(Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press)
I hesitated going into the banquet room at the Chattanooga Convention Center for the 2023 Diversify Conference hosted by our Chamber of Commerce and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBSTN). The last time I attended this conference was before the pandemic when I delivered an inclusive invocation. My friend and colleague, Ron Harris of BCBSTN, demonstrated unconscious bias by asking us if we thought he could slam dunk a basketball. We all laughed since Ron is definitely “vertically challenged”. Our biases were immediately visible.
Unfortunately, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) biases have exploded into national controversies with actions like Texas Governor Greg Abbott banning diversity offices on all state-funded college campuses. So I wondered if anyone would be in the banquet room.
Fortunately, the room was packed with folks happily chatting away as old friends and new colleagues traded notes with each other. Seeing familiar faces was both a post-pandemic shock and a joy. The joy was magnified as the program got underway and the dedication and passion was clearly not suppressed by the growing anti-DEI movement.
As this newspaper reported, a question that resonated throughout the room was, “What role do each of us play in cultivating a diverse workforce.”
April Lomax, BCBSTN Director of Corporate Workforce Diversity, spoke about how their board set DEI goals with accountability for meaningful progress. That includes the diversity supply chain where BCBSTN has spent 95 million dollars with diverse businesses. April then set the stage for the keynote speaker by quoting Ron Harris who said that BCBSTN was a mature DEI organization – with more to do. That was the cue for keynoter Jennifer Stanley, Partner at McKinsey & Company, to share diversity metrics and the implications for future action by everyone in the room.
As Jennifer discussed the data that measures DEI progress and indicates strategies going forward. One of the issues that got my attention was the “Broken Run”. That refers to the trend where women, especially women of color, who advance to the first level of management, get no further. Focusing on the “Broken Run”, Jennifer drew a contrast between mentoring and sponsorship, and how not being aware of the differences affects the advancement of employees.
Her contrast resonated with attendees including Dr. Ben Wygal, Asst. to the President at Southern Adventist University, and UTC professor emeritus Deborah Aiken, who responded, “The terms mentoring and sponsorship are often used interchangeably in work environments, but in practice they are very different. As Jennifer pointed out, mentoring is more about personal nurturing, while sponsorship involves advocacy for someone’s career advancement.”
Combine the lack of sponsorship with bias and the “Broken Run” is almost inevitable. The biases are held by the people in power, often white males who tend to sponsor other white males. To demonstrate the biases involved, Jennifer shared a personal story about entering an executive meeting as the only woman attending. She was immediately asked by several gentlemen to take their orders for lunch. Talk about a “Broken Run”!
I hope that stories like this are history, but even so, which I doubt, there are plenty of biases that need awareness and focused efforts. As WTCI President/CEO Bob Culkeen commented, “Diversify 2023 invited the community to come together to discuss important DEI issues that encompass our community. The dialogue that was part of the workshop and enhanced in the luncheon reminded the group that we all can make a difference. The phrase it takes a village was echoed throughout the event, yet more importantly, it all starts with the courage and support of an individual.”
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