Leadership Diversity and Inclusion Statement
What makes an inclusive leader is someone who is willing to do whatever it takes in order for someone else to succeed. It may mean that you have to do more one-on-one training or use a different teaching method. It is the leader’s goal to make sure that no one is left behind. An inclusive leader is also educated on the various ways that someone can be discriminated against. It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that if someone does have a disability that they point them towards resources that can help them. Empathy is something that the leader also needs to possess to have an understanding of what the affected individual is going through.(5)
Some things that I have noticed here is the misconception about athletes. Many times, people say that they never went through a ratline like everyone else, however, many don’t realize how much work they put in. Athletes wake up earlier than most, workout extremely hard, then come back to the ratline. They still deserve the credit. In the future in the military, I am sure that there will be sexist and racist people that are part of the military. I have also heard about a lot of recent sexual harassment of females in the military. At VMI, I believe that there is a growing challenge for the staff, in many instances, VMI staff have trouble getting the help they need to get tasks done. As part of the Horticulture club, I get to work with the landscape staff and the work that they do is overbearing and they get little to no help. As a leader, I can insert myself into situations with people and prevent inappropriate language and behavior. To try to alleviate racial inequalities in myself and my followers, I can build and understanding of where they come from and their culture. This reminds me of learning about discourse communities where we learn that different people speak and act differently. To alleviate racial and gender inequality, I will not push a certain agenda upon a group of people. I can push for a respectful and professional way to do things and not what people think is correct. To try and fix the backlash from women in leadership positions, I will correct any information that is incorrect and help the the women in leadership by listening to what they have to say. By giving everyone the same opportunity to achieve their dream regardless of their gender and race, I will be promoting their goals. (6)
During the ratline, I do my best to treat everyone with respect, professionalism, safety, and honor. I hold everyone to the same standard. Especially during drill, I work one-on-one with rats that have the most trouble. I also try to treat all of the rats equally, by ensuring that they are getting the help they need if they ask for it. I also notice and try to shut down and instances of racism and sexism that happens and report them to the proper authority. Recently, I reported a staff member that made a sexist remark in Crozet. As a member of cadre, it is important for me to distinguish the difference between equality and equity. As a leader, I understand that different followers require different types of leadership. Some rats respond better too yelling while others respond to coaching. It is not equal but it is equitable. I provide an equal opportunity for the Rats to improve with the different leadership styles.(7)
My leadership style is one of leading by example. I will never tolerate any sort of sexism or racism in where I am. This goes for now and in the future.In the future in the army I will have an open do policy and possibly have an anonymous way of reporting things. I can also have appointed people I trust to make sure that any discrimination or violence is not happening. Being in the United States I can apply the U.S’s Hofstede data and adapt my leadership to the U.S. culture. With a high individualism and masculinity score, I know that many people are highly driven and capable so I can use coaching and delegation as a leadership style. In the Cultural Mindset Survey, it measures the ability to adapt to global and local environments. It is scored on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being a greater global mindset. I scored 3.5 on a cultural mindset. A cultural mindset is defined as the ability to identify and understand different aspects of cultures. With a score of 3.5 I am within 1 SD away from the mean. In my everyday life, this means that I can identify and understand some of the different cultures that I am exposed to at VMI. I scored 3.55 on conceptualization. Conceptualization is defined as the ability to think on a broad scale. I am within 1 SD of the mean which means that I understand the network between different people and nations, however, it is hard to grasp. I scored 3.45 on contextualization which is exactly on the mean. contextualization is defined as the ability to adapt to local environments. This means that I can understand what others are goin through the not enter an unfamiliar environment. (8)
Cultural Mindset: (Arora et al., 2004)