Celebrating Labor

Sarah Carr wrote a review of the book, Beaten Down, Worked Up by Steven Greenhouse. The review was featured in The Washington Post on August 9, 2019. The book tells the history of the labor movement through the 20th century to today—where it’s been and where it needs to go.

I haven’t had a chance to read the book, yet, but my interest was certainly piqued by Carr’s review. The labor movement’s history includes many iconic events and people, such as

• The Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire;
• Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, who backed the most labor-friendly portions of the New Deal—social security, unemployment benefits, minimum-wage and overtime laws, and federal laws regulating child labor; 
• Mary Harris (Mother) Jones, an organizer of the United Mine Workers; 
• Walter Reuther’s negotiation of the 1950 automakers’ agreement, the “Treaty of Detroit” that expanded provisions for pensions and health care nationally; and
• The failed air-traffic controllers strike of 1981.

Greenhouse discusses many of the above and more. I was intrigued by the complexities confronting unions in today’s economy. The review talked about the following examples Greenhouse provided.

The Fight for $15, which was a broad-based campaign backed by the Service Employees International Union to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers and allow them to unionize. It resulted in city and state officials raising the minimum wage, but not in unionizing workers.

Changes in the corporate environment and it’s swing from managerial capitalism to investor capitalism which has had a profound effect on workers and unions.  As corporations are pressured to focus on maximizing profits and share price, workers must focus on pushing for campaign finance laws to hep labor-friendly politicians get elected, as one example. Unions, on the other hand, can no longer rely on the old model of savvy organizer underdogs going up against CEO Goliaths.

The history of the labor movement is an important part of human resources and management history. Before organizations had HR professionals to ensure that employees were treated with fairness and respect, it was the unions that fought for workers’ rights.  As we prepare to celebrate Labor Day, remember we are celebrating the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. 

Overcoming Resistance Involves Listening: Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

I recently participated in a lively discussion on overcoming resistance presented by my colleague Ian Cook of Fulcrum Associates. Ian shared his insights into ways to overcome resistance at work and in life. In one of the exercises we did during the presentation, we listed places/people where we encounter resistance. I loved the variety of responses in my group—and their honesty. The list included:

• “My nine-year-old daughter”
• “A CEO client”
• “My staff”
• “My dog”

One of the strategies Ian shared was number five of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People from the book of the same name by Stephen Covey:  

5. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”

Seeking to understand the other person’s perspective before we attempt to convince them to perhaps see things in a different way, requires listening to the other person perspective. This means we have to take time to really listen to the other person, and really listening takes patience and practice.

Manager’s Tips: We cover this in, The Manager’s Answer Book, responding to the question on page 126: “Now that I’m a manager, I know it’s important to become a better listener. I’m trying to improve my listening habits and improve my skills. Any tips on what I can do?”

“Listening is hard work for most of us, and we’ve spent little time learning how to listen. A good listener makes a deliberate effort to understand the other person’s message. A good listener listens to learn, is interested in what the speaker is saying, and lets the speaker know they’re listening.”

For the rest of the answer, you can find The Manager’s Answer Book at your local independent bookstore, on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble.

Make New Friends but Keep the Old…

I recently had a speaking engagement in a city where I’d lived. It had been several years since I’d visited there, so I extended my business trip to stay for the weekend to see friends.

I really enjoyed returning to a place where I’d spent many happy years, but I must admit that I was constantly saying things like, “That wasn’t here when I lived here” or “This looks just the same as it did years ago.”

The best part of the weekend was reconnecting with friends and colleagues. Social media allows us to stay connected with people we don’t see often, but there is nothing like actually being together to re-kindle friendships and relationships.

While most of my time was spent with good friends, I also met new people along the way. Hearing their stories added a lot to my experience. I now have new friends with whom I can stay in contact, people I hope to see again soon. We’ll stay in touch on social media, and I will keep track of their travels and other life events of interest. I will look forward to seeing how the kids and grandkids grow while building new friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime.

This walk down memory lane reminded me of a song I learned in Girl Scouts and many of you probably know it too. Lucky for you I am only giving you the words and not including me singing the song. So here it is:

“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver but the other gold.”

I’m challenging you to consider if you have friends you haven’t connected with in a while.  If so, do it today. You don’t have to fly across the country to connect—a phone call or a Facetime chat will work as well!  Just don’t let too much time go by without connecting! Don’t, however, get so hung up on old friends that you miss out on meeting new people and forming new friendships.  Remember, “one is silver but the other gold.”

Beyond Black and White

Diversity often gets described as something to do with skin tone.  Black and brown. Red, yellow and white. Throw gender into the mix and you’ve got it all. Right?

Wrong. Diversity is so much more than simply race and gender. And as a side note, Hispanic is an ethnic group, not a race. 

There’s been much political discourse recently about our differences—specifically differences in race, national origin and religion. Much of this discourse has been divisive, and divisiveness is destructive and unnecessary. It’s one of the underlying causes of conflict. 

Why can’t everyone be like me? Is that a political rally cry? Far from it. It’s a chapter in one of our books—The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook. In that chapter we discuss:

• Changing demographics
• Dimensions of diversity
• Differences matter
• Stereotypes, socialization and assumptions

More importantly, the chapter explores the importance of learning about each other—in the workplace and in life. We discuss how to start conversations with people in order to learn more about them—how to be curious in a respectful manner.  Doing so may require exposing some of your own vulnerability, but it’s a great way to build trust among colleagues, team members, and others.

Eric Swalwell, Congressman from California, recently said something that, among a great deal of political noise, makes a great deal of sense. “America is not just the places you like or look like you. It’s the places you’ve never seen and the people you’ve never met.”  

Placing labels, assigning stereotypes and making assumptions about other people is easy to do. Engaging in respectful curiosity is much harder. Take the courage and initiative to learn more about, appreciate and respect the people with whom you work and with whom you interact. In exchange for doing so, you will gain so much insight about other people and your life will be enriched.