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Men and Women
Sharing Power and Leadership A Core Multicultural Issue Initiating
a Dialogue with Supporters and Practitioners of Diversity Efforts
in Organizations It is time to bring the issues of gender, race and culture together in our efforts to support diversity. Both White People and People of Color often have treated gender work as a White concern. Most African Americans, Latinos and Asians are motivated by issues of race and culture; however, gender issues seem to have low priority. I do not challenge the emphasis on race and culture, but I do assert that gender issues are critical to multicultural work. Over the past twenty years, I have examined my own racial bias and that of U.S. institutions. Racism - a combination of prejudices about color, culture, and class - has and still does permeate our institutions and way of life. As my own racial bias has been revealed and my fear of owning it diminishes, I see more clearly the impact of my Anglo culture on numerous groups of people. I am now able to hold the ideals and accomplishments of my heritage in one hand -- and its often destructive history in the other. The racial and cultural journey I am taking has also caused me to give sustained attention to people of African heritage, Latinos, Asians, peoples of Middle Eastern heritage, and indigenous peoples in the U.S. and around the globe. The layers of learning about differences in values, beliefs, rituals and behavior have been and continue to be profound. It is a life-long journey of discovery and, over time, I have come to see the beauty, richness, and wisdom in diverse cultures. More recently, I have come to identify some of the shortcomings and dysfunctions that are also part of every human culture. Parallel to my study of cultures, I have been drawn ever more deeply into being a student of world events. Certainly September 11, 2001, and constant global conflict have accelerated my quest for knowledge. Each day, more is revealed to me about the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. as it engages and seeks to influence or control a host of diverse nations. With my own learning about race and culture and world events as a base, I join my colleagues (mostly a diverse group of women) in corporate and educational settings to promote and support the understanding of diversity. Our work has emphasized the multi-cultural stories of both native U.S. people and those coming from other nations. Often those stories reveal how historical and current oppression has shaped and limited the opportunities for People of Color in U.S. economic, educational, religious, government and social institutions. These aspects of our work seem to energize -- or at least stimulate -- thought and discussion for most participants. As colleagues, we often have concerns about the extent to which the cultural wisdom and human expression inherent in our diverse cultures is revealed A more immediate and troubling concern has been the nearly total lack of energy and interest in our work on gender. As much as ten years ago, I sensed that our seminar, based on historical oppression of women in a White cultural context, was limited and losing its power. This was not because the oppression of women had ceased but because many of the younger White women coming to our institutions were finding ready entry and some semblance of tolerance in the workplace. Women are showing up in ones and twos in mid-level and occasionally senior level management roles. Younger seminar participants of both genders often convey a feeling that the work of gender is no longer a priority….it has been fixed … and that the real work now is in cultural difference and sexual orientation. My own inner voice, my intuition, said that there was something flawed in our approach to gender, which impacted not only issues of gender but our work on cultural differences. Yet, for several years, neither my colleagues nor I could find a way to voice our misgivings. More recently, I have challenged myself to discard all of my assumptions about how diversity issues are addressed in our seminars. I decided that I would open every aspect of my learning -- about my own and other cultures, national and global events, interactions with colleagues and friends, my relationship to my wife, my work as an artist, my Jungian analysis, and my body/mind practice in an Eastern tradition -- to new possibilities. To my surprise, I quickly discovered issues of gender emerging in every aspect of my experience. Whether I was looking at events in Afghanistan or at my own paintings, the interaction of the masculine and feminine appeared front and center. Just when it seemed I was most open to possibility, I was drawn to see a film called Whale Rider - and my long search for limitations in my own view of diversity was suddenly illuminated. Whale Rider takes place within contemporary Maori culture and mixes mystical and symbolic elements with daily events. It is the story of an indigenous people trying to preserve a culture being eroded by a surrounding White world. A grandfather, the spiritual leader of his people, is seeking a male heir to keep the tribal heritage alive. In his tradition, only a male can provide that leadership. As his efforts to find his successor among the boys of the tribe are being thwarted, he daily comes face to face with a granddaughter who possesses all the attributes he is seeking. Only he is unable to see her… In a flash I realized that the failure of the grandfather to "see" his granddaughter was being replicated in every corner of the globe. The grandfather in Whale Rider symbolizes the historical tradition of assuming that the primary leadership of human institutions should be male. The granddaughter represents the unseen and largely unrealized power and leadership of women in shaping our religious, political, economic and educational institutions. Lack of recognition of feminine power and leadership lies at the root of serious dysfunction in nearly every cultural group. As I look at my own country and those around the world, a glaring deficit is revealed. The policy and practice of most institutions has been and is being determined by men acting without any significant or sustained presence of women. I do not work from a premise that there is something inherently negative or ill-intentioned about men. My own experience has been that most men seek what they believe is best for humanity. The issue is that men do not embody all of human wisdom and experience. Regardless of intention, men acting alone cannot create policy and practice that affirm the full range of human needs and aspirations. I found myself imagining what the legislation coming out of the U.S. Congress would look like if the Senate and House were both composed equally of women and men, representing the diverse U.S. cultures. Whale Rider also caused me to face directly another aspect of a global gender issue that is rarely discussed in our quest for a better world. Our major religious institutions play a powerful role in determining how women's potential is viewed in most cultural groups. There is perhaps no more controversial statement than to assert that much of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism have institutionalized the belief that women cannot serve as the highest spiritual leaders. I have to ask: What would be the impact on our diverse global cultures and events if these influential religious institutions came to see the power and leadership of women as essential to the expression of their faith? If men and women could be seen acting together at the highest levels of our global religious institutions, hundreds of millions of people might come to see the potential for all human institutions. Each day, as I observe the setting of priorities for resource use, protecting the environment or conflict resolution around the globe, I ask again and again: What would be decided in the U.S., the Middle East, China, India, Europe and Africa if women and men were making those decisions together, each in full power? I need to hold that lofty question in one hand and return to the practical aspects of diversity work as practiced by me and by my colleagues in U.S. institutions. No matter which cultural group I observe, in the U.S. or globally, I do not find sustained examples of men and women in significant numbers shaping institutions. (I will leave the reader the possibility that she or he knows of an example or two.) What I do see, in most cases, is a scattering of women in male-normed organizations trying to contribute their unique voices. Often, senior women become totally assimilated to those male norms. They are then seen as competent team players and leaders, but there are powerful aspects of their skill and leadership that remain unseen. My major premise is that men and women of every culture come to our corporations, universities and governmental institutions with little experience in sharing power and leadership. A second given is that since men have not depended on the power and leadership of women in their work lives, men know little about how women use their power and exercise leadership. Men have experienced and observed much about women's power and leadership in domestic settings but may never have focused on how those qualities apply to our larger institutions. A third factor to consider is that; regardless of culture of origin, men and women in single gender situations create very different cultures. There are significant differences in priorities, values, behavior, taboos and how power and leadership are experienced and used. THIS DOES NOT DENY THAT MEN AND WOMEN HAVE MUCH IN COMMON OR THAT AN INDIVIDUAL MAN OR WOMAN CAN POSSESS ANY IMAGINABLE SET OF VALUES AND BEHAVIORS. I speak here about the differences in single gender groups. Some of those differences are as profound as any found across ethnic cultures. Actually much has been written about the differences in gender culture, i.e. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, but most of the writing that is widely read is set in a White cultural context. This imbalance in popular literature contributes to gender being a White concern. My own observation in groups of African Americans, Latinos or Asians is that the cultural differences between single gender groups are as striking and basic as they are in the White culture. The specifics of behavior and how power and leadership are exhibited by gender differ by ethnic culture - and those differences need to become basic knowledge in our diversity efforts. In this writing I will not attempt to explore the many specifics about how the cultures created by men and women may differ. I simply wish to call attention to the difference -- and to the lack of experience we have as men and women in sharing power and leadership at high levels of institutional responsibility. I also ask what kind of wisdom might be discovered if substantial numbers of men and women shaped the policy and practices in our cultural institutions. I believe the core purpose of diversity work is to release the unique power of intention and expression that is within each of us so that we may join others in realizing our collective human potential. In general, I find that women and men have different views of power. I recently observed a group of mostly White women struggle to even include the word "power" in a discussion of what kind of culture women create. A parallel group of men readily discussed power as a focus of effort on a task or a goal. Eventually some members of the women's group began to discuss power as opening up options for multiple ways of doing things and using their power to include others. The discussion was tentative, possibly due to the cultural messages that usually define power and leadership in a male cultural context. Women are not often portrayed as powerful shapers of economic, political, religious and educational institutions. My purpose here is to engage those who carry out efforts to support diversity in organizations to reexamine the place and potential of gender issues in a multicultural context. It is time to bring issues of gender difference to the heart of our diversity efforts. Whether we are exploring ethnic cultures or historical oppression, the way in which women and men use power and leadership together is a core part of the learning. My own hypothesis is that some combination of cultural conditioning, life experience and biology give men and women significantly different orientations toward life. I believe it is crucial that we create a space in our diversity seminars and other forums where women and men of different cultures can safely explore how their contrasting views of power and leadership can serve a common purpose. I am not naïve about how difficult the meeting of women and men in their full power will be. I recommend that those who manage diversity experiences develop a new frame of reference to increase the probability that men and women will sustain their efforts with each other. In closing, I offer a few examples of elements that could be part of a new frame of reference: · Let us suspend our assumptions about what we know and don't know -- and simply agree to listen and be present to each other. · Let us recognize the historic patterns of dominance and subordinance, assess their impact, and step back into our mutual endeavor. · Let us bring skill and patience to sorting out racial and ethnic biases, which are interwoven with issues of gender. One key is to honor each person's experience and work with it. · A spirit of playful exploration can help. We need not defend or prove anything to each other. · Chaos, loss of focus, and mistakes can all be opportunities. · Applications and conclusions arrive in their own time as insight grows. · We are stepping beyond the known world. Fear is a healthy response. · Perhaps we can simply care what happens to each other. Copyright William
Page, 2004 For more information on how your organization can begin
a dialogue please contact
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