Diversity Issues, Inspiration, Empathy, and Allyship During the Professional Lifecycle

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Leadership Essay
Introduction
Leadership is a complex relationship in the professional environment. Over the years, leaders adopted different strategies and behavioral responses to maintain relationships. According to Bourke and Titus, diversity and inclusion in the modern era are the fundamental attributes among leaders today. This paper aims to reflect life experiences of leadership attributes using the Awareness, Empathy, and Allyship (AEA) model. The paper will identify personal diversity issues, inspiration, empathy, and allyship during the professional lifecycle. My personal experience explored that diversity and inclusion are inevitable phenomena in a professional environment. Leaders must exhibit acceptance towards diversity and promote inclusion to build a sustainable team.
Awareness
Diversity and inclusion are fundamental components for leaders to prosper personally and professionally. Today, the global environment allows us to interact with people from different racial and cultural backgrounds. The cultural attributes attract our experiences and create an impression for future reference. Unfortunately, the unique upbringing spread minimal awareness among people to increase acceptance of diversity. I believe that the diversity issues come from upbringing at home, school, and work. We receive teachings from parents and mentors at different stages. However, the teachings do not emphasize diversity adequately. I interacted with peers from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds when I started my schooling. It was challenging to adopt initially due to value clashes. As a result, I experienced issues with diversity acceptance until my professional life.
I received inspiration from Bernard Coleman III, the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Uber. Coleman claimed that if leaders fail to exhibit inclusion in attitude, diversity would not contain sustainability. Coleman further argued that the top management should inspire people at the workplace through positive behaviors, active listening, and transparency in communication to reflect inclusion (Forbes). I believe that Coleman has a broad understanding of diversity and inclusion. His values allow people from different backgrounds to raise voices and foster change in the workplace. Undoubtedly, the diversity values established by Coleman made Uber a global sensation today.
Coleman’s values towards diversity and inclusion shaped my beliefs. Today, I enjoy interacting with people from different traits, cultures, and abilities. I share healthy relationships with my team members and reflect minimal conflicts when exchanging opinions. Coleman served as a role model for my professional grooming. I firmly believe that leaders must initiate positive behaviors to inspire the bottom line of the hierarchy. I encouraged my team members successfully during crises and maintained cohesion in relationships. Besides, Coleman’s philosophy towards diversity and inclusion assisted me in acquiring relevant talents. I measure talents based on skills instead of racial and gender associations. As a result, my team has the highest diversity regarding cultural backgrounds and gender association.
Nonetheless, diversity and incl...