Discrimination Can Happen At Any Level

One of my buddies
is a skilled salesperson.
She is also very detailed-oriented,
which is why
she found it surprising
that legal
would block or significantly delay
every one of her deals.

Seeking to fix this issue,
she asked a trusted coworker
to look at her contracts
before she submitted them.

He found no issues with them.
This white male salesperson
said he had submitted similar deals
in the past
and received no pushback
from legal.

She submitted the contracts.
Legal blocked them.

She brought this issue up
at a department meeting.
Every woman in that department
had the same issue.

The Legal department of one
was an older white guy.

Recognize that the ‘isms
– racism, sexism, etc
– could happen at any level
in an organization.

Legal could block
the sales of female salespeople
in an organization.
The mail person
could ‘lose’ the deliveries
of people of color.
Reception could ‘fail to connect’
the calls for trans employees.

Monitor complaints
and
take them seriously.
Look for patterns.

Our organizations
aren’t truly exclusive
if someone within it
is discriminating against others.

The Speakers You Seek

A salesperson loved one
was attending a conference
with his clients.

He had enough clients
to warrant special workshops.

He was given a list of speakers
to choose from.

He was surprised
to get all his top picks,
the best,
he believes,
people in each topic
he wanted covered.

All his top picks
were women and/or
people of color.

The white male speakers
with less experience
and less skill
had ‘sold out.’

The other speakers,
although they were better qualified,
still had openings
in their schedule.

When organizing an event,
ask for the best speakers
on the topics you want covered.

Those best speakers
are likely not white or male.
And they are, unfortunately,
likely to be available.

Oh, and this shouldn’t have to be said,
but compensate your speakers
according to their skill
and knowledge,
not their skin color
or genitals.