Aiming for both diversity, success
Masami Nakagawa thinks the team leader of the American company she works for is victimizing her because she is Japanese. “Westernize or go back to Japan,” is her perception of how she is viewed. Grant Webster, a member of the same corporate team, believes he is being victimized because he is African American. “If I say something with the same tone as the white guy,” he says, “I am accused of being ‘aggressive, edgy, having an attitude,’ all code for being too black.” And team leader Michael Lantry remains a closeted gay man because he comes from a closeted generation, and does not think his company would be very open to his lifestyle. Masami, Grant, and Michael are all characters in a provocative role-playing presentation called “Inclusive Leadership: Managing Successful Teams,” a CWS Associates program designed to bring attention to workplace inequities, stereotypes, discrimination, and unconscious bias. The “drama-based, interactive” event, held in...