As founder of the National Diversity Council, I would like to welcome you to the fourth and final edition of the 2012 California Diversity Council Newsletter. As the winter holidays approach, I invite you to look back on all our events and programs from this past year, and join us at our upcoming holiday mixers, in order to learn how you can become more involved with the council's work in 2013.
What is in your leadership toolkit? I asked this at a recent speaking engagement, and was astonished that most of the audience didn't even know what a leadership toolkit is; much less what it should contain. Given the diversity of the participants across traditional age, occupation, gender, race, and interest lines, this was a surprising commentary on a missed opportunity. What are the tools you utilize each and every day? Part wisdom, part experience-based, and often learned from others in the workplace, our leadership toolkit supports us in everything from creating mundane expense reports to having a difficult conversation with a colleague. As Abraham Maslow opined back in the 60's, however, to rely upon just one tool sub-optimizes our leadership potential and conspires against carefully cultivating our creativity and flexibility.
I am still amazed at how some still see Diversity as affirmative action, quota, checking a box on a form or just a difference of color, race and ethnicity.
Diversity is actually about our similarities and our differences combined and includes not only race, religion and ethnicity but also gender, age, abilities and disabilities, veteran or military status, parental status, sexual orientation, education, socio-economic status, geographical locations, jobs, titles and even the diversity of thoughts. It is the unique characters that make each individual.
Feb 5, 2013 CADC-Board Meeting
Jan 15, 2013 San Francisco Advisory Board meeting
Sep 9, 2013 San Diego Diversity Best Practice
Feb 7, 2013 CA_Annual Diversity and Leadership Conference
Nov 4, 2013 San Diego - Healthcare Diversity Summit
Oct 7, 2013 San Diego- Multicultural Roundtable
Apr 10, 2013 Sacramento, Talent Summit
Jan 16, 2013 San Diego - Women in Leadership Symposium
Apr 13, 2013 San Francisco/Bay Area- Young Women's Leadership Symposium
One of the tools most useful in starting and managing a mentoring partnership is a mentoring plan. A helpful way to think of a mentoring plan is that it is a roadmap. It outlines the journey that you think you want to take and it helps you stay on track and monitor your progress.
In the workplace, many people struggle relating to and or connecting with others who do not look like them or share similar experiences and backgrounds. In the 21st century, the ability to communicate and work with people from different racial and ethnic groups will be as essential as computer skills. America is more diverse now than at any other point our history. Our children will inherit an even more diverse society. We need to help them learn to live and work closely with people whose race, religion, or culture may be different from their own.
The first American Indian Heritage Day was celebrated in the state of New York in May 1916. Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and Director of the Arts and Sciences Museum in Rochester New York was an early proponent of a day to honor the first Americans and, in fact, convinced the Boy Scouts of America to institute such a day. Several states after that enacted a day to honor American Indians. However, it was in 1990, under the leadership of President George H.W. Bush that a joint Congressional resolution declared November National American Heritage Month. The celebration later was expanded to include the celebration of the heritage of Alaska Natives.
