First person discussion What do diverse leaders bring to an organization? Discuss the benefits and costs of lived experiences associated with sexism and racism faced by women and racial/ethnic minority leaders. How might this influence their exercise of leadership? Diverse leaders bring diverse voices to an organization. By having diverse leadership available and accessible to the diverse workforce, people for better represented and protected in the workplace. The lived experiences of women and minorities often push them to be more inclusive in their leadership styles because they know what it means to be received with bias and stereotypes. However, there are also costs to diverse leaders. They will often find themselves second-guessing their decisions, wondering if they will be taken seriously due to their own differences. There is also the feeling that evolves that a certain diversity is required for public image, and hiring takes place without thinking of who is actually best for the role from a career aspect, but instead from a diverse aspect. This happened to me when I worked under another female white CEO. Long story short, the CEO felt only a gay male could lead in a certain role, no questions asked, barring any of the team from promotion. This was due to her being pressured by outside forces that already disagreed with her leading a gay organization, even though the doors of that organization would have 100% closed had she not saved it from disastrous prior leadership. Not to mention the fact that she had been an advocate and leader in the HIV world for over 20 years, saving countless lives. No one seemed to care, all they saw was her gender and orientation. Her life experience as a woman who was receiving prejudice from many in the community controlled her decisions, causing vital staff to quit because she basically told them because of their gender and orientation, they had no room for growth in the organization. The pressures of life experiences can and will drive people to do things that may ultimately tear themselves down as leaders if they are not careful. We as leaders need to understand how to properly manage and respect our diverse workforces needs and recognize when we are allowing outside expectations and sexist/racist influences drive us to make decisions we regret later. Is there a feminine advantage? Do women leaders have innate abilities to connect that give them an advantage in transformational and collaborative leadership styles? According to Chin & Trimble (2015), women tend to be more personable and caring. They are more invested in their staff, warm, and approachable. They are more participative, though there is the belief that this is what is required of them because if they are too assertive like their male counterparts they receive more resistance (Chin & Trimble, 2015). There is certainly an advantage for women when it comes to transformational leadership and collaborative approaches in their leaders.

1. First person discussion
What do diverse leaders bring to an organization? Discuss the
benefits and costs of lived experiences associated with sexism
and racism faced by women and racial/ethnic minority leaders.
How might this influence their exercise of leadership?
Diverse leaders bring diverse voices to an organization. By
having diverse leadership available and accessible to the diverse
workforce, people for better represented and protected in the
workplace. The lived experiences of women and minorities
often push them to be more inclusive in their leadership styles
because they know what it means to be received with bias and
stereotypes. However, there are also costs to diverse leaders.
They will often find themselves second-guessing their
decisions, wondering if they will be taken seriously due to their
own differences. There is also the feeling that evolves that a
certain diversity is required for public image, and hiring takes
place without thinking of who is actually best for the role from
a career aspect, but instead from a diverse aspect. This
happened to me when I worked under another female white
CEO.
Long story short, the CEO felt only a gay male could lead in a
certain role, no questions asked, barring any of the team from
promotion. This was due to her being pressured by outside
forces that already disagreed with her leading a gay
organization, even though the doors of that organization would
have 100% closed had she not saved it from disastrous prior
leadership. Not to mention the fact that she had been an
advocate and leader in the HIV world for over 20 years, saving

2. countless lives. No one seemed to care, all they saw was her
gender and orientation. Her life experience as a woman who was
receiving prejudice from many in the community controlled her
decisions, causing vital staff to quit because she basically told
them because of their gender and orientation, they had no room
for growth in the organization.
The pressures of life experiences can and will drive people to
do things that may ultimately tear themselves down as leaders if
they are not careful. We as leaders need to understand how to
properly manage and respect our diverse workforces needs and
recognize when we are allowing outside expectations and
sexist/racist influences drive us to make decisions we regret
later.
Is there a feminine advantage? Do women leaders have innate
abilities to connect that give them an advantage in
transformational and collaborative leadership styles?
According to Chin & Trimble (2015), women tend to be more
personable and caring. They are more invested in their staff,
warm, and approachable. They are more participative, though
there is the belief that this is what is required of them because
if they are too assertive like their male counterparts they
receive more resistance (Chin & Trimble, 2015). There is
certainly an advantage for women when it comes to
transformational leadership and collaborative approaches in
their leadership style. The shame is based on the writing, this
could be attributed to women adapting to the only way that can
be received as a leader, because if they were to lead any other
way they would be seen in a negative light.
References

3. Chin, J. L., & Trimble, J. E. (2015).
Diversity and Leadership.
Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
2nd person discussion
What do diverse leaders bring to an organization? Discuss the
benefits and costs of lived experiences associated with sexism
and racism faced by women and racial/ethnic minority leaders.
How might this influence their exercise of leadership?
Unquestionably, diverse leaders within an organization are
instrumental and necessary for success. Identified by Chin and
Tremble (2015), given the rapidly changing environment of the
20th century, the needs for leaders to be fluid in response to
those changes are essential. Minority leaders specifically have
often had to respond or assimilate to the environment they are
in to be successful or to be seen as equal. Unfortunately, this
has also attributed to the lack of understanding and acceptance
of diverse leadership styles. Chin and Tremble (2015) also
explained that minority leaders often confirm to those behaviors
of the power elite once they reach similar ranks in leadership.
However, there are extreme benefits of not only the lived
experiences of minority leaders but also in how they influence
those they serve.
Chin and Tremble furthered this argument by explaining the
following:
“As the women’s movement and the civil rights movement of

4. the 1960s raised our consciousness about gender and
racial/ethnic inequities and oppression, collaborative leadership
styles emerged. Central to this style are values of collaboration
and empowerment with concepts of “shared power” and “servant
leader” emerging as models of leadership” (p.122). These
essential leadership styles have moved organizations forward
and have enabled leaders to be at the forefront of change and
cross-collaboration.
Is there a feminine advantage? Do women leaders have innate
abilities to connect that give them an advantage in
transformational and collaborative leadership styles?
I feel that women do have innate abilities to connect them and
provide and advantage, specifically as it relates to
transformational and collaborative styles Identified by Chin and
Tremble (2015), “women and men, female leaders are somewhat
more transformational than male leaders, especially in
mentoring and developing workplace colleagues. They tend to
adopt a positive managerial approach that trades on rewards
rather than a negative approach that trades on reprimands”
(p.125). In examining my own relationships with women
leaders, I have always valued those relationships more and have
preferred them as they provided support, resources, and
mentorship that I have not received with male leaders.
Specifically, as it relates to Black women, I have always had the
strongest connection and communication as they create
environments for me to be vulnerable, communicate concerns,
and share feedback. These experiences have provided me with
the same skills I use as a leader when working with those I
supervise.
References:
Chin, J. L. & Trimble, J. E. (2015). Diversity and leadership.
Los Angeles,