Co-sponsored by
The Washington-Baltimore Center for the Study of Group Relations
(an Affiliate of The A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems) and
The Howard University Counseling Service
Have you ever wondered why an idea that was ignored when spoken by one person gets heard when voiced by another? Or why a work group will sometimes eagerly jump on board with a wild goose chase while ignoring a much more substantive problem or issue? In these situations, have you pondered how effective you are in providing leadership in your organization? Or, how effective are the leaders you follow and why? How did these leaders gain your authorization and trust? What are the consequences when they don't? Have you assessed the effectiveness and authority of your own professional voice?
Being heard starts with having something of value to say. Being seen means having your talents and skills truly recognized, in the context of who you are. Seeing and hearing others clearly means the same thing. Yet we often ignore, devalue, or misunderstand others, especially when they differ from us in various aspects of our social identity. Such diversity includes such things as race, ethnicity, nationality, language of choice, class, education, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation (to name a few). In today's global economy and mobile society, it is fashionable to give lip service to valuing diversity in the workplace. Yet studies indicate that significant imbalances continue in the advancement of those who differ from the visible or invisible standards of the traditional power brokers in our culture. Further, when those who represent difference do achieve positions of authority, power, or leadership, they frequently struggle with both internal doubts and external pressures that make it harder for them to succeed in their roles.
Politics is a word that originates from Greek and Latin words for people or citizens. Politics can refer to any system of governance or organization for groups of citizens--or members. In other words, we collectively give, take, and/or share power--over actions, resources, decision-making--in various ways, depending on a variety of factors in the social structures we create. Diversity in our social identities is often a factor in how power is allocated, but its influence is often overlooked, minimized, or frankly out of the awareness of people at every level of the 'body politic.'
These issues can be illustrated by drawing on current events, both locally and around the world. We might ask, for example, what factors are impacting the success of the first woman and the first African-American to become serious contenders for the presidency of the United States? What about the age of the leading (as of this writing) Republican candidate? Rising tensions between and also within various groups who define themselves by their shared ethnicity, religion, or history fill headlines around the world. More locally, how about the challenges that the new, young mayor of Washington is facing in a city with a complex and divisive history of tensions among its various social and economic identity groups? And what are we teaching our children about all this?
The primary task of this conference is to study group behavior as it emerges in real time, focusing on the intersecting themes of power, authority, leading, and following, and how these are influenced by the diversity of our social identities. We will explore the underpinnings of group behavior; you will have opportunities to learn about the covert, hidden, and often irrational forces (psychodynamics) that affect the group as a whole, and each group member's individual effectiveness. This conference is not an academic series of lectures or presentations, though some brief teachings on key concepts will be offered. The learning task described above will be accomplished by participating in a variety of experiential events (as described below), in which we collectively generate and simultaneously study our own behavior as it occurs, within the temporary organizational system we create by coming together.