexpected thought passed like a cloud in my mind’s eye, subtly nudging me toward a connection: that on Sunday, January the 27^th – less than a week from the inauguration – we will mark the UN's International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. 

At first, I was taken aback by the thought, a bit overwhelmed even. In North America, we have certainly seen historic discrimination-based violence, laws, and societal actions in our communities. My view is that the Holocaust stands as one of the untouchable poles of inhumanities; one of the Earth’s lifetime of lessons.

That’s when the connection hit me: that it goes beyond the fact that oppression, levied in any degree, is still oppression. 

We must constantly acknowledge not only the oppression itself, but just how far we have come as a global community when it comes to diversity and inclusion. 

The social media sector dedicated to diversity will frequently have an article that will pass by, insinuating that diversity education is a waste of time, and that it only leads to more discrimination. Yet the examples that are often given to make the case only point to poor education practices, not to the ineffectiveness of diversity and inclusion. 

So to those bloggers and diversity doubters, I ask that you look at this progression of time between the Holocaust, whose victims we commemorate this Sunday, to the very fact that we have an inspirational African-American leader in one of the most powerful global leadership positions using his voice to champion human rights. Voted in on a day historically set to celebrate one of the greatest civil rights leaders we have ever known. 

I adamantly stand by the work we do as diversity professionals seeking to create positive change within our global workforces, and that our work plays a hand in guiding the progression forward. 

As a general practice, we all must seek employment to sustain our lives. This offers us new opportunities to meet, work alongside and learn to understand that the world consists of people built on endless possibilities.

We spend more than half of our lives if not more engaged in work. By learning to communicate and grow comfortable with one another’s existence while working, it leads to expanded thinking outside of the workplace. It leads us to trust difference, rather than fear or oppress it. 

 

I leave you with the thought to constantly examine your progression, your family’s progression, your community’s progression. Then ask yourself what you are doing to help guide that progression in a positive direction.

As I finished this blog, I popped on the television, and a program my son was watching came on. To my pleasant surprise, it was a recording of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Phillip Glass’ “Satyagraha”.

I’ll let you go on your own journey of reading up on Satyagraha(the opera)'s characters, plot, staging, and serendipitous connection to my blog. 

  “A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.” - Mahatma Gandhi
 

 

 

Living in Your Own Word Cloud

Happy New Year everyone! All of us at Global Learning hope you had a lovely holiday season and that you are looking forward to a brilliantly unexpected 2013, filled with innovation. 

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that catch our eye and lend a simple explanation to an even more complex pondering. 

You may laugh, but as of late I cannot stop thinking about word clouds.   

What is a word cloud? You have certainly seen them; as they are everywhere. A word cloud is a digital graphic of a grouping of words, bound in relation by the common goal of describing a single existence or concept. 

For example, we recently added a word cloud as our @eGlobalLearning Twitter profile background. It consists of the phrase “Be Different” written in a variety of languages. 

One of our favourite Twitter go-to’s @MaryFWinters of The Winters Group and Let’s Talk About Work, also updated The Inclusion Solutions Blog banner to include a fantastic word cloud: 

I am moved by the simplicity of the concept of a word cloud because it enables us to tangibly showcase just how vast the diversity of something or someone can be. We are not only representatives of our visible demographics. Each of us is comprised of our own word cloud; a cosmic list of descriptions based on our genealogy, environment, life experiences, passions, and personal wisdom. This list is our own identity.  

What if we incorporate even just the idea of a word cloud creation into our everyday thinking? We actually do it already, and it has the potential to instigate a sense of pre-determined empathy and compassion when we interact with one another.

When we meet new people, go to new places of business, or attempt to deconstruct a situation, we should encourage our brains to immediately begin the process of building a word cloud.

What exactly does your word cloud look like?

What exactly does your word cloud look like in comparison to others?

The process of building our own word cloud creates the opportunity to understand that every individual comes to the table with traits and situational experiences that we may never be privy to.  

It’s a great opportunity for both sides of the employment interview table to take stock of what and who they are there to represent. As an employer, it’s your duty to fully represent organizational culture, expectations and expertise, while the potential employee must have a sincere understanding of who they are and what they are bringing to the table. 

Take a few minutes to sit down and develop a word cloud of your own, or one for your organization. Include everything you can possible think of – even pieces that you may not wish to share with others. It’s a brilliant way to examine exactly what each of us is made of. 

 

Diversity is the power of the individual. Inclusion utilizes those powerful individuals to spark innovation at every opportunity possible.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”  - Rabindranath Tagore