This week we have been discussing Cultural Myopia and the Platinum Rule. For this week's blog post, I am going to use my colleagues for my diversity post.
On my training team there are 11 trainers, and we are all very different. We all live in different places in the United States, we are different ages and pretty much different everything. The biggest similarity that we have is that we are all trainers.
I do find myself communicating differently with people from different and cultures, but not in a disrespectful way. I change how I communicate more on the situation than the actually people. For example, I might use more slang during a dinner with the coworkers, but use more academic English when we are at a meeting a work.
If I am honest with myself, I do think that I am an effective communicator, but when I am upset or feel threaten, the effective part goes out the window. I am a sensitive person and grew up in a family where sometimes "pushing buttons" were a norm and you felt threaten quite a bit. I am working on getting better at controlling my nonverbal behaviors and really staying true to the Platinum Rule.
When you are trainer you learn how to effectively communicate with people who are culturally different from you, because all of the participants you meet are different from you. However one strategy that I thought was amazing, was the strategy of creating a third culture. A "third culture" is when you take your own culture and the person's culture, and make one culture instead of two separate (Beebe,Beebe & Redmond, 2011).I thought that was an amazing idea.
Reference:
Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Cierra,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you I am the same way I am an effective communicator but when I am really upset I have to be careful because sometimes I forget the effective part. Is funny that with me I am one that can communicate better in a professional level than on a personal level. You know I bet that you have seen a lot of different styles of communicators as a trainer. I am sure that you have to try to be as clear as possible because not everyone learns the same way. I think that having a third culture is a pretty cool idea too. Great Blog!
Cierra,
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about how I communicate when I get upset. I actually tend to stutter when I get upset or excited. It can be really annoying at times but then I just take a deep breath and start over. Thankfully, I've always surrounded myself with positive people and I have never been teased for it. I believe had I experienced any type of bullying in the past because of my stuttering my current ability to communicate would be very different.
Sheymirra
Hi Cierra,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and appreciate when you stated that you find your ability to communicate effectively when you are angry or upset is lowered. This is something I too have become more aware of as I had many people looking up to me and expecting that I do not easily succumb to pressure and retaliate in a negative manner that may offend people.
Most of our current capabilities are developed as we grow in our jobs. This and most of the posts I have been reading have also opened my eyes to the fact that there is still room for growth.
Thank you for sharing
~Debbie-Ann
Hi Ceirra,
ReplyDeleteYou had me thinking about the ladies I work with in my office and how diverse we really are. After thinking about our diversity I thought about if I communicate with them differently. As you said, I think my change in communication is more based on situation and the actual people. Good point on using these strategies in trainings as well!