Our Approach

Our Approach
Our approach is simple: We help government and educational organizations train staff, employees, and clients on diversity issues. We encourage an understanding of these issues without blame, fault or guilt. We encourage our clients to deeply examine themselves, explore other cultures, and become allies for others. We understand that people are doing the best they can with what they have, yet help them reach their highest potential with their acceptance of others.

Instead of inflicting guilt or pushing a certain belief system on our clients, we instead dissect and analyze behaviors. This helps us together to strive to making meaning of the issues that challenge us in a fair, balanced way. Above all, we motivate individuals to create something collaboratively and learn positively from the experience.

All Human Behavior is Goal Directed

All human behavior is goal directed, meaning that people behave in certain ways because they believe their actions and behaviors will lead them to a particular goal. When an organization’s goal differs from an individual’s personal goal, we help rectify and understand those differences. Essentially, we help get things in order when old behaviors don't work any longer.

We Love Working With Bigots, Racist, and Homophobic People

We know that people are not born hating others. This provides us with an opportunity to re-educate those who have been taught to hate. We believe that people truly can learn, change, and grow. However, this process takes time, energy, and humbleness, and we are here to see that process through for a positive change.

Attitude is Not Just an Emotion

I have heard people say that your attitude is more important than any skill or ability. However, I encourage you to think about an attitude as a side effect of something more profound. When people get what they want, they have a good attitude. When they are denied, they have a bad attitude. When their goal is achieved, their attitude improves. Goals drive attitudes, and attitudes are side effects of goals. We have to be clear about professional and personal goals. We help clear the air to create a healthy organizational climate, increasing performance and customer service.

FAQ:

1. Describe the methods you have used to train employees on how to deliver and increase customer service to a diverse clientele with various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

First of all, we understand that all human beings have similar goals. Yet, it is often their methods of obtaining these goals that either increase conflict or create a misunderstanding of the motivation of certain behaviors. So by focusing on the needs, desires, and goals of the customer, we can encourage people to extend gratitude, respect, and honor to them.

2. How do you recognize different ways in which someone may be insensitive, inappropriate or offensive to individuals?

We believe that people truly do the best they can with the resources, education, and environment they have been exposed to. With that in mind, we welcome discussion, dissension, and free thought that help us all expand how we see the world and increase individuals’ goal focused performance.

3. Describe your philosophy of cultural competence and what steps you recommend for employers to take to ensure their employees maintain cultural competence.

Cultural competence begins with understanding one's own culture. It is interesting that many American's have not read the Constitution, are not familiar with Declaration of Independence, and have little idea of the protections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. All that said, it is clear that people have different methods of obtaining their goals that we must analyze and take into account. There must be a balance of looking in and looking out, knowing our immigration stories and being open to other’s having theirs.

4. Discuss bias, stereotypes, and prejudice and describe how your training addresses these challenges in a work environment.

The awful truth is that people are allowed to be biased, hold prejudices, and operate with stereotypes. There are no laws that prevent those states of being. However, it is illegal to discriminate against others. What we know is that bias, prejudices, and stereotypes build, and the ultimate result is discrimination. We work with people to challenge their perceptions, assumptions, and world view to ultimately eliminate decimation in the workplace.

5. How do you demonstrate and teach techniques to reduce conflicts on diverse teams?

We help folks by asking a simple question, "Did the consumer receive dignity, honor, respect in that interaction?" This question seems simple but with closer examination we begin to see that the reduction of conflict is directly related to the emotional impression that is created in each of our interactions. We teach employees to be intentional until it becomes habitual.

6. Discuss your ideas for encouraging creativity, flexibility, and innovation from a diverse mix of peers.

We believe that people have to answer to and understand their own problems first. So, we create experimental activities, simulations and improvisational techniques to explore the dynamics of diversity and the empower individuals to play and become free thinkers.

7. What are your methods of sharing one’s own perspective to those of diverse backgrounds?

Many of the stories that are shared in the presentations are allegories or fables used to demonstrate techniques that I have personally learned from. Key concepts will be repeated no matter the content to demonstrate the gravity of the core concepts. This means that if you attend more than one of my sessions, you might hear the same story or joke more that once.