This learning assignment has truly been eye-opening.<\/p>\n
First, I was taken aback by my results on the Gender-Leader Implicit Association test. Even though the test itself explicitly states that many of us have have subconscious biased association favouring males and leadership that we are unaware of (Northouse, 2016), I was still unprepared when confronted with that reality. I was surprised by how often I associate leadership traits with the male gender.<\/p>\n
Second, I was surprised by how little I am doing to foster recognition and belonging for other women in my workplace. Health care is typically a female dominated workplace, and the situations that stand out in my memory are the ones where men are prejudiced against. For example, in Home Care I have had the responsibility of communicating with more clients and families who have refused to have a man provide their personal care than the opposite.<\/p>\n
As a woman leader in my workplace I haven\u2019t really taken the time (well, sometimes I feel like I haven\u2019t really HAD the time) to think about myself or other women in leadership roles. There are as many men as women at our Director table and I am not consciously aware of any overt prejudices against women in leadership, however, the learning materials from this week have caused me to reflect more on what I am unconsciously accepting or ignoring. Certainly I do think that there are always opportunities to promote recognition and foster a sense of belonging amongst my fellow women in senior leader and frontline management positions. The positions come with multiple responsibilities, and building support and capacity is important for their individual and team success.<\/p>\n
After reading the Catalyst report (2016) I have identified many ways that I can personally foster recognition and a sense of belonging:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Make personal connections with my staff \u2013 not just the managers that report directly to me, but the front line staff that report to them. This includes seeking to understand their successes and challenges at work, but also getting to know them personally.
\n\u2022 Recognize when other staff are engaged in inclusionary behaviours, and where possible (within a unionized environment) reward this behaviour. This recognition and reward can be personal (a quick thank you in person or by email) or public (a \u201cbouquet\u201d in the organization\u2019s newsletter, or a mass email to all the staff in the department with a cc to the ED, or VP)
\n\u2022 As I am the Chair of a number of meetings I can seek out those who aren\u2019t normally vocal and encourage them to participate, and capitalize on the information they have to offer if possible
\n\u2022 During staff meetings include an agenda item where staff can share experiences of inclusion and exclusion. There would need to be enough time to validate these experiences, and then time to ask for staff input into how we develop share language, understanding and vision so that the number of inclusion experiences go up, and the number of exclusion experiences go down
\n\u2022 Although our organization has policy that makes overt biases and stereotyping unacceptable, there is an opportunity to me to be more aware and conscious of language in the workplace and to role model behaviour that immediately addresses unacceptable language and actions
\n\u2022 There is an opportunity to recognize and coach the champions and ambassadors to continue to role model positive change
\n\u2022 I need to role model inclusionary behaviours.
\n\u2022 One value can be highlighted each week at our weekly huddles and then follow up with this education during personal interactions
\n\u2022 I can work with my managers and champions to celebrate success stories and share setbacks and barriers that the teams can work on correcting or eliminating
\n\u2022 I can work with the team to establish metrics, develop plans, and openly share the strategies created by the team to get to where we want to be<\/p>\n
I am truly intrigued by this week\u2019s learning materials that have challenged my assumptions and directed my thinking towards what I unconsciously accept as fact or truth. Have others\u2019 discovered personal unconscious biases? Have others been challenged by their assumptions? Are others in work environments where women leaders are not recognized as equals with their male counterparts? Looking forward to the discussion.<\/p>\n
References<\/b><\/p>\n
Northouse, P. G. \u00a0(2016). \u00a0Leadership: \u00a0theory and Practice. <\/i>\u00a0(7th ed.) \u00a0Thousand Oaks, CA: \u00a0Sage Publications Inc.<\/p>\n
Nugent, J. S., Pollack, A., Travis, D. J. \u00a0(2016). The Day-to-Day Experiences of Workplace Inclusion and Exclusion.<\/i>\u00a0 Retrieved from\u00a0http:\/\/www.catalyst.org\/system\/files\/the_day_to_day_experiences_of_workplace_inclusion_and_exclusion.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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