Diversity in Leadership

Since I have been asked to chair the new community relations team at work, I am going to create a diverse committee to serve as part of the relations team.  Our goal will be to increase workplace awareness of diversity and to sponsor annual community events. I have created my own personal identity and would like to present it to the community committee members.

 Our cultural identity is made up of various cultural backgrounds that we experience from a young child all the way through adulthood.  As I reflect on my background, several experiences come to mind that have developed me into the person that I am today.  However, I would like to focus on my family and upbringing, as well as experiences I had in elementary school which helped to make me a much stronger person today. Having a twin sister and a sister two years older taught me the true meaning of love, respect, and the importance of sharing.  We enjoyed each other all the time without ever having a disagreement.  Whether we were riding bikes, swimming, skating, playing games, or watching television, we usually were together sharing and enjoying each other. Our sharing was not always in a leisure style because our parents taught us the value of hard work by making sure we took care of responsibilities around the house.  Through our interactions, I learned the value of family life and how to communicate with other people in meaningful relationships.  

Elementary school was not a positive experience.  The principal led my mom to believe that twins perform better at school if they are in separate classes.  My twin had a successful year in kindergarten, but that was not the case for me.  Whenever my teacher began teaching reading, she would sit me in the hall right by myself.  By not receiving any reading instruction, I was behind and finally had to repeat a grade while my sister moved on to the next grade level. This was very devastating which took me several years to get over.  Going through this made me a stronger person.  I ended up teaching myself to read. Overcoming this obstacle made me believe that I have the power to do anything with my life.

The way I was raised taught me the value of hard work.  Two of my principals have commended me on my work ethics by saying that I have something that cannot be taught.  I am presently working as a paraprofessional, but because of my work ethics, they have encouraged me to further my education so that I can be a teacher at their school. The way I was raised helped me to overcome the negative school situation. The work ethics and strength that is present in my cultural background will definitely support my work as chair of the committee.

It is important for committee members to complete self-analysis in order to reflect on their own cultural backgrounds that make up their cultural identities so that they can gain a clearer understanding of their own identities.  This will help them to understand their own behaviors, values, attitudes, and ways of thinking. Also people are unique and self-analysis will help them to understand the uniqueness of other people because of religion, personal experiences, backgrounds, schools, family units, as well as other factors in their cultural backgrounds.