Career Corner: Advancing Diversity by Being Yourself
My goal is to publish a second book for peers. In this Career Corner I’ll talk about finding and succeeding at a job on your terms. Not at the whims of a corporation or even a nonprofit that treats you in an inhuman way. Putting profits before people is not cool. Expecting you to serve the greater good for pennies on the dollar in pay is not cool either.
My second book will go into detail about what I’m talking about here. I’ve thought about this topic long and hard as to the reality of altering our behavior to fit in at work. Ideally, we would find the workplace environment where we can be our authentic selves.
I advance doing the research to find these kinds of jobs and careers. Look beyond the office ping-pong table room and the on-site dry cleaners. Maybe everyone’s too busy to ping-pong back and forth. The balls have lost their bounce.
You can go to glassdoor to get the scoop on salaries and working conditions at companies. Also try the muse for information on issues like forming a union. You can read about strategies too.
The point is we should not have to alter our behavior to fit into the workplace dynamic. “Code switching” is one type of changing our voice to get accepted on a job. One of the other issues I see is when a person thinks an office job is the only type of job they should get or can get. I understand the urge to get the job in the first place and keep the job once you get it. This could cause a lot of us to consider presenting a face that the employer wants to see.
Only the reality with capitalism is that to change the unequal system we need to stop changing ourselves in order to be taken seriously. If we don’t stand up and expect better nothing will change in society in the long run.
For BIPOC individuals particularly this is where finding a job where you can be full-on yourself is not often easy. Stereotypes abound. The “pipeline myth” advances the idea that there aren’t a lot of you qualified or out there to be hired. Reinforcing that a white male with a Harvard degree should be hired because they look and talk like the white male from Harvard who is the hiring manager.
Things can change. I’m optimistic that showing up as our true selves and persisting in selling this version of who we are is the answer. Getting hired, experiencing blatant racism or either casual insensitivity, not being supported and “sponsored” not just mentored, the list goes on as to why a lot of us accept a job and then quit.
For my job as a professional librarian with a focus on career services, I read every year business books with a current copyright date. My favorite “self-help” book, which I found in the business books section of the library, was Be More Pirate, Or How to Take on the World and Win by Sam Conniff Allende. I recommend buying this book or checking it out of the library.
How to navigate when you find yourself working in an unwelcoming environment? Before it gets to that point, I recommend reading the books listed at the end of this article. Going on Linkedin is a great way to network with people who are your Connections. You can interact with this network when you find a job with an optimal work environment.
I’m not a fan of “toning down” your personality. At my library job, I’ve become famous as the Author of Working Assets, which was promoted to customers in a New Books display. Though I can come and go as I please on a job with no stigma, this is not always the case when you work in an office job.
That’s why I recommend getting a job in a public library or for an employer with a purpose-driven mission. (Provided you’re treated well and don’t have your needs and rights scorched working for their clientele.)
I might recommend reading a book I checked out of the library by Greg Hoffman who worked at Nike: Emotion by Design. It’s an interesting case study that might be a PR stunt for this corporation that is not without scandal. A great read, nonetheless.
See if the books below can help you succeed in the modern workplace, where not all companies have “gotten with the program” that it’s 2023 not 1776.
DEI Books
The Antiracist Business Book: An Equity Centered Approach to Work, Wealth, and Leadership. Trudi Lebron, 2022.
Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace. Daisy Auger-Dominguez, 2022.
All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results. Cynthia Owyoung, 2022.
How to Talk To Your Boss About Race: Speaking Up Without Getting Shut Down. Y-vonne Hutchinson, 2022
The Business of Race: How to Create and Sustain an Antiracist Workplace: And Why It’s Good for Business. Margaret Greenberg & Gina Greenlee, 2022.
Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+Inclusion at Work. Michael Bach, 2022. Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy. Kathryn Finney, 2022.
