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FACE TO FACE
Transforming Organizations from the Inside Out with Cultural Proficiency: An Interview with Richard Martinez

PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
Announcing New Keynote and Three New Forums
Final Conference Brochure—Now Available!
Register by October 5 to Save $300

FACE TO FACE
Transforming Organizations from the Inside Out with Cultural Proficiency: An Interview with Richard Martinez

Richard Martinez is an expert in educational leadership and organizational culture, and a coauthor of Culturally Proficient Coaching (in progress, 2005). He has facilitated seminars nationally on the art of leadership, diversity sensitive environments, and transformative approaches to systems change. At the 2005 Pegasus Conference, Richard will be co-presenting a session with Delores Lindsey and Randall Lindsey on how to cultivate cultural proficiency in organizations through facilitating courageous conversations around diversity. In the following interview, he discusses some of the steps involved in becoming a culturally proficient organization.

Leverage Points: You've explained that one of the shifts that occur when an organization cultivates cultural proficiency is a movement from "tolerance of diversity" to "transformation for equity." Can you describe that shift?

Richard Martinez: According to my colleagues Randall Lindsey, Kikanza Nuri Robins, and Raymond Terrell, cultural proficiency is "the policies and practices at the organizational level, and values and behaviors at the individual level, that enable effective cross-cultural interactions among employees, clients, and community." Developing this proficiency starts with making a personal shift from "tolerating diversity"—viewing diversity in a stereotypical or even destructive manner—to "transforming for equity"—focusing on how we approach our own personal change. We call this the "inside-out" approach to personal transformation, which ultimately impacts organizational transformation.

A great example is the story of a high school principal Randy worked with who realized that he was not "hearing the voices" in the educational environment. Through participating in workshops around cultural proficiency, he made a big shift from blaming the students for their perceived shortcomings or lack of commitment to asking himself and his staff, "What are we, as educators, going to do to change our system to meet our students' needs?" That is probably one of the biggest shifts any organization can make.

Read the complete interview

Learn more about the 2005 Pegasus Conference

PEGASUS CONFERENCE CORNER
15th Annual Pegasus Conference
Embracing Interdependence: Effective and Responsible Action in Our Organizations and the World
San Francisco, California, November 14–16, 2005

Announcing New Keynote and Three New Forums
We are pleased to announce that our exciting keynote lineup now includes Rose von Thater-Braan. Rose is cofounder of The Native American Academy, a network engaged in the study of Native science. She will be joined by Leroy Little Bear to lead us in inquiry on "Living in Relationship: A 21st-Century Science Paradigm."

We have also added three forum sessions:

Raising the Bar Through Deep Accountability for Learning
Marilyn Darling and Mark Pires, Signet Research & Consulting Group, LLC
Marilyn and Mark will tell the story of the remarkable transformation of the Opposing Force (OPFOR) at the U.S. Army's National Training Center, and the core role that organizational learning played in making it possible.

The Ultimate Obstacle to Collaborative Leadership
Shayne Hughes, Learning as Leadership
Shayne will show how our greatest potential in heightening our effectiveness lies not in gaining more tips about what we should do better, but in discovering why we are not already doing it. By identifying and overcoming unconscious barriers, we can lead from our best selves.

Mixed-Up Generations: A System of Life
Bob Stilger, The Berkana Institute; Anne Dosher, Institute for Relational Development; Samantha Tan, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government
Bob, Anne, and Samantha will host an interactive multigenerational World Café dialogue to explore how we can expand our awareness of life as an interdependent system and together create a future enriched by mutual appreciation and support.

Final Conference Brochure—Now Available!

Download a copy of the final brochure for the 2005 Pegasus Conference. Find out about the exciting sessions and dynamic presenters, along with the many learning opportunities designed to build your skills and give you the inspiration to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Register by October 5 to Save $300
Register through October 5 for only $1295 (a $300 savings!). When you register, get a special subscription price for The Systems Thinker Newsletter—only $89 for a one-year subscription (regularly $109). Register on our web site, or call 1-800-272-0945. Significant team discounts are available for groups of 4 or more. Call Vicky at 1-781-398-9700, or email info@pegasuscom.com for details!

LEARNING LINKS
The Land Mines of Change
by Joe Raelin

It's a common scenario: Under pressure to adopt a more participatory style, a manager delegates more responsibility to one of his workers. Based on past experience, the employee hesitates to take initiative on the project, confirming the manager's doubts about her readiness for the task. The boss takes back the project, further justifying the employee's reluctance to assume added responsibility. These individuals have stumbled over some of the "land mines" of change.

Overcoming such barriers becomes easier when we deliberately involve all those affected by a change in its planning and implementation:

Resistance to Change: Conduct a series of informed dialogues ahead of time to acknowledge and work through the system's natural resistance to shifts in the status quo.

Lack of Patience: Resist the urge to intervene in a change project, letting the effort take hold and minimizing the fear that prevents employees from throwing themselves completely into the new assignment.

Low Readiness for Change: Build collaborative leadership skills and cultivate community-wide curiosity about a possible change that allows both managers and workers to be open-minded about the effort.

Attempt to Apply "Fix-It" Techniques: Human beings are more complicated than physical or financial assets. Take people's feelings, values, and behaviors into consideration.

Belief That We Can Decree Change: Allow change to evolve in small doses until it becomes contagious and spreads.

When we create an environment in which our fears and aspirations, and those of our collaborators, are brought onto the table and openly addressed, we develop our capacity to take mutual action.

Read the complete article on which this summary is based, or see The Systems Thinker, Vol. 14, No. 5 (June/July 2003)

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