Become more culturally competent in an increasingly diverse world
Recent years have seen dramatic changes to several institutions worldwide. Our increasingly interconnected, digitized, and globalized world presents immense opportunities and unique challenges. Modern businesses and schools interact with individuals and organizations from a diverse range of cultural and national backgrounds—increasing the likelihood for miscommunication, errors in strategy, and unintended consequences in the process. This has also spilled into our daily lives and the way we consume information today. Understanding how to navigate these and other pitfalls requires adaptability, nuanced cross-cultural communication, and effective conflict resolution. Use Your Difference to Make a Difference provides readers with a skills-based, actionable plan that transforms differences into agents of inclusiveness, connection, and mutual understanding.
This innovative and timely guide illustrates how to leverage differences to move beyond unconscious biases, manage a culturally-diverse workplace, create an environment for more tolerant schooling environments, more trusted media, communicate across borders, find and retain diverse talent, and bridge the gap between working locally and expanding globally. Expert guidance on a comprehensive range of topics—teamwork, leadership styles, information sharing, delegation, supervision, giving and receiving feedback, coaching and motivation, recruiting, managing suppliers and customers, and more—helps you manage the essential aspects of international relationships and cultural awareness. This valuable resource contains the indispensable knowledge required to:
- Develop self-awareness needed to be a cross-cultural communicator
- Develop content, messaging techniques, marketing plans, and business strategies that translate across cultural borders
- Help your employees to better understand and collaborate with clients and colleagues from different backgrounds
- Help teachers build safe environments for students to be themselves
- Strengthen cross-cultural competencies in yourself, your team, and your entire organization
- Understand the cultural, economic, and political factors surrounding our world
Use Your Difference to Make a Difference is a must-have resource for any educator, parent, leader, manager, or team member of an organization that interacts with co-workers and customers from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Table of Contents:
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
Why I Wrote This Book 4
What is Connection? 7
How to Use This Book 10
Part I Educate
Chapter 1 Education 13
Chapter 2 Education of Self (Internal Culture) 15
What Does Your Bias Say about You? 15
Understanding Unconscious Bias 15
Identifying Prejudices 20
Knowing Your Emotional Triggers 21
The Goal Here is to Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn 23
Chapter 3 What are Your Core Values? 25
Articulating Your Core Values 26
How Our Biases and Values Help Us Connect 34
The Role of Emotional Intelligence 35
Chapter 4 Education of Environment 37
Learn How to Collect and Gather Information 37
Become an Active Listener 43
Be an Active Member of Your Community 45
Chapter 5 Thinking Like a Sociologist 47
Develop a Habit of Understanding Why Things are the Way They are 47
Study Melting Pots, Tossed Salads, and the Intersections in between Over Time 48
Chapter 6 Applying LORA to Educate 49
Listen 49
Observe 49
Reflect 50
Act 51
Part II Don’t Perpetuate
Chapter 7 Don’t Perpetuate Systems 55
Experiencing Stereotypes 56
The Danger of Perpetuating Stereotypes 58
Chapter 8 Identity 61
Revealing My Identities 61
Making Assumptions about Other People’s Identities 62
Insiders versus Outsiders 64
Chapter 9 Privilege 65
Types of Privilege 65
Equality and Equity 69
Barriers to Connection 70
Chapter 10 The Media 71
Journalism 72
Platforms Have to Acknowledge Their Power 76
Entertainment (Movies, Music, Books, and TV) 79
Chapter 11 Workplaces 83
The Connection between Diversity and Inclusion 84
Assess 86
Arrange 87
Apply 93
Accountability and Analysis 95
Affinity 96
Diversity and Inclusion Starts at the Top 97
Chapter 12 What about Recruiting and Talent Acquisition? 103
Talent Search 104
The Power of Employer Branding 110
Chapter 13 Education 113
History 113
Social Justice 118
Chapter 14 How Allies Can Use Their Privileges and Limit Othering 125
Understand How History Plays into What is Going on Today 128
Understand the Complexities of Your Identity 128
Understand That Intersectionality Exists 130
Do Something! 130
Chapter 15 Applying LORA to Don’t Perpetuate 133
Listen 133
Observe 133
Reflect 133
Act 135
Part III Instead, Communicate
Chapter 16 Actually, Communicate 139
Acknowledging Ideological Differences 140
Silence is Not the Answer 140
The Virus of Apathy 141
Everyone’s Voice Matters 143
Chapter 17 No More Binary Thinking 147
Chapter 18 Finding Mutual Purpose and Shared Meaning 151
Identify Your Feelings 151
Create a Safe Environment 152
Chapter 19 Receiving Feedback 163
Ignore the Impulse to React and Embrace the Pause 163
Understand the Intent-Impact Gap 164
Acknowledge the Feedback 164
Chapter 20 Practice the “Yes, And” 167
Chapter 21 Communicating Like an Architect 171
Architect as a Metaphor for Communication 172
The Architecture of Communication Model for Speaking Out 174
Chapter 22 What Nelson Mandela Taught Us about Seeing the Bigger Picture 177
Mandela Found Freedom in Forgiveness 177
Mandela Was Focused on Goals and a Mission beyond Himself 179
Surround Yourself with People Drastically Different from You 180
Mandela Knew How to Find Unity in Global Moments 180
Educate Yourself 180
Chapter 23 The Path to Reconciliation in Rwanda After Genocide 183
Chapter 24 Healing Our World Today 187
Avoiding Cancel Culture 187
We All Need to Be Forgiven 189
Open Dialogue and Open-Mindedness 190
Chapter 25 The Importance of Cultural Awareness 191
The Four Stages of Cultural Awareness 192
Chapter 26 How Parents Can Help Their Children Be Culturally Aware 195
Encourage Regular Interaction with Other Cultures 195
Encourage Reading Diverse Books 196
Encourage Respect and an Appreciation for Different-Sounding Names 196
Use Food as a Way to Understand Other Cultures 197
Encourage Critical Thinking as Opposed to Assumption 197
Encourage Language Learning 197
Chapter 27 How Schools and Teachers Can Help Children Be Culturally Aware 199
Appreciate and Celebrate the Cultural Backgrounds of Your Students 199
Be Your Students’ Leader and Not Their Dictator 200
Create a Curriculum That Respects and Includes All the People it Serves 200
Chapter 28 Applying LORA to Instead, Communicate 203
Listen 203
Observe 203
Reflect 204
Act 204
Chapter 29 Use Your Difference to Make a Difference 205
Valuing Collaboration 206
Connecting via Technology 207
Inclusion Beats Division Every Time! 207
Glossary 211
About the Author 215
Index 217
About the Author :
TAYO ROCKSON is the CEO of UYD Managementa strategic leadership and consulting firm that helps corporations improve their bottom line by incorporating diversity, inclusion and social justice strategies. He is an authority on cross-cultural competencies and international branding strategy. He hosts the popular cross- cultural podcast called As Told By Nomads and has been featured by media outlets around the world.
