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The Air Force Academy's Diversity Office brought Harlan Consulting's "Leading Consciously" course to a group of 30 mid-level leaders at the Academy Sept. 16-17, 2011. The goal of the training is to help leaders integrate individuals with diverse backgrounds into their organizations. (U.S. Air Force photo//Megan Davis)
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Diversity course trains Airmen to 'lead consciously'
Posted 9/22/2011 Updated 9/22/2011
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by Don Branum
Air Force Academy Public Affairs
9/22/2011 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A group of roughly 30 Air Force Academy employees underwent a two-day course titled "Leading Consciously," facilitated by the Academy's Diversity Office, Sept. 16-17.
The course is the second of three training programs that Academy Chief Diversity Officer Adis Vila is prototyping for both Academy officials and a larger Air Force audience.
"You are our guinea pigs," Vila said. "Everyone is being asked to do more with less. We have to learn new skills to get the most out of different people. That's the reason why you are so important."
Challenges regarding diversity at the Academy and the Air Force continue to grow, including challenges that may arise now that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has ended, Vila said. The Academy's definition of diversity reaches beyond the Air Force definition to incorporate socioeconomic, educational and work backgrounds as well as age, race, ethnicity, gender and religion.
Harlan Consulting facilitated the two-day course for $25,000, or roughly $833 per person, said CDO liaison Maj. Wendy Palatinus.
Vila said she took the cost into careful consideration and leaned toward the best fit for the Academy rather than the lowest price. She started working with Mary Harlan, the principal of Harlan Consulting, shortly after she arrived here.
"Her group's book, 'Reframing Change,' is exactly how I pictured diversity within this organization," Vila said.
Harland said she hoped to move past the reflexive reaction she sometimes encounters when she introduces herself as a diversity consultant.
"People see me and think, 'I have to watch what I say,'" she said. "I've seen a lot of changes in my work, but what has persisted and in some ways gotten worse is the irrational expectation that everyone get it ... what we call political correctness."
The training covered areas such as testing assumptions, clearing emotions, bridging differences, building relationships and giving and receiving feedback. The powerful listening exercises bear similarity to the listening habits described in Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," and the sections on feedback resemble course material taught in Air Force professional military education.
"It's always nice to get a refresher," said Master Sgt. Odessa Mills, superintendent of the 10th Force Support Squadron's Military Personnel Section. "I really enjoyed the skill sets that were presented before us."
Jean Latting, one of the authors of "Reframing Change," led the panel along with Harlan and Stephanie Foy, project manager of the Leading Consciously management consulting firm.
Latting recalled an encounter with an intern during her tenure as a professor at the University of Houston wherein the intern accused Latting of ignoring her. The encounter, Latting said, reinforces the Leading Consciously training.
"She said, 'You think I'm nothing.' I have my head in the clouds all the time; I wasn't ignoring her."
By confronting a professor several steps above her in the university hierarchy, the intern was demonstrating the need to test assumptions, clear emotions and bridge differences, Latting said.
"She's sobbing, but she's standing for herself," Latting said. "She doesn't have to wait until the end of the semester for me to recognize her. And she didn't back down. She stood tall and recognized that she had power. My intent was not to ignore her, but that doesn't mean she didn't feel ignored.
"From my vantage point, I'm one of the good guys. But if I'm her, being passed day in and day out in the halls ... I was mortified," Latting said. "Do you think I noticed her next time? She affected me so profoundly that I'm talking to you about it 15 years later, and she affected the organization so profoundly that we changed how we do intern orientation."
Latting later realized that the confrontation was a microcosm of the state of relations among African Americans and Hispanic Americans in the Houston area.
"Fifteen years ago, African Americans were the dominant minority group, and Latinos felt like they were being ignored with regard to the diversity agenda," Latting said. "It was only on reflection that I thought of the connection, but you have to be aware of the diversity dynamic to address it."
Those who undertook the two-day course will participate in virtual facilitations sometime during the weeks of Oct. 2, Oct. 14 and Nov. 4 and meet for a follow-up session Dec. 4-5. They will make a presentation to the Academy's senior leaders after the follow-up session. Vila thanked the attendees for their participation.
"The Air Force wanted to have the first chief diversity officer here and wanted to conduct the test programs here so they can be implemented on a wider basis if they're successful here," Vila said. "This is an incredible commitment on your part."
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