I love Google Reader. I spend about an hour a day using it to keep up-to-date on Hispanic workforce and college-related information. It’s an invaluable resource for me. Every couple days I sort my feeds by “Starred” items – articles and information I find particularly interesting. Last night as I reviewed my starred feeds one thing became obviously clear.
Companies, colleges, and other organizations are working vigorously to increase the number of Latino employees, students, and leaders. Over the last week, I’ve read many accounts of what institutions are doing to make this happen. It’s great to see the efforts being put forth. However, I see one problem.
Each of them is functioning alone. It’s rare that I read that a college is partnering with a corporation or a non-profit is working with another institution. It seems everybody is working – but not many are collaborating. A landscape of silos.
The problem with silos is that there’s not a principal view of the overall and fundamental goal. Consequently, barriers are not accurately identified, issues become unmanageable, or core issues are unrecognizable.
Bridging these silos requires collaboration, dexterity, facility, and relationship building. I realize this is challenging and easier said than done. To increase the representation of Latinos at all levels of the workforce, we must collaborate. It will require companies, higher education, and non-profits to coordinate and communicate around this central goal.
I wanted to share some final thoughts regarding last week’s CHL Leadership Summit. Overall, I think everyone in attendance was provided with thought provoking dialogue and information.
There were many ideas and thoughts I took away from our meeting. Here are my thoughts at the 30,000 foot level not so much focused on the dialogue, but what our discussions mean for organizations functioning in a multicultural environment.
First, organizations are becoming more complex through internal and external partnerships with strategic groups. One perfect example of internal complexity was illustrated by our discussion regarding employee resource groups (ERGs), particularly culture-based ones. Their existence is changing. In some instances, ERGs are trying to meet contradictory objectives simultaneously.
I attempted to come up with a term that would capture the multicultural ideas coming out of our discussions: “Glocalization.” This is the idea that many U.S. organizations have become microcosms of the global economy. Additionally, organizations are challenged to incorporate and manage a host of diverse cultures into 20th century management structures. A difficult objective. Organizations must loosen their traditional leadership and management moors toward ones that address different workforce values and beliefs.
Third, common purpose, communication, and adaptation are essential organizational elements from a multicultural context. These elements will be needed to grasp and function in a complex multicultural environment. As these elements are incorporated into structures, organizations will eventually change their culture and environment (“the tipping point”) to increase multicultural representation at the higher leadership levels.
Finally, organizations must look to the long-term when addressing multicultural leadership issues. It will require organizations to develop new employee engagement models; to find opportunities to celebrate and leverage diverse cultural values generated by a diverse workforce; and to assure leaders and managers are committed to this change.
The CHL Summit arrives at a critical time. It seems to me we are searching for a new kind of leadership. Why? Because leadership in the 21st century can no longer rest on the idea that leadership exists in an individual. Leadership resides within everyone. Its development is holistic – centered in heart, mind, passion, and energy.
The upcoming CHL Summit is based on the concept that leadership is the driving force of innovation; where inclusivity is key and engaging a wider social environment is essential. Leadership can no longer be a dominant/passive role between leaders and followers. It’s a shared relationship where collaboration helps achieve higher-level outcomes focused on transforming conventional strategies.
This event is important because leaders must possess a deep and diverse basket of competencies to meet a business environment characterized by the “new normal” - a business environment where economic resiliency is based on global connectedness and is driven by new knowledge using diverse thinking.
I think we’ve entered a new participatory leadership paradigm. One in which each member is trusted, respected and empowered. It’s based on the collaboration between individuals and where the leadership role can shift from person to person. It’s a new paradigm where success is dependent on one’s ability to harness the diversity of the group to develop a community, which can achieve at a higher level than the sum of the individuals.
LATISM (Latinos in Social Media) sponsored a great discussion via Twitter on Hispanic Leadership. I adjusted my “Live Blogging” feature via CoverItLive to cut down on the repetitive tweets and focus on the key themes as the discussion progresses. I’ve also added my thoughts and observations. Enjoy!
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.
I wanted to bring your attention to a wonderful event happening in Atlanta on October 14th. 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’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 love Google Reader. I spend about an hour a day using it to keep up-to-date on Hispanic workforce and college-related information. It’s an invaluable resource for me. Every couple days I sort my feeds by “Starred” items – articles and information I find particularly interesting. Last night as I reviewed my starred feeds one thing became obviously clear.
Just an FYI that I’ll be “live blogging” the 
I wanted to bring your attention to a wonderful event happening in Atlanta on October 14th. The 
