I just returned from our twice-a-year staff retreat, where we spend three days as a group devoted to professional development. The focus of this session was on diversity training/cultural competence.

We all agreed that previous experiences with didactic approaches to this topic were frustrating and sometimes counter-productive. What we wanted was to do something deeply human that would make everyone feel included and also teach us skills we could use with clients.

Shiree Teng, a member of our consulting team, led us through a powerful day-long process based on the Healing the Heart of Diversity model. For 8 hours, each of our 15 team members who were present took turns telling his or her story. There was no direction on how the story should be told, or on how long it should take, and the rest of the group simply listened in silence as we went around the room.

It was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. People told stories of immigration, poverty, family complexities, prejudice, and violence. When it was over, most of us had been crying on and off for hours. We were exhausted and wrung out.

Over dinner we discussed the experience and what we took away from it. The process promoted an even stronger bond among the team, but it also taught us a simple and powerful tool for bringing people together. When people tell their stories—who their family is, where they come from, and what they have experienced—they see each other more truly. They are no longer a member of a group and subject to stereotyping: they are themselves.

That is what cultural competency is really all about, seeing people for who they are, as they see themselves.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Consulting for Nonprofits, Organizational Effectiveness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.