Courageous Conversations

Justices Limit Discrimination Suits Over Pay

The Supreme Court ruled today (May 29, 2007), in a case of considerable interest to companies and workers alike, that employers are protected from lawsuits over pay discrimination linked to gender or race when the claims are based on decisions made or acts committed by the employer years ago.

Voting 5 to 4 after apparently heated deliberations, the justices found in favor of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and against Lilly M. Ledbetter, who worked for 19 years at the company’s plant in Gadsden, Ala., and was paid substantially less than men doing work at the same level.

Here is the New York Times article.

A link to the actual text of the US Supreme Court's decision.

Talk to you soon, Tim.

Going Beyond Diversity Training - Part Two

In this second of three podcasts, I continue the conversation with Ted Santos, CEO of Turnaround Investment Partners. He recently published, and I recently read, his article, "Going Beyond Diversity Training." (13:20)

Click here to download as MP3

In Part Two of our conversation Ted and I talk about the future state, i.e., what do great leaders of a diverse workforce need to do to be, and continue to be successful. And that shows up in four main areas:

1. Create a new mindset - Outdated mindsets create outdated conversations.
2. Create a problem - Jack Welch created a problem at GE by insisting that all its divisions be either number 1 or number 2 in their markets.
3. Create a common language - Create a language that unifies people.
4. Allow people to fail - Thomas Edison "failed" thousands of times on his way to creating the lightbulb

In Part Three we will talk about how do we close the gap between where we are and where we need to be.

Part Four is a fascinating discussion on our own Intrapersonal Conversations - those things we tell ourselves that help or hinder our progress.

Talk to you soon, Tim.

What's a White Guy Doing in Diversity?

My two cents on whether or not it makes a difference if white guys are running diversity programs. (04:49)

The Wall Street Journal, the Radcliffe Institute and DiversityInc.com, seem to be in a battle royale over the successes, direction and discussion over the issue of diversity.

First, the Radcliffe Institute from Harvard, began publishing a study that shows the way to achieve success with diversity initiatives. It showed that to increasee women and minorities in management, it is best to have someone responsible, and being held responsible for the effort. And the actions to be taken must be customized and specific to individual units, departments and locations to be the most impactful.

Second, on May 7, the Wall Street Journal published a story, Theory & Practice: Diversity Programs look for Leadership from White Males. DiversityInc thinks that doesn't make sense and they find it almost "comedic" to say that maybe we haven't done a good job of connecting diversity to the business. And that maybe white guys are like a lot of people - they want to hear the message from somebody like themselves.

And third, I don't think any of it matters.

Going Beyond Diversity Training - Part One

In this podcast - the first of three - I speak with Ted Santos, CEO of Turnaround Investment Partners. He recently published, and I recently read, his article, "Going Beyond Diversity Training." (13:25)

Click here to download as MP3

What was fascinating to me was his view that it might not be discrimination that keeps folks from moving up the ladder in corporate America. That another part, and possibly larger part, is that candidates have not done what they need to do to be prepared for the new, and much more difficult, challenges of running a larger organization or expanded responsibilities. And this lack of training, coaching and preparation are getting in the way of success.

Take a listen, read the article, and watch for Part Two of our conversation on where do we go from here, Part Three, how do we get there, and finally, Part Four on our own Intrapersonal Conversations.

Talk to you soon, Tim.