We Are All Connected...John Gibson

"We benefit as a society when we are quiet, but are listening to what each other has to say. Because I firmly believe there is much more that unites all of us than separates us."

--John Gibson, Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

To hear John Gibson's entire quote and a clip of his upcoming #LeadershipTuesdays interview: click on the video below.

A Conversation On Reconciling Racial Tensions…James T. Meeks

“The only way out of the tensions that our country face is that black and white are going to have to sit down and find the solution together. The only reason that you (Bill Hybels) and I (James Meeks) are able to talk about race is because we trust each other. And we trust each other because in our heart we believe that the other person is just not out to get something or making up some story… We believe that we are decent people at heart. The first thing that you really have to do, black and white people, is to get to know each other…get to know each other. And then find a solution together. And so it’s going to take us all working together and it’s going to take us trusting each other to even want to figure it out." 

  --Rev. Dr. James Meeks, Founder and Pastor, Salem Baptist Church; Former Illinois State Senator

During the 2016 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend, Bill Hybels, who is Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois and also founder of the Willow Creek Association and Global Leadership Summit, invited Rev. James Meeks to Willow Creek Community Church to have a discussion about the racial problems and tensions that are plaguing Chicago, Illinois. Tensions in Chicago were recently exacerbated by the release of a video that captured the police shooting of an unarmed black youth. Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a police officer as he was walking away from a confrontation with police on October 20, 2014. Following the release of the video 13 months later, protests erupted in Chicago and major cities across the U.S. decrying this shooting as well as the recent police shootings and brutality of other unarmed people of color while interacting with police.
 
The quote above, while meant for the audience that was present during Bill Hybels and James Meeks’ conversation, is being shared because it is applicable to a wider audience. We must learn to live together or we will perish together.

To hear the conversation between Bill Hybels and James Meeks, click the link below:

Bill Hybels and James Meeks discuss racial problems in Chicago and U.S. 

On Race Relations...Jimmy Carter

"Well, I think we kind of breathed a sigh of relief back in the ’60s, after we had 100 years of racial discrimination with separate but equal, and the Supreme Court and the Congress and everybody else agreed to that, all the churches.

And after the Johnson years of Voting Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Young and others being successful, I think the United States kind of breathed a sigh of relief and said, well, we have resolved the race issue now, and there won’t be anymore, detectable, at least, elements of an American society where whites are in the supreme position, to the detriment of blacks.

...the recent high publicity about the police and black confrontations and the tragedy in Charleston (Shooting death of Walter Scott, 4/4/15) have reminded us that we still have a long way to go. There’s still an innate racism in our country that needs to be addressed accurately."

--Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States

Fighting Racist Beliefs At Work...Lucy Liu

Being Asian in this business is something you have to consider, because sometimes people aren't as open. They'll say, I can't see you with a Caucasian person.

--Lucy Liu, Actress

*Lucy Liu is currently starring as Dr. Joan Watson in the crime drama series, Elementary, on CBS network. (2015)

#LeadershipTuesdays: Awareness Is Not Enough...Mellody Hobson

Regarding problem of minorities not being represented at the highest levels of senior management and in management positions in certain U.S. industries like technology,  Mellody Hobson said:

“Awareness is not enough. What are you going to do about it? We've admired this problem for long enough!” 

--Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments, 

Being Color Brave, A PwC Talk with Bob Moritz, PwC US Chairman and Senior Partner

Mellody Hobson speaking at Being Color Brave,
A PwC Talk with Bob Moritz

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. On July 13, 2015, Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments,  sat down with the U.S. Chairman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Bob Moritz, to talk about the lack of diversity that exists for minorities in the senior leadership and workforces of U.S. corporations. Mellody Hobson first spoke on this topic in March 2014 at a TED Talk entitled, "Color Blind Or Color Brave".

Although Mellody Hobson has broken the glass ceiling and achieved success and respect in her field, she recognizes that other minorities and women are not being given the same opportunities to excel in their fields and reach the highest echelons of corporate power. With an authentic and courageous voice, she told her story of humble beginnings and her climb to corporate success as one of the most respected women of color in Corporate America. 

This talk between Mellody Hobson and Bob Moritz is important because they openly talked about race and some of the problems that America is having because of its racial issues. Both Mellody and Bob gave advice on how we each can make changes within our own environment to improve relations between the races and provide more employment and leadership opportunities for women and minorities.  

 

To view this very important conversation between Mellody Hobson and Bob Moritz, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here.  

--Nona O., Founder, WOMEN AT LIBERTY 

#LeadershipTuesdays: Ways Of Dealing With Differences...Mary Parker Follett

"There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish."  

--Mary Parker Follett

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Inevitably, we will experience times in our professional careers where we will disagree with a colleague on an issue or how to solve a problem. How we view that colleague and their abilities/capabilities determines how we will approach resolving the conflict. 

As highlighted in today's article, "5 Ways to Promote Female Camaraderie at Work" by Maria Russo, women can become prey to negativity or perpetuate it because of our natural tendency to compare ourselves with other females we are around. This comparison can lead to negative behavior that manifest itself in acts of cattiness, jealousy, competitiveness and gossiping.  It is hard enough to excel in the workplace as a woman without engaging in petty conflicts with another woman who should be an ally.

Ms. Russo challenges us in the Inc.com article to rise above the comparisons and focus our energies on accomplishing the work at hand. She also encourages us to foster community in the workplace by being supportive of others. That means being willing and open to both receiving support as well as giving support. When we are willing to give and receive support from our colleagues, we create camaraderie which in and of itself positively affects our work environment. 

To read today's article, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

Celebrating Differences: Is It Possible?...Hillary Clinton

“What we have to do... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.”

--Hillary Clinton

Is It Possible??

Embracing Diversity...Ola Joseph

"Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness." 

--Ola Joseph 

How To Look At Differences...Tim Robbins

“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.”

--Tom Robbins, Novelist 

America Can Do Better!...Thurgood Marshall

“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.” 

-- Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice and Civil Rights Lawyer

Remove This Burden From Their Lives...Maya Angelou

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. --Maya Angelou

Source: Wisdom from Karen Nemeth and Session Participants: Building Multicultural Multilingual Communities in ECE Programs,  http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.org/2011/05/karen-nemeth/

Can You Create A Winning Team?...Roosevelt Thomas

For future business leaders, the state of business, and our country, we need to get beyond seeing diversity as just achieving the desired profile-whether it be racial, a gender balance, or even a certain age mixture. We assume that if we get rid of all of the "isms" -racism, sexism, and so forth-that everything will be okay. Wrong. If you don't know how to manage a diverse workforce, you won't move your company forward. The challenge becomes: Can you, as a manager, create an environment that allows you to access talent, however it comes packaged?

--R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., Subject-Matter-Expert, Diversity Management

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This blog is Part III of the series, "Are We There Yet? My Climb and Journey". In this blog, I talk about a few bumps in the road or incidences at AT&T that occurred while I was getting my MBA in an Executive Education program at the University of Pittsburgh.  These incidences became a turning point in my career.  

A conversation with John T. Delaney, PhD., Dean of the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, about the current state of women in executive leadership and why women do not choose to get advanced business degrees at the same rate they obtain professional degrees in other areas, like law and medicine, was the catalyst for this series.

____________________

As a company, AT&T was committed to diversity. First of all, they had a company statement to support diversity and denounce discrimination. They also provided diversity training for their employees. In fact, across all of their divisions, AT&T had implemented by the late 1990’s all of the steps referenced in Frank Kalman’s recent article on Diversity-Executive.com, “Five Steps to Embed Diversity and Inclusion Into Organizational Culture”.[i]  (See below for the “Five Steps”) Personally, I saw their support of my business education at the University of Pittsburgh as a demonstration of this commitment. However, two specific incidents that occurred during my MBA program with my local division’s leadership left me with a very negative impression of my local management.

Let me start off by saying it was the company’s policy that once they decided to support an employee in an Executive Education program, they would be fully funded for the duration of the program.  However, my division, without cause, tried to re-nig on certain parts of its financial commitment to my Executive Education program. While I was completing my MBA program, I along with several other employees in my group was moved into a new division because of the dissolution of an international only government marketing team. As time drew near for the capstone class trip that would include travel to Prague in the Czech Republic, Italy, and France, my new division...

To read the rest of the story, click here. For more on Leadership Tuesdays,click here.

A Person Is...Desmond Tutu

A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons. --Desmond Tutu

There Is Beauty In Diversity...Maya Angelou

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”  --Maya Angelou, Author and Poet Laureate

2012 U.S. Olympics Gymnastics Team

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This week, we continue the discussion looking at the why women are not seeking advance degrees in business at the same rate as they get other professional degrees. Also the discussion seeks to answer why women are not proportionately represented in senior leadership positions in business. This is Part II of "Are We There Yet? My Climb and Journey" by V. Nona Ogunsula.
___________________
 

I remember driving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in January 1996 like it was yesterday. I braved a wintry mix praying for at least two of the approximately five hours that it took to drive to Pittsburgh because my Toyota Camry ran out of windshield wiper fluid halfway through the trip. You see, driving was a last minute decision. Although snow had been in the forecast, I wasn’t sure if we’d really get any snow. U.S. Air was the only airline who flew non-stop into Pittsburghfrom the Washington, D.C. area and well, let’s just say, given the number of winter airplane accidents that had occurred at that time, I felt driving would be less stressful and safer. Nothing short of a blizzard was going to keep me from arriving in Pittsburgh for my orientation as a student in the Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

I was so excited to be beginning my MBA program. Months earlier I had been accepted into this program that was fully supported by my company, AT&T. An Executive MBA program meant that I could attend school full-time and yet remain employed full-time. I had ambition and I wanted...

To read the rest of the story, click here. For more on Leadership Tuesdays, click here.

Where Our Strength Lies...Stephen R. Covey

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”  --Stephen R. Covey

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today, we continue the discussion looking at the why women are not seeking advance degrees in business at the same rate as they get other professional degrees. Also the discussion seeks to answer why women are not proportionately represented in senior leadership positions in business. This is Part II of "Are We There Yet? My Climb and Journey" by V. Nona Ogunsula.
___________________

I remember driving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in January 1996 like it was yesterday. I braved a wintry mix praying for at least two of the approximately five hours that it took to drive to Pittsburgh because my Toyota Camry ran out of windshield wiper fluid halfway through the trip. You see, driving was a last minute decision. Although snow had been in the forecast, I wasn't sure if we’d really get any snow. U.S. Air was the only airline who flew non-stop into Pittsburgh from the Washington, D.C. area and well, let’s just say, given the number of winter airplane accidents that had occurred at that time, I felt driving would be less stressful and safer. Nothing short of a blizzard was going to keep me from arriving in Pittsburgh for my orientation as a student in the Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.

I was so excited to be beginning my MBA program. Months earlier I had been accepted into this program that was fully supported by my company, AT&T. An Executive MBA program meant that I could attend school full-time and yet remain employed full-time. I had ambition and I wanted...

To read the rest of the story, click here. For more on Leadership Tuesdays, click here.

Undiscovered Leadership...Gloria Steinem

Clearly no one knows what leadership has gone undiscovered in women of all races, and in black and other minority men.

--Gloria Steinem

 

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today, Leadership Tuesdays continues a series looking at why women are not seeking advanced degrees in business at the same rate as they get other professional degrees. Also the discussion seeks to answer why women are not proportionately represented in senior leadership positions in business.

This past May, I was given the opportunity to talk with Dr. John T. Delaney, Dean of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, regarding the women empowerment and leadership program I launched in March 2011. The purpose of Women History Makers-DC, MD & VA and Leadership Tuesdays is to:

Highlight and profile women role models in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia who have been trailblazers and pioneers
Provide resources to develop, strengthen and encourage women to pursue leadership
Provide online and offline opportunities for mentoring and motivation that enable women to live better lives.

(See womenatliberty.com for more information.)

Given the low rate of women in corporate senior executive and Board of Directors’ positions in U.S.companies, I decided that I wanted to focus our talk on the representation of women in those areas. I also wanted to find out how Katz is addressing this problem in its MBA and Executive Education programs. Further, I wanted to know if Katz was involved in any partnerships and/or research to 1) explain the cause for the lack of women and minorities in leadership positions; and 2) improve the status quo.

Some of the statistics that informed my conversation with Dr. Delaney came from "Women In America, Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being", a 2011 Report released by the White House Council on Women and Girls. (See Leadership Tuesdays for the statistics.) As mentioned in his earlier guest blog for Leadership Tuesdays, The Great Business School Challenge Hidden In Plain Sight, Delaney discussed..

For more, click here...

Ursula Burns...Embracing Who You Are As A Woman and Leader

"I struggle to stay exactly who I am. If we work hard to normalize everybody toward the corner office stereotype, then I don't understand what the purpose of having women lead versus having men lead is. So have all the men lead". 

--Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox

From Leadership Tuesday's 5/10/11 feature at WOMEN AT LIBERTY.