“To excel, you must be able to bring your “whole” real self to work. Here’s why: unless you’re in a Broadway play, it’s too confusing and exhausting to play one role by day, be yourself at night and sustain your “A” game. “

For years I hid behind who I was and what I like to do on my personal time, worrying about what others might think or that I might offend that 2-3% of people that could not relate. I have changed that aspect of myself, and have received comments from colleagues that I work with that they see a difference in me. HR professionals need to keep it real, and demonstrate our authenticity to our companies.

Thanks Alan.

Warm Regards,
Andy

Brain

Here’s a little bit of d&i that the 7000 students in the University of Delaware (UD) dorms were to be indoctrinated in (participation was to be mandatory by the students):

“Hello, Mom? I’m a Racist!

The media focused heavily on one part of the RA training called “Diversity Facilitation Training.” RAs were trained using definitions like these:

A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination…

REVERSE RACISM: A term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege. Those in denial use the term reverse racism to refer to hostile behavior by people of color toward whites, and to affirmative action policies, which allegedly give ‘preferential treatment’ to people of color over whites. In the U.S., there is no such thing as “reverse racism.”[2]

The training was heavy-handed as it passed from RAs to students. Guerrier described it as leaving “a mental footprint on [students'] consciousness.” The staff actually called the program a treatment: “through the … curriculum experience (a treatment) specific attitudinal or behavioral changes (learning) will occur.” The fact that ResLife viewed students as patients in need of “treatment” for their problems revealed their utter lack of respect for the students and their freedom of conscience.

A freshman at Delaware couldn’t escape the ideological, highly politicized messages about consumerism, social justice, affirmative action, world redistribution of wealth, and so on. The messages were woven into the fabric of the very place where students slept or talked late into the night. The door decorations were not the usual “Hello, My Name Is,” but rather featured the “three interlocking circles” of “sustainability”: “social justice,” “healthy environments,” and “strong economies.”

The messages were reinforced by “roommate contracts,” “suite constitutions,” and the one-on-one sessions for which RAs—students themselves—had been trained with “delivery strategies.” And they were reinforced at the mandatory floor meetings, where RAs led activities that forced students to reveal their personal views and to suffer public shame for taking conservative rather than progressive positions on social issues. In one such activity, students were to stand on one side of the room if they agreed with, for example, gay marriage, the other side if not. Staying in the middle was not tolerated because, the students were told, the real world is polarized like this.”

You can read more about this case, which was finally stopped for its obvious violations of the students’ civil rights, here:
http://ow.ly/16rF3M

I have attended d&i training in Fortune 500 companies that were like the U of D “Diversity Facilitation Training,” only far more subtle than the U of D’s cultist approach. For example, the so called White or White Male Privilege which is mentioned in many Corporate d&i training programs: there is no scientifically valid evidence that this exists…none whatsoever. Yet, Corp. Diversity “experts” run their “training” assuming this is an undisputed fact. If you really look at the theory of White Privilege with an open mind, it is rather racist in its core concepts. One could never say the same things about other groups that the theory of White Privilege says about whites without being accused of racism (and those accusations would be accurate).

I really think most of what d&i wants to accomplish can be done with some superior interpersonal skills training instead. This certainly fits in with your HR Rule #4. Thus, I think your HR Rule #4 is brilliant on so many levels. One thing to add to it: if you are indefensible to your boss, you are more likely to be on the “Do NOT Layoff” list instead of the “People To Layoff” list (written or unwritten, every company has these lists).

I agree with much of what you say on mentoring. I would add that you can pick someone to mentor who looks like you, but still is different….different career background or different education or from a different industry (public sector vs. private (very little is the same with those two), etc.
D&I should have its goal intellectual diversity. After all, intellectual diversity is what will find better perspectives to improve customer service, improve stockholder value, help the company increase market share, etc. In fact, most companies use these as reasons to justify having a robust d&i program, training, recruitment, etc.
BUT, too many companies confuse intellectual diversity with visual diversity. They assume a company that looks diverse also has intellectual diversity automatically. Not so. Think of the Democratic party….very diverse looking, yet on issue after issue, they have the SAME opinions and ideas. They all think alike on increasing government spending, raising taxes, affirmative Action, etc.
So where is the intellectual diversity here? Looks can be deceiving and with regard to d&i in most companies, looks usually are deceiving.

@Denise – Thanks for the nice add to the list – agree 100% – mentoring someone outside of your business experience with a different frame of reference works too. I’ve personally benefited a lot from having mentors like that in my life. Thanks for sharing your experience in coaching those of different groups/backgrounds. I like your take on coaching corp AA vs other groups — I’ve not heard it before. Great stuff! One last point: you know something – when this article was in my head it was a lot more controversial than it wound up being now that I read it again…but, glad it was at least a little provocative for you. Stay warm.;-).

best,
Alan

Oh, I’ve coached and mentored ppl from all walks of life even before I started my business. My only criteria is “are you willing to learn and change your behavior?”. In experience I’ve found it more difficult to mentor/coach African American in corporate than ppl of other races, ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Why?
Those I’ve come across have so many “can’t do, they won’t let me, they need to change first” beliefs that it stops the growth and success momentum.
That’s not true if they are entrepreneurs or students. And working with them has expanded my thinking and perspective tremendously. I’d add to your list – mentor someone outside your business experience.
Thanks for the post – maybe it was a provocative.