I have been thinking a lot lately as to what to write about next, but often times what inspires you comes when you least expect it.
October 15 will mark the end of a month long celebration of Hispanic Heritage. It is an odd timeline as the celebration starts on September 15 and runs through October 15, mostly due to the fact that several Latin American countries (mine included, El Salvador) celebrate their Independence Day on September 15. On that day, the towns come alive with celebration, and parades are held across every town in the nation. I was fortunate enough to participate in these parades as a member of my school’s band and energetic trumpet player.
There is nothing that will get you out of your shell more than being a member of the band and playing an instrument while parading around town while everyone is watching. This was the first experience I can remember with finding comfort in a very uncomfortable situation, at least for someone at the age of 11. The experience was great and I found out that I was not alone in feeling the way I did, but nevertheless the show had to go on and go on we did.
During this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, I was fortunate to attend several celebrations in our areas, listened to some great speakers and experience the inclusion of various cultures at these events. I took the opportunity to observe how we share our culture and what messages we deliver to those willing to attend the events. The messages were consistent…we are a culture of perseverance, hard work and familia. Beautiful and inspiring messages were delivered by excellent keynote speakers sharing their success story, their passion for excellence, and passing on their wisdom to the next generation of leaders. I also observed the diversity of attendees at these events and how many of them were of different cultures and backgrounds. In some instances there was a great mixture of diverse culture and backgrounds, but in others the attendees were exclusively of Hispanic descent. For the latter observation, I started thinking as to why this may be the case, and the story that I am telling myself is that those that did not attend felt uncomfortable being at an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage when they were not Hispanic. I may be erroneously reaching this conclusion, but I have some evidence that may substantiate my conclusion, albeit only a couple data points.
I am married to a beautiful American woman. We met on the school bus in middle school, started dating in high school, and have been together since. So I have been able to get her perspective when she attends family events, meets my large family, and she is the only American in the room full of energetic Latinos having a lively discussion in Spanish, which at first she took as arguing, but later learned that loudness, hand gestures, and facial expressions are part of the Latino DNA.
I could sense she was uncomfortable during those first meetings. First, she did not speak Spanish, she was being fully immerse in the culture, and she was being introduced to food that she questioned the originality of it because I had shared stories of my dad cooking iguanas and opossums back in El Salvador; she only tried certain things to be polite because that’s her culture. My other data point is my step-dad, he is also American and his experience is similar to my wife’s except at the time he met my mom, she could barely speak English…imagine the language barrier between the two, but I guess love is a common language. So I have first hand experience with seeing the discomfort of people outside of my culture and getting their perspective. They have mentioned repeatedly that at first they felt uncomfortable being the only American in the room and not able to speak the language, and I cannot help to think that this may be why certain people may hold back from attending cultural events. There is exclusivity in making something inclusive and that’s the irony of Inclusion and Diversity.
In much the same regard, we go through this in our personal and professional lives and often times the uncomfortableness of the situation prevents us from taking a leap and attend event when we may stand out. I think it is a natural tendency that we want to fit in, and standing out naturally makes us uncomfortable (this a big generalization because I know some folks thrive on being different and shun fitting in). But I will go back to my wife and step-dad and use them as an example. I will say that if you ask them today how they felt initially when they were around people of different cultures they will tell you that there was a lot of discomfort; however, through repeated experiences, inclusivity efforts by the family to bring them into the tribe and include them in the conversation (even through broken English) allowed them an opportunity to appreciate the culture and food that may not have been unexposed to them. These brave souls learned to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations and I am sure they appreciate this exposure (in a later post I will write about their experiences on the first visit to El Salvador).
The same experiences can be had in our professional environments. In our professions, we will constantly meet people from different cultures, backgrounds, and demographics and in this setting we are tasked to come together to achieve business goals and objectives. From the business perspective it becomes clear to incubate a culture of inclusivity and appreciation for diversity to achieve results, but we have to remember that our team members are human, experience their own bias, and have their own experiences that may drive their behavior. Aside from the relation to personal and professional life, I believe the power of diversity and inclusion lies in everyday practice. Imagine if we could all feel comfortable attending cultural events even if we are the only ones that look, speak, and act differently. I know there is fear in this, I experience it as well, but think about what could be gained from that experience. We would come to appreciate our fellow humans for who they are, understand their perspective, appreciate their culture, and enjoy wonderful culinary experiences (just ask my my wife and step-dad about plátanos and pupusas). In the business side we would experience highly functioning and innovative teams that drive our business forward for long term success. But we all need to play a part in making this possible…each one of us carry different life experiences that makeup and influence who we are and we all need to appreciate those differences. Each one of us should seek to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and also take it a bit further and help those around us in doing the same by practicing inclusivity and appreciating our diversity.
