Experience Identity Lenses!

The “lenses” are ten distinctly different belief systems that influence how individuals view and respond to cultural diversity. The Identity Lenses are a decoding device — a key to managing conflict, increasing effectiveness and creating positive change in individual employees as well as institutional systems, organizations and communities.

The beliefs, values and behaviors associated with the “lenses” are described by Mark Williams, Founder of Identity Online and author of THE 10 LENSES, Your Guide to Living and Working in a Multicultural World. They have been confirmed by The Gallup Organization, which conducted a groundbreaking, 4,000-person survey on The 10 Lenses in 2001. These lenses include;

The Assimilationist, who believes that everyone should give up their own cultural identity in order to fit within the dominant societal or organizational norms;

The Culturalcentrist, who believes that a person’s race or ethnicity is central to their personal and public identity;

The Meritocratist who is sure that if you have the abilities and work hard enough you can make your dreams come true regardless of race or culture; and,

The Color Blind, who believes that our focus should be on individual character, personality and intrinsic qualities rather than race, culture or ethnicity.

Through an understanding of how "lenses" affect employee and customer interactions, you can identify potential sources of conflict before they harm your organization. The book offers a developmental framework that can help you effectively understand and address cultural diversity from the top down.

Self Awareness, Sensitivity, Skills, Systems and Strategy

• Help your leaders understand how even the best, most well-meaning employees inadvertently miss opportunities, undermine their colleagues and put themselves and their companies at legal and competitive risk;

• Enable your managers to step back and recognize the “lenses” embedded in their organization’s management and human-resource systems.

• Develop your organizations ability to improve product development and customer service strategies

• Managerial Practices — The Identity Lenses influence the way managers supervise and interact with employees, make work assignments, award promotions, and much more. The Identity Lenses help you explore ways managers can encourage communication and promote team cooperation.

• HR Systems — Organizational cultures tend to reflect long-held assumptions about productivity and success. The Identity Lenses make HR practitioners more conscious of unintended barriers through an understanding of how The lenses become embedded in HR systems.

• Mentoring — What makes a mentor/protégé relationship successful? This course looks at ways to use The Identity Lenses framework to ensure that mentoring relationships are inclusive.

• Customer Interactions — When dealing with a diverse customer base, employees must be sensitive not only to different cultural groups, but also to the diversity of beliefs and values within cultural groups.

• Marketing and Demographics — How do you really reach your customers? In today’s diverse marketplace there are both new opportunities and new challenges. The Identity Lenses help you explore how to connect with a broader customer base and avoid marketing pitfalls.