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As we enter the Labor Day weekend, I wanted to send thanks to all of you that visit HTM.

I’ve had conversations with many of you and shared how this blog has evolved into more than I ever expected. It’s become a conduit to meeting an ever-growing number of creative, intelligent, and driven people that share many of my passions – all in different industries and disciplines. I appreciate each one of you. 

We live in a world where there’s a growing need for innovation, and I think this can only be done by learning from one another. New perspectives. It’s what all of you have given me. Whereas learning was once seen as an individual endeavor, I realize (as an educator, researcher, and now a blogger) that learning also comes from interactions with people of diverse networks. Diverse thinking.  I also think learning comes increasingly from social interactions, debate, and dialogue.

As a result of HTM and my interactions with you, I think we’ve helped spawn new insights, different ways of solving problems, and new approaches to old issues. I understand that trust and reciprocity are key factors in allowing this to occur – and for that – I’m grateful!  

Thank you for letting my efforts here be a labor of love.  Happy Labor Day!

I tried a bit of an experiment last night “Live Blogging” the  LATISM/NSHMBA get together on Twitter. The discussion covered a number of topics regarding the Hispanic workforce, education, and other areas.  

I captured tweets from the participants as well as my thoughts (incorporated into the stream as observations). I attempted to incorporate broader themes and perspectives via CoverItLive …. this is my first time using the software so there was some  slips along the way! I’m hoping the captured dialogue and content will serve as a resource for you after the event. 

Click Here to Open Discussion Window

A summary of my observations can be found after the jump below. Read more…

Yesterday an article by Ruben Navarrette regarding “hard work” reminded me of an important lesson I learned long ago. Please read it – it’s wonderful. It’s a lesson that keeps me grounded in what has already been a fortunate life and career.

I started working when I was about seven. Now before you go and contact someone regarding child labor laws, keep in mind this was back in the late 1960’s, and I was working at my elementary school.  At the time, I attended a small Catholic school in Los Angeles along with four other siblings. With three more sisters at a Catholic high school, paying tuition for all of us was always a challenge for my parents. When meeting monthly tuition bills was difficult, the nuns managing the school would come up with creative ways to “balance the books.”

In some instances, it meant my older brother and I would come in early on Saturday mornings to do some school cleaning: washing blackboards, dusting erasers, vacuuming rooms, and mopping hallways. My brother and I had a wonderful time doing it. Not only did we get to run in the hallways (always forbidden), listen to rock music, and invade the cafeteria’s food bank, we took a lot of pride in knowing that we were somehow contributing towards our education. Although we never revealed what we did to other kids in the school, we earned the respect of our teachers because of our work.

Years later as a sophomore in high school, a friend told me that a factory up the street was looking for a couple of students to do some part-time work. Again, mostly maintenance work including scrubbing down the factory floor bathrooms (yes, not fun). Some of the money went in my pocket, some towards paying for high school and the rest for gas money (I had a cool 1964 Ford Ranchero- a classic!).

I never felt embarrassed or regretful in taking on these jobs. I didn’t “miss out” on a regular childhood either.  In fact, these jobs and others growing up probably kept me out of trouble as a teenager – thankfully.  The experiences instilled a strong work ethic. Resilience. Self-respect.

Most important, it implanted in me the belief that anyone doing an honest days work, no matter what it is, deserves my respect.

I have broad research and reading interests. My posts on HTM are inclined to be motivated by serendipitous encounters rather than meticulous planning. Despite the title of my blog, I’ve always tried to write and share information about topics that I feel passionate about rather than a specific expertise.  Doing so compels me to step out of my comfort zone and learn about new subjects, meet new people, and create new ideas. I don’t feel any sort of careful planning would offer me the same benefits!  

In the spirit of Menudo of Links, going forward I’ll begin sharing more studies and reports which I think you might find interesting as well – all directly or indirectly related to the development of the Hispanic workforce and Hispanic talent. Below is my first offering.  Enjoy!

Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries: Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality: Great report that provides an overview of parental leave policies in 21 high-income nations and identifies five “best practices” for parental leave policies. The study shows that the U.S. has the least generous leave policies of the 21 countries examined in the report. The study provides some valuable points regarding how organizations can be more attuned to the needs of their workforce.

A Wake-Up Call: Latino Youth Speak Out About Arizona SB 1070: This excellent report is furnished by NCLR. It provides findings of focus groups with Latino youth in four different cities, emphasizing the common experience of discrimination and stereotyping. Because Latino youth represent a vital and rapidly growing segment of our future leaders, workers, and voters – it’s a great read.

 On The Rocky Road To Strong Global Culture: An article rather than a study (via Forbes) that suggests that organizations with “global cultures” are the exception rather than the rule. I wrote about this topic in an earlier post. It’s apparent that organizational strategies and culture are not able to remain in sync; therefore, many companies remain too “headquarters-centric” to operate effectively over long distances. Globalization, ironically, gets in the way.

I wanted to bring your attention to a wonderful event happening in Atlanta on October 14^th. The Hispanic Achievement & Business Leadership Awards (HABLA) is an annual luncheon recognizing the contributions and successes of Latino community leaders in corporate executive, civic-community, small-business and unsung hero categories.

This year’s keynote speaker, Cristina Benitez, is the author of one of my favorite books,”Latinization: How Latino Culture is Transforming the U.S.” Dr. Benitez’s book covers a number of topics including Hispanic talent and the Hispanic workforce. I referenced the book in my doctoral dissertation. Please also review the biographies of this year’s award recipients. Each is a leader in his or her respective category and serves as an inspiration for Latinos.

The event will also serve as an opportunity to award scholarships to some very deserving Latino students. Take note that scholarships are available for graduating high school seniors or current college freshmen or sophomores. You can find more scholarship information here.

 Great work HABLA and congratulations on a wonderful event!

Mary Gentile, director of business curriculum at Babson College, discusses the topic of values in the workplace. An interesting video (via McKinsey) regarding ethics and today’s business environment. The video provides excellent advice to new college graduates as well as senior executives. The question becomes essentially, when is it a good time to be ethical? Professor Gentile provides some marvelous insights about ethical dilemmas and how to act on them. Enjoy!

I’ve never been a big fan of college rankings. When I directed a couple of college recruiting departments years ago, it seemed I was always pressured by senior management to recruit at a “top-ten school” for no reason other than it was on a business magazine list. I’m not knocking these great schools, simply making the point that rankings shouldn’t be the foundation for a sound college recruiting strategy.  This article in USA Today articulates my point. Money line:

Rankings are not evil. Students and families need information. Four years of undergraduate education is not a trivial commitment. But the rankings game is on the verge of parodying itself. Worse, it threatens to drive strategic decisions on campuses in ways that have little to do with what should be important.

Update

The Chronicle of Higher Education comes out with a similar article on rankings -  along with a detailed graphic. The article’s money line is here and well said:

Much of the emphasis is on “input measures” such as student selectivity, faculty-student ratio, and retention of freshmen. Except for graduation rates, almost no “outcome measures,” such as whether a student comes out prepared to succeed in the work force, are used.

Having been involved in economic development initiatives many years ago for the City of El Paso, I realize how challenging it is to recruit new organizations into a community. Companies consider so many factors: city infrastructure, employment base, education, transporation, tax abatements, and many other things. Cities like San Antonio were very innovative years ago when they focused on creating economic development opportunities around specific industries like healthcare before it was on anyone’s radar. Now the medical industry is one of San Antonio’s largest employers. Today I came across another innovative idea – this one being driven by higher education to rebuild urban communities. Legislation in congress called the “ Urban University Renaissance Act of the 21st Century” focuses on helping rebuild neighborhoods in urban areas around the country. What a great idea. The law would award grants to institutions of higher education to establish and maintain community outreach partnership centers and expand existing community engagement activities that address urban problems.  What better way to rebuild communities than by investing in education?

8/31 – Update

St. Mary’s in San Antonio is already following this approach. Read how. h/t  @StMarysU

In a teleconference yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet some very impressive Latino leaders in preparation for my participation in the Center for Hispanic Leadership Summit September 18th in Los Angeles. I’ll be participating on two panels, “The Power of Our Immigrant Perspective and Vision” and “The War for Talent in the Workplace.”

I’m excited to be part of this great event but more important, I’m more excited to meet an excellent group of Latino professionals who have dedicated their time and efforts to support the leadership development of Hispanic talent. When you have a chance, browse through of the impressive list of summit delegates attending the CHL Summit.

I hope to meet you there!

Busy days with different projects and meetings this week — but a few things caught my eye today that I wanted to share around the topics of the Hispanic workforce/demographics, mentoring, and education. Enjoy!

UCLA Project Examining Latino Baby Boomers: I was speaking with a colleague earlier in the week regarding Hispanic population trends. We discussed how there’s been a lot of analysis on immigration, educational, and workforce related topics. We both agreed we’d start seeing more of the type of studies being conducted by Latinos and Econmic Security (LES) and UCLA. An excellent report which discusses the characteristics of Baby Boomer Latinos. A definite must read. Also browse around LES website to see the fine research work they do! You also might want to review the work of Dr. Fred Bonner who has written extensively on the learning attributes of Hispanic millennials.

Why Men Still Earn More than Women: Excellent piece by Harvard Business Magazine examining the reasons why men still earn more than women. The article was co-written by Herminia Ibarra one of my favorite researchers. I included a lot of her research in my doctoral work. Much of the article’s discussion centers on mentoring — which happens to be in line with my post a couple days ago. Check out the article and Google Dr. Ibarra’s work – she’s excellent at what she does.

Unlearning Teaching: Another great piece I found via Alastair Creelman, who works with net-based learning at Linnaeus University, Kalmar in south-east Sweden. He also writes the blog Corridor of Uncertainty. As an online instructor for over eight years now, I found his thoughts very much in line with what I attempt to do in my online classes. Alastair shares this entry from the original source, Will Richardson, “Learner in Chief” at Connective Learning:

“I think that’s one of the hardest shifts in thinking for teachers to make, the idea that they are no longer central to student learning simply because they are in the room. When learning value can be found in a billion different places, the teacher has to see herself as one of many nodes of learning, and she has to be willing to help students find, vet, and interact with those other nodes in ways that place value at the center of the interaction, meaning both ways. It’s not just enough to add those who bring value; we must create value in our networks as well.”