Sympathy Versus Empathy and Why You Should Know the Difference
When one of my clients experienced discrimination in the workplace, she confided in a colleague. She had hoped to feel understood, validated, and supported. Instead, her colleague’s response made her feel dismissed and belittled. She was a high performer at her company, but she had recently been denied a leadership position. “You’re Asian,” her boss had said....
How to Successfully Manage Conflict Across Cultures
Conflict on global teams can show up in ways you may not expect. Here are the skills to navigate these moments. Ted and his team had reached a crisis point. Ted is a senior leader with a global company. His team had been collaborating cross-functionally on a project with another team, but the project had come to a standstill. The relationship between both teams had broken down, to the point of...
Antisemitism on the Rise
I must admit, until Ye – the musician and designer formerly known as Kanye West – tweeted that he would “go death con 3 on Jewish people,” I wasn’t paying as much attention to the rise of antisemitism in this country as I should have. Shame on me. Quick research shows that according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitic behavior in the US, there was a 37% rise in...
Wait, what is Juneteenth?
Recently, I was conversing with a White friend, and I mentioned that Juneteenth is this weekend. They said, “Wait, what is that?” There’s a part of me that wanted to snap at them, somewhat sarcastically, “How could you not know that Juneteenth is one of the most important independence day celebrations in American history?!” But I couldn’t. Because the truth is, I didn’t know about Juneteenth...
Why the Chris Rock/Will Smith Oscar Altercation was a DE&I Issue
An Invited Opinion By Rainea Cumberbatch On Oscar night, Sunday March 27th, Will Smith became the fifth African American to win the prestigious Best Actor In a Leading Role award for his portrayal as Richard Williams in King Richard. The actor won the Oscar from an academy which, in it’s 94 years in existence, has only nominated 23 Black men for this award. We also watched Will Smith...
How About A Little Respect for Women’s Professional Sports?
During the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, my father was well-known as a sportswriter, radio, and TV commentator who was very comfortable expressing his heartfelt opinions in public. In general, he stayed positive; waxing poetic on the powerful beauty of a well-executed football or hockey play, the importance of the Olympic movement to global cooperation, and how tennis was rapidly changing for the...
Interviewing Lori George Billingsley, Cheif DEI Officer Coca-Cola
I have lived a privileged life. I am the son of a famous sportswriter, Gene Ward, who wrote for the NY Daily News and was syndicated by the Chicago Tribune and on TV and radio. So, as a kid, because my dad was interviewing famous sports stars, I got to meet some of my cherished childhood heroes including Arthur Ashe, the Stanley-Cup-Winning team members of the New York Islanders hockey team...
On “Curmudgeons” and “Sweeties”
By Cynthia Burnham, MBA You’re watching an old movie. The white actors have put on blackface with white, painted, oversized lips, and eyes wide. They dance around in a goofy way, wear strange clothes, and tell bad jokes in an exaggerated “uneducated” accent. The audience in the movie laugh hysterically throughout. Bad, right? I hear many of you saying, “Absolutely! I hope we have gone way...
America’s Sub-Culture of Hate
Many Americans are deeply concerned that the recent mass shootings in Atlanta are yet another horrifying sign of the escalating abuse, violence and discrimination toward Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. We at the Center for Respectful Leadership share these concerns and believe it is our responsibility to speak out and take a stand against hate. The trends are unmistakable:...