Diversity With A Twist

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: Diversity: Leaders Not Labels

Competencies: self-development, diversity skills, leadership skills

Who benefits: individuals in the workforce or going to enter the workforce

Consultant Usage: as a coach or career development specialist — useful as a book to recommend to others 

What’s it about? I had not read a book on the topic of diversity in 10 years.  I saw this book at my community library, loved the title, and checked it out.  I had come through the “diversity” era in the workplace and was curious about what was being written in this new century.

This book has something to offer but not what you might think.  So let me get past some of the obstacles in this book before I point out its strengths.  The title of the book is misleading.  It is not about “diversity” as most of us know the topic.  It is not about leadership in the traditional sense.

Like the very popular book Three Cups of Tea, it is not particularly well written, but the content is far more important than the flow and transitions.  The author is a public speaker, and the content often seems more like a transcript from a seminar than a traditional book.

Having said all that, the book is really a self-help book aimed at those who see themselves as disenfranchised or lacking in personal power.  That distinction, as the author, Stedman Graham, correctly points out, could be any one of us.  And the cause is often the labels society puts on us. 

In fact, for some it is those labels that gets in the way of their success.  You can love or hate this quote, but it is the central theme of this book: “The privileges once reserved only for affluent, non-ethnic males are now available to everyone.  All you need to know is how access them.”  He goes on to write “You will need the right set of leadership skills and the right attitude to thrive …in this new world.”

His book is then divided into three main areas topics.  The first is an analysis of labels, which I found most interesting.  Labels work two ways.  Those who do the labeling create stereotypes which puts people into convenient and often incorrect boxes (race boxes, women boxes, sexual orientation boxes, etc.).  But the author points out that in this day and age people need not and ought not accept those labels and by not confronting their labels and stereotypes, people hold themselves back.

The bulk of the book is story telling.  It is about the stories, history and chronologies of Native Americans, Latinos and Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Gender, Sex, and People with Disabilities.  There is also an insightful section called “Whites Are Not Immune to Labels.”  The net effect of the stories is a sad – but needed – reminder of our history and an optimistic future full of possibilities.

The book ends back where it began.  It is always up to the individual to take responsibility for his or her future.  His final chapter is “The Nine Steps: Transform and Thrive”.  The chapter is similar to many other self-help books except that its focus is on getting rid of the labels, the baggage, that holds a person back.  The core message is know your history so you can work through it.

There is one thing I dislike about this book.  It assumes we all start from the same starting line.  For starters, until all young people have equal opportunity at quality education, there will be large groups of people excluded from effectively utilizing his advice.  There are adults who don’t have enough education to even read his book.  You can’t run the race if you don’t know where the track is.

That said, there are two things I really like about this book.  First, he opens the door to the possibility that we may be coming to the end of the era where we need labels to define people and second, we all need to be responsible and accountable for all our choices. 

It is a book worth a read, but it is only for those who can read.
 
Catch you later.

 

[tags] diversity, labels, stereotypes, personal transformations, career development, self-help, equal opportunity, stedman graham, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.