DR. TYRONE A. HOLMES
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Dr. Tyrone A. Holmes
    • Client List
    • Testimonials
  • Keynotes/Virtual Workshops
  • Virtual Institute
  • Speech Coaching
  • Calendar
    • 2022 Events
    • 2021 Events
    • 2020 Events
    • 2019 Events
    • 2018 Events
    • 2017 Events
    • 2016 Events
    • 2015 Events
    • 2014 Events
  • Publications
    • Newsletters
    • Books
    • Articles

How to Communicate the Importance of Diversity

2/24/2016

0 Comments

 
As a consultant, I have helped many organizations facilitate diversity activities and interventions designed to improve both individual and organizational performance. To ensure success, I have found the most important step to take is to communicate the “business case” for diversity throughout the organization. You can do this by taking the following steps:   
  1. Clarify the benefits of empowering diversity for YOUR organization.
  2. Identify the KEY leaders in your organization.
  3. Describe instances where empowering diversity will help you achieve SPECIFIC organizational goals.
  4. LIVE your commitment to diversity.
During the next month, I will describe each of these steps in detail and offer examples for how you can effectively communicate the importance of diversity.

Next Post: March 2, 2016 – How to Communicate the Importance of Diversity: Step 1
0 Comments

The 7 Don’ts of Multicultural Communication #6 – DON’T Ask Inappropriate Questions or Engage in Inappropriate Behaviors

10/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Avoid asking inappropriate questions or engaging in inappropriate behaviors, especially of a personal nature. In a culturally diverse setting, it is best to stick to business at the beginning of a work relationship. This means you must take care not to ask improper questions or engage in inappropriate conversations. For example, don’t ask about another person’s grooming habits. Don’t ask if you can touch a co-worker’s hair. Don’t ask others about their child rearing practices (yes, I’ve heard questions like these many times). These types of questions can create tension and make people feel uncomfortable. In addition, some people may find these discussions unsuitable for the workplace. Once you have established a strong working relationship or friendship with someone, you may be able to have discussions of this nature. But until that happens, it is best to avoid these types of personal conversations.

Next Post: October 27, 2015 - The 7 Don’ts of Multicultural Communication #7
0 Comments

How to Reduce Stereotyping – Tip #4: Identify One Step You Will Take

6/16/2014

0 Comments

 
The last of the 4 steps you can take to reduce stereotyping is by far the most important: identify one step you will take and commit to this step. There are at least three proactive steps you can pursue to reduce the impact of stereotyping in your life. The first, and most powerful, is to increase your contact with the stereotyped group. It has been well established in the research literature that face-to-face contact between members of different groups significantly reduces prejudice. The more positive interaction you have with members of the stereotyped group, the more likely you will eliminate this stereotype. The second step is to actively engage in (or interact with people who actively engage in) anti-biased behavior or statements. In other words, proactively talk about why specific stereotypes are wrong or inaccurate. Of course, you don’t need to tell anyone about your particular stereotypes, but the more you verbally debunk your generalizations, the quicker you will rid yourself of that stereotype. Along the same lines, actively challenging biased or stereotypical statements from others will have a positive effect on reducing your stereotypes. Finally, during communication, consciously decategorize, by saying to yourself, “I’m going to get to know this person on an individual basis...I’m not going to make any generalizations or assumptions”. The reason this works so well is that you have recognized, in your own mind, your potential for stereotyping and have taken proactive steps to stop it. This provides you with a chance to really get to know the individual on a personal level, which will further debunk any stereotypes you may have of members of this particular group.

Next Post: Sept 8, 2015 - The Do's and Don'ts of Multicultural Communication: Part 1 - The Don'ts
0 Comments

How to Reduce Stereotyping – Tip #3: Clarify How Your Stereotypes Impact Your Interactions

6/9/2014

0 Comments

 
In my last post, I described the second step you can take to reduce stereotyping, which is to identify the cause of your stereotypes. The third step you can take is to clarify how your stereotypes impact your interactions with others. Specifically, you must be clear about the actual and potential effects of your stereotypes. For example, if you are responsible for hiring within your company, how do your stereotypes impact your decision-making process? If you work in customer service, how do your stereotypes affect your interactions with customers from certain groups? In both cases there is a very good chance that your stereotypes cause you to make unconscious assumptions that may affect your behavior in one way or another. While this may be difficult to accept, you must be honest with yourself if you are going to be successful at reducing your stereotypes.

Next Post: June 16, 2014 -
How to Reduce Stereotyping: Tip #4
0 Comments

How to Reduce Stereotyping – Tip #2: Identify the Cause of Your Stereotypes

6/2/2014

0 Comments

 
In my last post, I introduced the first step you can take to reduce stereotyping, which is to identify your stereotypes. This requires you to be honest with yourself and to recognize that everyone stereotypes because it is a natural outgrowth of human communication and the way we process information. The second step you can take to reduce stereotyping is to determine the origin of your stereotypes. Think about the specific generalizations you make about the members of a particular group. Where do these generalizations come from? Many stereotypes come from the media, family members, friends and other people who are close to us. The more accurately you can determine their origin, the more likely you are to diminish the impact of these stereotypes.

Next Post: June 9, 2014 –
How to Reduce Stereotyping: Tip #3
0 Comments

How to Reduce Stereotyping

5/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Stereotyping has a powerful impact on our day-to-day lives. Without even realizing it, stereotypes (which are the generalizations we have about the members of a particular group – see my post, The Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #1: Stereotyping, for more information) can negatively impact our interactions with others. They can also cause us to act in unintentionally biased ways. Fortunately, there are four specific steps each of us can take to reduce the extent to which we stereotype:
  1. Identify your stereotypes.
  2. Identify the cause of your stereotypes.
  3. Clarify how your stereotypes impact your interactions with others.
  4. Identify at least one step you will take to reduce your stereotyping.
I will discuss each step in detail in upcoming posts.

Next Post: May 19, 2014 –
How to Reduce Stereotyping: Tip #1
0 Comments

Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #3 – Suspend Judgment

4/28/2014

0 Comments

 
Suspend Judgment. A final step that we have to take in order to remove the barriers is to reduce the extent to which we evaluate and judge others. Now this is very difficult for most of us. That's because we spend so much of our lives standing in judgment of others (e.g., managers evaluating job performance, teachers assessing student performance). The problem is the criteria we use to make those judgments. Most of us use our own values, styles and beliefs as the criteria for how we assess others (this is the essence of ethnocentrism). The more alike someone else is, the more positively we judge them. However, people from different cultures may be unlike us in terms of values, styles and beliefs. It is then that we must suspend our judgment and try to understand others as individuals. And we must attempt to gain this understanding from their cultural perspective, not from our own. The best way to do this is to be more accepting of others. Acceptance refers to a willingness to support and validate others even when you disagree with them. You can be totally accepting of a person while still disagreeing with their ideas or certain beliefs that they hold. You can demonstrate acceptance by actively listening to others, attempting to understand where they are coming from and trying to address whatever issues or concerns they raise. Remember that communication is always best when it supports and validates the other person.

Next Post: May 12, 2014 – How to Reduce Stereotyping


0 Comments

Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #1 – Self-Awareness

3/31/2014

0 Comments

 
Enhance your self-awareness. To reduce the impact that stereotyping has on your interactions, you must increase your understanding of the biases and stereotypes you have. You must also understand the impact they have on your communication with others, especially those who are culturally different. Remember, stereotyping is a subtle, often unconscious process that can negatively impact the quality of your communication. The best way to increase your understanding of your stereotypes is to ask for both positive and constructive feedback from people you trust and respect. You should include individuals that have had an opportunity to interact with you over a period of time. They can provide you with useful information regarding your behavior and performance in a variety of situations. Most importantly, they may see something in your behavior that you will not discover on your own.

Next Post: April 14, 2014 –
Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication # 2
0 Comments

Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication

3/24/2014

0 Comments

 
In my last three posts, I introduced the 3 barriers to effective multicultural communication. These barriers, which include stereotyping, a lack of understanding and judgmental attitudes, have the potential to cause significant communication problems in diverse organizational settings. Fortunately, there are specific steps that each of us can take to help remove these barriers. These steps include:
  1. Enhance Your Self-Awareness (understand the impact you have on those around you)
  2. Increase Your Empathy (understand the world from the perspective of those around you)
  3. Suspend Judgment (reduce the extent to which you evaluate and judge others)
I will discuss each of these steps in my next 3 posts.

Next Post: March 31, 2014 –
Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication # 1
0 Comments

The Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #3: Judgmental Attitudes

3/17/2014

0 Comments

 
The final major barrier to effective cross-cultural communication includes the judgmental attitudes many of us have when it comes to interacting with people who are different.  Most of us would like to believe we are open-minded and accepting. But in reality, a great many of us find discomfort with those who are different in terms of values, beliefs and behaviors. We may then evaluate those values, beliefs and behaviors in a negative light. This is the essence of ethnocentrism, where we evaluate good and bad, right and wrong relative to how closely the values, behaviors and ideas of others mirror our own. Put simply, to effectively interact with people who are different from us, we must suspend judgment about their ways, and try to understand them from their perspective. But for most of us, this is much easier said than done.

Next Post: March 24, 2014 –
Removing the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Author

    Dr. Tyrone A. Holmes is an author, speaker, coach and consultant. He helps his clients develop the skills needed to communicate, resolve conflict, solve problems and improve performance in diverse organizational settings.

    Archives

    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Coaching
    Communication
    Conflict
    Conflict Resolution
    Cultural Inclusion
    Culture
    Customer Service
    Discrimination
    Diversity
    Diversity Benefits
    Diversity Climate
    Diversity Metrics
    Diversity Metrics
    Diversity Recruitment
    Empowering Diversity
    Empowering Diversity
    Globalization
    Leadership
    Mentoring
    Multicultural
    Performance Improvement
    Sexual Harassment
    Stereotyping
    Teambuilding

    RSS Feed

COPYRIGHT © 1996-2023 T.A.H. PERFORMANCE CONSULTANTS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Dr. Tyrone A. Holmes
    • Client List
    • Testimonials
  • Keynotes/Virtual Workshops
  • Virtual Institute
  • Speech Coaching
  • Calendar
    • 2022 Events
    • 2021 Events
    • 2020 Events
    • 2019 Events
    • 2018 Events
    • 2017 Events
    • 2016 Events
    • 2015 Events
    • 2014 Events
  • Publications
    • Newsletters
    • Books
    • Articles