As Veronica and I left the conference room and made our way back down to the parking lot, my mind flitted over the gendered, raced, and classed nature of the interview in the same intangible way that I register “tree” when I see a Cottonwood in the park.

More vivid were my reflections on the two white men in the meeting and the significance behind one being chosen as the spokesperson, and both occupying considerably more energetic and verbal space than their colleagues.  The nature of their privileges made this reality almost painfully by design- or, rather, by construction.

My brilliant friend and colleague Veronica LaCrue, The Business Doctor. Veronica is dedicated to helping people reclaim their ability to think flexibly and humanely in their workplaces, personal and family relationships, communities, and in the world at large.

Veronica broke up my musings with thoughts of her own.  She speculated about which people came from which class backgrounds, who she believed to be managers with a sense of agency vs. interviewers with little institutional authority, and noted that some interviewers seemed to be force fitting themselves into ill suited, pre-prescribed roles.  Particularly into the role of “authority” or the “image of success.”

While there are many ways to be successful and occupy positions of authority, there are also very defined dominant cultural images of what it means to project these things.  So often this means being “in control” of a situation at all times (including leading from behind), holding the position of removed (and often intimidating) observer, occupying a strict and limited emotional range, dressing “professionally” to demonstrate access to financial resources and convey orderliness, and so on.  When occupying this space, what one conveys externally takes distinct priority over how one regards themselves internally or what one thinks of the role itself.

Veronica, her expression worried and unhappy, expressed that in the end, such roles do not serve anyone well.  That they leave everyone overlooking their true potential.  And, as we drove back to her home, she questioned the entirety of the process, and the deep irony of using “traditional” or “normal” practices to pursue inclusiveness work. Read More

A while back, Veronica LaCrue (also known as the Business Doctor) and I submitted a proposal in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) from a local organization.  The RFP requested a facilitator for a large-scale, ongoing inclusiveness project.  Veronica is chosen family, and brilliant about people and how they work.  From a business perspective she focuses on leadership development and organizational culture, whereas I have a strong background in anti-oppression and social justice philosophy and practice.  We are a phenomenal team, and submitted the application jointly.

My brilliant friend and colleague Veronica LaCrue, The Business Doctor. Veronica is dedicated to helping people reclaim their ability to think flexibly and humanely in their workplaces, personal and family relationships, communities, and in the world at large.

We were accepted into the second phase of the hiring process, and recently went in for our in-person interview.  We were invited into a medium sized conference room with a large, heavy wooden conference table that shone just enough to pick up fingerprints, and asked to sit at the head of it.  The rest of the group, about ten people, sat all around the remaining perimeter, all in professional attire, all staring at us.

As is customary in “professional” environments, most people looked reserved and observant.  They were stoic and polite, and expressed no warmth, particularly initially, with a few exceptions.

One person was tasked with running the meeting, while the other people at the table each had one interview question that they were in charge of asking.  We were instructed to give a 15-minute presentation, which we had not realized would be the case, and then given 2-3 minutes to answer their subsequent 10 or so interview questions. Read More