Be aware of the internal sentences that drive your communication with people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Asian.
Register today: 2-hour webinar $175.00
Be aware of the internal sentences that drive your communication with people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Asian.
Register today: 2-hour webinar $175.00
In a Ted Talk I watched recently, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s The urgency of intersectionality, Crenshaw caught my interest by talking about a type of bias that is notably not talked about, yet quite dangerous and telling. Crenshaw coined a term, intersectionality, to describe the process of looking at what happens at the intersection when an individual is subjected to the biases of more than one marginalized characteristic at once (a person who is black and gay, for instance).
Crenshaw illustrates the concept of intersectionality by describing just that – an intersection.
An intersection where the biases that come against us (in hiring, and other forms of exclusion) work simultaneously and become doubly effective.
When we have more working against us in terms of bias-driven prejudice, we are statistically less likely to get that job or that promotion, or even that respect.
Crenshaw reiterates a certain point throughout the talk: When you can’t see a problem, you can’t solve it. She uses black women as an example of a population of people whose stories of mistreatment are more likely to fall through the cracks, compared to their white female and black male counterparts.
Crenshaw uses the word prism to describe the multi-angled lens through which we should view such complex issues.
To consider a complex phenomenon,
we should use a complex lens.
What does your lens look like?
Ted Talk:
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s The urgency of intersectionality
https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality/transcript?language=en
You’ve heard the phrase, dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.
Well, I am proposing a new, modified version of this statement. Professionalism is, after all, a lot more about your behavior and how you treat people than it is about how you dress.
I propose that we behave for the job we want, not for the job we have, because making the transition into higher levels of management can be a challenge when it calls for a change in our everyday behavior.
Given the heightened level of self-regulation and discipline that comes with heightened responsibility, many people struggle to change their professional persona when their role changes. People who were once our equals – maybe even our friends – now report to us, and it can be awkward and uncomfortable to change the way we relate with those people. This is where the new, modified statement comes in. If we start managing our professional persona early, then when the time comes to take on more responsibility – and it will – you will have a much easier time making the transition with members of your team.
Some tips for disciplined self-regulation:
Why is professionalism important?
The ability to maintain a professional persona is skill that great managers, supervisors, and other leaders exercise. Not only does keeping a balance between work expectations and outside-work life keep us feeling balanced, it also manifests a consistency in the workplace behavioral expectations.
Good relationships ? Good results.
According to Sarri Gilman’s TED Talk on personal boundaries, people who are overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed have trouble making the right decisions for themselves because their judgment is blurred. On the other hand, people who trust themselves, are decisive, and are committed to healthy relationships succeed in both their work and personal life.
Sarri acknowledges that challenges naturally come our way in life, and she suggests that high levels of stress cause need for high amounts of self-care. It can be tempting to neglect the self, and ironically stressful to set personal boundaries; but when you consider the benefits of knowing yourself and knowing the values behind the decisions you make, it makes the little periods of transition simply feel like natural results of working hard. Sarri, in fact, calls the process of communicating boundaries merely “sweating”. Sarri elaborates that she, herself, “sweats” regularly working with others.
Moral of the story: Effective professionalism takes hard work at first, and diligence to maintain, but reaps great rewards in creating positive, productive professional and personal relationships.
*Tips and Tools for strengthening boundaries, as presented by Sarri Gilman, are as follows:
Link to TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtsHUeKnkC8