Ruby Delgros

OGL 350

5 October 2022

Diversity Conflict Management

I. What did I learn?

A. Something solidified for me during the course of this class has been the

knowledge that institutions, systems and organizations in the United States still

have a long way to go to reach equity, fair treatment and even diversity

management in the first place. For example, the appalling statistics from “5

Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Workplace”, including: “there are no female

black or Latina CEOs of Fortune 500 companies”, “59% of Latino men and

women do not feel welcome and included”, “46% of black women feel their ideas

are not heard or recognized” and the vast majority of women of color feel they

must compromise their authenticity to lead - saying that “‘executive presence’ at

their company is defined as conforming to traditionally white male standards”

(Jain-Link, Kennedy and Bourgeois, 2020). I knew that inequity and inadequate

diversity management were problems, but the shocking and upsetting statistics

that I have read about in this class combined with the many tools to work toward a

solution have inspired me to work harder toward this goal for humanity.

II. What have I witnessed?

A. I am a cis white woman and therefore the main forms of diversity conflict I have

personally experienced are all centered around sexism to varying degrees of harm

and aggression. I grew up in a very multicultural city (San Jose, CA), and actually
was the racial/cultural minority in my neighborhood and elementary school. I

have also worked in many Starbucks locations where I am one of the only white

people, and I was definitely the cultural “other” in those places. I know to a small

degree what it is like to feel like you don’t belong somewhere or not to know

what to do to fit in and be accepted. It was difficult in those environments to

balance authenticity and prevent being ostracized. This is not to say by any means

that I truly understand the experience of marginalized groups and cultural/racial

minorities, but I think it did give me a head start on expanding my perspective and

considering cultural differences that might contribute to conflict in the workplace.

It gave me the opportunity to change my approach and communication styles to

meet people halfway when I knew we came from different cultural backgrounds,

in both my work and personal lives. On a smaller level of impact, and perhaps in a

different direction than most diversity conflict problems arise, another example I

have experienced is when I was on the board for a youth empowerment

organization in Northern California, and somebody from the midwest who

worked at the regional level began reaching out to try and re-affiliate our

organization with the region. However, some of his approaches seemed more like

a power-grab to those of us who had actually experienced our events. This was

likely based on a misalignment of values between our organization and the

regional leadership, and I know that they are still in the process of repairing harm

done by these interactions that could have been avoided if there was more of an

understanding between both parties. In addition, part of his push to make change

in our organization included encouraging us to be more diverse and include more

 people of color. This is a very relevant message in the culture he came from,

however, we are based in Northern California and mostly have events around the

Bay Area. This area is already vastly more culturally diverse than his hometown,

and on top of that our organization already had many people of color in leadership

(more than a representative percentage amount). We did not do outreach to

specifically recruit people of color because we were a religious organization and it

didn’t seem right to us to recruit people to our faith based on the color of their

skin. While this might have looked like a problem from his cultural perspective, if

he had taken the time to understand ours, he might have seen something different

or considered a different approach.

III. How do the “key dynamics” of the Giraffe and Elephant relate to diversity management?

A. Diversity management can be daunting because it requires going head on into the

unknown and facing one’s own biases and ignorances to create change for the

better. Many people struggle to embrace genuine diversity, because the conflict it

creates is uncomfortable and feels negative. But conflict is not always a bad thing

- most of the time, neither party is completely wrong. The different perspectives

are guaranteed to clash, but strong diversity management skills can help mitigate

these situations and build something together. “Diversity tension is inevitable.

Wherever different perspectives are found, tension will exist… To reject diversity

because it creates tension and complexity is to make a decision not to grow and

flourish” (Roosevelt Thomas, 1999). Effective diversity management starts with

individuals leaning into this discomfort, and focusing on the problem rather than
 the people, knowing that there is a good solution and a better organizational

environment on the other side.

IV. How will these concepts affect my approach and strategies to leadership in the

organizations in my life and in the future?

A. “When dealing with conflict, students should… focus on the problem or issue at

hand instead of focusing negatively on their counterparts. While cultural

preferences in many regards vary, collaboration and conflict resolution are almost

universally more easily achieved through invitations… than through accusations”

(Friedrich, 2018). This, to me, is the easiest way to begin approaching leadership

with a diversity management mindset. The problem is the problem, not the

cultures or opinions or backgrounds of the participants. With this idea at the

center of my leadership strategy, surrounded by everything I’ve learned about

cultural awareness and people-first leadership, I believe I am well on my way to

being a successful organizational leader.

V. Changes in my CQ cultural intelligence score.

A. My score only went down by one point. I think overall that this is because I have

a better understanding of what it really means to be conscious of other cultures

and approach intercultural interactions and so I find myself slightly less

knowledgeable than I did initially.

 References

Friedrich, P. (2018). Cultural differences in conflict resolution. The TESOL Encyclopedia of

English Language Teaching. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Jain-Link et al. (2020). 5 strategies for creating an inclusive workplace. (2020, January 13).

Roosevelt Thomas, R. (1999). Building a House for Diversity. New York: R Thomas &

Associates, Inc.