Module 7 Paper Samuel Torres

I have always worked at some companies throughout my life, and I hope to work for a

big corporation after graduation, as a Project Manager. In West Texas, there are not many big

corporations, some have small branches and do not have diverse people working. Previously, I

have been a project manager, where I would have to juggle multiple projects and people to

fulfill those projects. Chin and Eagly write, we tend to discriminate against people of social

groups that do not fit our stereotypical group and we feel like they will not be a good leader.

(Eagly & Chin, 2010) I have always treated the people I managed and worked alongside with

respect and in turn, have had a low turnover rate. After graduation, I want to continue to do

this, and with the help of this course, I have more tools that I can use to help me with this goal.

This course has opened my eyes to see how I might have unknowingly discriminated against

someone in the past. This part of the country is not diverse when looking at the bigger picture,

so I have been living in a bubble all my life. There is diversity among the people around me, but

in the bigger picture, we are not as diverse as I thought.

I hope to work for a company that does business in different parts of the United States

and all over the world. I do have a few in mind and looking through their websites and seeing

videos of the people that work there they appear to be diverse places. The companies that I am

looking into recruit from other countries and are big enough people from other countries have

heard of them, so the companies are sought out. Having such a diverse workforce in a big

corporation, the teams and departments will be filled with people that different cultural

backgrounds. These companies are innovative in space and military projects and with the

amount of diversity in the company these diverse teams are probably driving that. I find it

fascinating to come up with something that does not belong in a box but keeping inside
Module 7 Paper Samuel Torres

specifications for that product. I would welcome that kind of thinking to create a product that is

asked for but maybe not what was envisioned. As Connerley writes, we as humans tend to

focus on the race of an individual and not the group from which the person comes from inside

that race. We need to focus on these people’s more specific identity not just as a race of

people. (Connerley, 2005) I have read many places and seen many videos on how we cannot

have races based on the color of someone’s skin. When you look at features and other details

many groups inside that “race” could be categorized even further. This is still not taking into

consideration of their culture, ethnicities, and other such groups they are a part of. We must

remember when people look alike they are may be worlds apart from each other and have a lot

to offer different from one another. Also, taking care not to forget in looking at gender as

different and similar to what we think when we think of leadership. I am a male and I have

worked with a lot of females that make much better leaders than their counterparts. Growing

up with all sisters and a strong mother has taught me that women do have the ability to be

leaders and when looking for a leader we should focus on how they interact and work. I do not

see having a heavy hand as a sign of a good leader and being able to treat people with respect

and getting respect is a good way that I have found leaders. The chapter Leadership in a Diverse

Workplace talks about males being the main figure when it comes to leadership. Also, how the

world as a whole will compare leaders to strong men and not women. This is when we talk

about having women under a glass ceiling and how women are stereotyped as not being good

leaders. (Chrobot-Mason, 2013) As I have written before, I have not and will not look at gender

as a way to see if someone is a good leader or not. Hopefully working for the big corporations in

the future, I will encounter all sorts of people from all different cultures and genders. I have
Module 7 Paper Samuel Torres

learned that gender is just something we are born with and it is something in our mind. The

way you treat someone helps you be a good leader and it brings out the best in people, so I

usually do not have a heavy hand when dealing with people and I do not intend on doing that

more now. I have learned from the women in my life that I cannot have a heavy hand but still

stick to my guns and get my team pointed in the right direction. Treating people like humans

and not like minions there to do my bidding. This brings me to my pie chart.

My pie chart from Module 1 was 50% Human and 50% Religion; I do feel like I would still

make it the same way after this course. I have never pushed my religious beliefs on others

outside of my kids. I also feel my religion teaches us to treat people with respect and kindness.

Respect for someone's culture and their religion and the kindness they deserve as human

beings. The human side of the pie chart is treating people like they are human, they are perfect

and imperfect just like I am. My religion and being human is the core of my characteristic

keeping to my core helps me not judge people or look down on someone different than me.

When I took the CQ cultural intelligence questionnaire at the beginning of class I would reflect

on past experiences with people from vastly different cultures than mine. I felt a little

intimidated by the number of rules and characteristics of their culture that I did not know about

even after becoming friends. I scored a 118 on my pre-test and it showed that I was not

confident with living in a culture I was not familiar with. I also was not comfortable with

knowing the rules of their language. After taking this course I feel a little better about what I

need to look for and how I should and should not react to someone from another culture. I

scored higher on living in cultures outside of mine and higher on knowing the difference in

silence and pauses. I scored 135 on my post-test and I do feel more confident in interactions
Module 7 Paper Samuel Torres

with other cultures because I know more what to look for when I do interact with them. I am

sure I have much more to learn and look forward to meeting people in an organization and in

my personal life to bring them close and learn from them.

Works Cited
Chrobot-Mason, R. D. (2013). Leadership in a Diverse Workplace. In L. M.N. & Nishii, The Oxford
Handbook of Diversity and Work (pp. 315-340).
Connerley, M. L. (2005). The Development of Multicultural Competencies. In M. L. Connerley, &
P. Pedersen, Leadership in a Diverse and Multicultural Environment (pp. 69-88). SAGE.
Eagly, A. H., & Chin, J. L. (2010). Diversity and Leadership in a Changing World. American
Psychological Association, 216-224.