OGL 350 Module 6 Paper

Michael Schwartz

Learning and Understanding Diversity Conflict in Organizations

In any type of relationship, there is potential for conflicts or clashes. As a leader in a

diverse organization, you need to be able to help resolve these conflicts. You can’t assume that

everyone will react to all the different forms of communication the same way that you do. When

communicating with your team, be mindful of their social norms, practices and beliefs

(Friedrich, 2018). Possessing this knowledge can help minimize unintentional

miscommunication that can lead to conflicts.

Something that I hadn’t considered much in the past was the difference in how people

from low-context and high-context cultures approach how they deal with situations (Friedrich,

2018). I assumed that as long as I put out clear guidance on how to get things done, the tasks

would get done without any issues. I never considered that some of my followers might not be

comfortable with doing a task based on the type of context culture they came from. Now that I’m

more aware of this concept, I will take it in to consideration when leading.

Diversity Conflict I Witnessed

A diversity conflict that comes to mind is a situation that we had on our ship. There was a

transgender sailor who was going through the process of changing genders to a male. Most

people on the ship were accepting and encouraging towards this sailor. His chief was a different

story though. He refused to refer to him by his new gender because it wasn’t yet medically

official. The sailor continually asked his chief to refer to him as a male, but his pleas went
unheard. Finally, the sailor brought the issue up to the commanding officer and the chief was

reprimanded for his actions. From that day on, the chief referred to him properly, but the sailor

had already lost all trust in the chief.

In this situation, the chief was part of the dominate culture of people who lived by their

genders assigned at birth, while the sailor was part of a subordinate culture of transgender

people. The chief was firm in his beliefs and was not accepting of all forms of diversity. The

sailor could’ve have just accepted how he was treated in order to preserve harmony, but that’s

not something anyone should have to do (Broome, 2017). This sailor did not feel like part of the

team, lost faith in the navy and plans to get out once their first enlistment ends. This is in line

with Hamill (2019) which states, the power of inclusion shapes how an employee feels and

employees who can be themselves are 42% less likely to leave for another job within a year.

The Giraffe and Elephant

The first thing that stood out to me was how the giraffe’s first thought was to make the

elephant change who he is in order for their relationship to work (Thomas Jr., 1999). The giraffe

basically asked the elephant to assimilate in order for them to be friends. Instead of thinking of

ways to accommodate his new friend, he asked him to exercise and take dance lessons in order

for him to fit into the house. This seems to be a common way of thinking from dominate

cultures. It’s easier to ask others to change than it is to make changes ourselves. A good example

of this is the military’s previous transgender policy. People who are transgender, were not

allowed to serve because of issues such as; too many changes in policy needed, medical

requirement updates and questions of where to house them while deployed to a combat field and

on ships. Even though the military will now allow transgender people to serve, there are still

many updates needed.

 What caught my attention next in the Thomas Jr. (1999) reading, was the key dynamic

stating that “Many are reluctant to embrace genuine diversity fully.” Like the navy, it seems like

a lot of organizations claim to embrace diversity and hirer diverse individuals, but don’t

completely do everything they can to ensure an inclusive environment. We get training and have

meetings about it to get the diversity training check in the box, but a lot of times, nothing ever

comes from the trainings. Hamill (2019) gives us seven ways to create an inclusive workplace

and all seven seem to be great ideas. For this to actually work, everyone has to be onboard to

make it a truly inclusive workplace. The question is, is this even an achievable goal?

My Approach and Strategies to Leadership

Most of the diversity management concepts aren’t new to me, but are a good reminder of

things to consider when leading a diverse group of people. I would like to believe that I create an

inclusive environment that my sailors like to be a part of. I recently transferred from my ship and

my sailors took me out to lunch. They presented me with a going away gift and an award they

created from scratch. The award write-up was heartfelt with funny comments and statements

about my positive leadership. It ended with a quote from Stan Lee who said “That person who

helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is

indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.” That made me feel amazing and makes me want to

continue to improve as a leader at my next command.

The reading that hit closest to home was the story of the giraffe and elephant. Even the

best leaders can fail like the giraffe did with the elephant. Sometimes the status quo needs to be

changed in order for everyone to be included. This can be hard because, why change something

that works? The answer to that is, because maybe it doesn’t work for everyone. We can get stuck
in our ways and that can cause unintentional harm. To do better with that, I have purchased a

used copy of the Building a House for Diversity book. Reading it, will hopefully improve my

diversity awareness as a leader.

Works Cited
Broome, B. J. (2017). Conflict Management and Intercultural Communication. Routledge

Publishing, ISBN 9781138962842.

https://asu.instructure.com/courses/92360/pages/module-6-readings?

module_item_id=6063143

Friedrich, P. (2018). Cultural Differences in Conflict Resolution. The TESOL Encyclopedia

Language Teaching. https://asu.instructure.com/courses/92360/pages/module-6-readings?

module_item_id=6063143

Hamill, L. (2019, February 4). What an Inclusive Workplace Actually Looks Like, and Seven

Ways to Achieve it. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/02/04/what-an-

inclusive-workplace-actually-looks-like-and-seven-ways-to-achieve-it/?sh=1ec6152a316

Thomas Jr, R. R. (1999). Building a House for Diversity: A Fable About a Giraffe & an

Elephant Offers New Strategies for Today’s Workforce. America Management

Association New York, ISBN 0-8144-046304.

https://asu.instructure.com/courses/92360/pages/module-6-readings?

module_item_id=6063143