Year of the Know –It –All

   Doug is another supervisor who attended one of my workshops. He recalls a major lesson learned form his own employee.

   “One of my most embarrassing moments was when I had a Chinese-American employee put in a request to take time off to celebrate Chinese New Year. In my ignorance, I assumed he had his dates wrong, as the first of January had just passed. When I advised him of this, I gave him a long talking-to about turning in requests early with the proper dates.

   “He patiently waited, then when I was done, he said he would like Chinese New Year off, not the Western New Year. He explained politely that in his culture the new year did not begin January first, and that Chinese New year, which is tied to the lunar cycle, is one of the most celebrated holidays on the Chinese calendar. Needless to say, I felt very embarrassed in assuming he had his dates mixed up. But I learned a great deal about assumptions, and that the timing of holidays varies considerably form culture to culture.

   “Attending the diversity workshop helped me realize how much I could learn by simply asking questions and creating dialogues with my employees, rather that making assumptions and trying to be a know-it-all,” Doug admits, “The biggest thing I took away from the workshop is learning how to be more ‘inclusive’ to differences.”

A Better Bottom Line
   An open mind about diversity not only improves organizations internally, it is profitable as well. These comments from a customer service representative show how an inclusive attitude can improve sales. “Most of my customers speak English as a second language. One of the best things my company has done is to contract with a language service that offers translations over the phone. It wasn’t until my boss received Mindsets’ training that she was able to understand how important inclusi