Running Head: MODULE 7 1

Module 7 and What I Learned

Harley A. Senical

Arizona State University

OGL 350 - Diversity and Organizations

Professor: Sarah Zembrowski

February 27, 2022

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Module 7 and What I Learned

Last week, we went over cross-cultural and individual differences in conflict

management, how to be better prepared to manage conflict and reduce diversity conflict, and

understanding theories relating to conflict and diversity in organizations. This week we discussed

the challenges and benefits of diverse teams, the influence of culture on management styles, and

the competencies needed to manage diverse organizations effectively. In the following

paragraphs, I will discuss the diverse organization I currently work in, describe my approach to

leadership and the strategies I will utilize, and talk about my cultural intelligence. Finally, I hope

to explore this week's readings and solidify the teachings from this lesson.

I have the unique experience of being promoted next week and taking on my first official

supervisory role in the military. I will supervise and manage a team of 6 people, oversee

production, and manage a safe environment for safe maintenance on the C-17 aircraft. The

military is a very diverse environment in that it supports and encourages anyone to join, no

matter what background. My team will have an age range of 21-57 years old; people from the

Pacific Northwest, Midwest, South, and outside of the united states; and different sexual

orientations, medical histories, and education. The purpose of my work center is to fix the critical

electrical components of the C-17 aircraft for the entire United States Air Force (and NATO). At

the beginning of the class, I would tell you that the identity I bring to the position is a white,

bisexual female. After learning about diversity, I can tell you that I get a high-context, European

descendent that is bisexual, very educated, and collectivistic. I somewhat encourage conflict to

deal with problems faster, and I value honesty over everything. Being in a male-dominated

career has made this promotion a tricky thing to achieve, and I hope to hold others to the same

standards I have kept myself to in the last three years. I have no control over the diversity
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decisions that come with hiring. Still, I know it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone feels

comfortable in the workplace and not encourage any destructive behaviors. “One way of note

that D&I efforts don't meet their potential for impact is that even the best-intentioned leaders

over-index on one extreme or the other. - The difference between having great intentions in

enabling diversity and inclusion and achieving great results is being honest about existing blind

spots and showing the courage to put a stake in the ground on measurable goals” (Chhaya, 2020).

So it is up to me to see where we fall short and do my best to fix the issues. The article “5

Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Workplace” points out some things we as employers can use

to create safe working environments: Emphasize the business case for diversity and inclusion,

recognize our biases, practice inclusive leadership, provide sponsorship programs, and hold

ourselves and other leaders accountable (Jain-Link, Kennedy, & Bourgeois, 2020).

Within the context of my future leadership position (including challenges and

opportunities, the nature of diversity within the organization, etc.), my approach to leadership

and the strategies I intend to utilize given my personality and other characteristics identified

earlier. The things that make up my identity will ensure that I bring a unique perspective into the

workplace and the culture might need. We cannot do these one-and-done training sessions. It

needs to be handled with the respect it deserves because the people affected by this training are

not. We run the risk of re-traumatizing people and possibly bringing more trauma into the

workplace, which is why it's even more important to be intentional. We can't just check the box

(Brown & Bethea, 2021). It is also important to me that everyone feels seen. It is written down to

our core that all human beings want to be unique and simultaneously belong. That being said, I

think empathy is a great source when deciding how to proceed through diversity.
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“I uncovered the two skills that the best leaders had in common. First, they embrace

different perspectives and backgrounds. Second, they fit all the unique pieces together to create a

cohesive, interdependent team with a shared purpose. Together, this set of behaviors enables

people to do what I call Inclusify. Unlike ‘diversifying’ or ‘including,’ Inclusifying implies a

continuous, sustained effort toward helping diverse teams feel engaged, empowered, accepted,

and valued” (Stachowiak, 2021). It is essential that my entire team feels valued, mainly because I

think about them. Lastly, in my line of work, we need to work together to solve issues. I work

with very complex systems, and no single person can solve the problem by themselves (usually).

It is essential that everyone feels like they have a voice; I need them to speak up and feel safe to

give suggestions. Creating that collaborative environment is critical for the success of our shop

and makes us all feel stronger together, and every strength/skill gets to be used (Hamill, 2019).

Lastly, after taking the CQ cultural intelligence post-test, I am happy to say that I have

seen some growth. I feel that learning to be a better person (which I find most important in my

life) is significantly affected by what I understand and who I keep close to. When I took the

cultural intelligence pre-test, I scored a 105; this time, I scored well above that. The scores

matched up pretty well from both tests, and there are still areas of improvement like language

from other cultures and legal structures. These things are hard for me to learn in general, but I

have a much higher understanding and value for them after this class.

I look forward to my next adventure and hope that I get a chance to experience these

things. With that, I do think that I excel in learning about verbal and non-verbal behavior when

interacting with people of different cultures. Of course, there is still a lot for me to learn about

other cultures, and I look forward to learning, but I think the things I have learned so far have set

me up for success in learning about new cultures.

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This was the final of seven papers designed to help reflect and analyze the teachings

throughout the class. This week we discussed the challenges and benefits of diverse teams, the

influence of culture on management styles, and the competencies needed to manage various

organizations effectively. In this paper, I talked about the diverse organization I currently work,

described my leadership approach and the strategies I will utilize, and talked about my cultural

intelligence. I appreciated the experience of this class and look forward to continuing the

development of skills in diversity management in the future, both in the classroom and in my

work center.
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References:

Brown, B. & Bethea, A. (2021, February 8). Creating Transformative Cultures [Podcast].

Retrieved February 20, 2020. https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-aiko-bethea-

on-creating-transformative-cultures/

Chhaya, N. (2020, June 29). Why Diversity and Inclusion Efforts Fails to Deliver and How to

Change That. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niharchhaya/2020/06/29/why-

diversity-and-inclusion-efforts-fail-to-deliver-and-how-to-change-that/?

sh=28a46b9357be

Hamill, L. (2019, February 4). Council post: What An Inclusive Workplace Actually Looks Like,

And Seven Ways To Achieve It. Forbes. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/02/04/what-an-

inclusive-workplace-actually-looks-like-and-seven-ways-to-achieve-it/?sh=1ecd816f316b

Jain-Link, P., Kennedy, J. T., & Bourgeois, T. (2020, January 13). 5 Strategies for Creating an

Inclusive Workplace. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from

https://hbr.org/2020/01/5-strategies-for-creating-an-inclusive-workplace

Stachowiak, D. (Interviewer). (2021, January 10). How to Be More Inclusive, with Stefanie

Johnson, Coaching for Leaders [podcast]. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from

https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/be-more-inclusive-stefanie-johnson/