What Do Diversity Directors Do?

By Terry Howard, Diversity Director at Texas Instruments
October 2006

Yes, I do get asked that.

Now, I can’t speak for all diversity directors. What each one does is likely a blend of personal style, job description and their organization’s culture. But I usually pause before I respond to see if my answer has shifted in any way since my last response. Why? Because when you’re immersed in deep diversity work the way I do it, the landscape changes and new issues emerge. The ebb and flow of diversity work is as apt a description as any.

Nevertheless, I will say that I do lots of thinking, reading, reflecting, cajoling and dialoguing. I then try to distill it all into something that makes sense; something useful, applicable and something that will nudge people and organizations incrementally forward. The end product usually takes the form of articles, conferences and presentations. And advice is often an outcome:

“Hey Terry! I really need your help on something that’s been in the news lately. I heard that Black leaders were outraged at Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s use of the term “tar baby.” I have never heard anyone use that term before nor did I know that it was derogatory. Is there a list of uncommon, derogatory terms that I need to be aware of?”

I also wonder about stuff. Take my rather presumptuous title, diversity director, for example. It implies that I somehow “direct” diversity. Quite honestly, I’m hard-pressed to tell you how I, or anyone else for that matter, can lay claim to actually “directing” diversity. What is this diversity thing to be “directed,” just how is it to be “directed” and where does it get “directed” to? Humm, some real head-scratchers, wouldn’t you say?

Are there better alternatives to my title, perhaps ones more reflective of what a diversity director actually does? Well here’s list of some amusing ones that have been bestowed on me:

“Diversity flamethrower,” ”Director of messing with stuff,” ”Diversity Gadfly,” ”Political Correctness Promulgator,” “Thought Control Manager,” “Diversity Pain in The Rear End,” “Diversity Guru.”

These are the most colorful eyebrow raisers. The rest fall somewhere between adulatory beyond imagination or X-ratedly unprintable. “Diversity pusher” is what one fellow called me. Oh my! I’ve been called lots of names, but pusher? Sensing my blood boiling, he quickly explained, “What you do, Terry, is push deep into people’s comfort zones. That’s what I meant.” Ah, relief. I exhaled.

What’s also interesting is how folks will often define what a diversity director does. For instance, while in Europe a while ago one fellow stared unsmilingly at me throughout a session I was facilitating and later asked through a menacing brogue, “Isn’t it really your job to keep the company out of court?” His tone suggested that he sought confirmation of his opinion, not clarification of mine. Despite my best effort to explain, he wasn’t buying it. Oh well.

That exchange confirmed what I’ve long suspected; the word “diversity” can be an albatross of sorts. People tend to interpret it through a mix of personal experiences, media images and other factors. Some stiffen up, turn the page or hit the “delete” button at a mere sighting, or utterance, of the word diversity. You’d think it is a carrier of some kind of deadly disease or something.

And often the title makes people apologize. For example, one gentleman stopped mid-sentence, turned beet red and apologized profusely after making a casual comment about illegal immigration when he realized I was in the room. It was amazing seeing how fast others present diverted their eyes and retreated to their laptops. For the record, his comments weren’t offensive.

What’s also fascinating is how my title sometimes gets changed….without my input. At one location a while ago, I was introduced as the diversity Vice President. Okay, a tad inaccurate, but it sure had a nice ring to it, so good that I decided to leave it uncorrected. Hey, no harm done.

The interesting thing is that diversity “gatekeeper” is how I got introduced at that same location less than six months later. Thus, I got demoted from VP to gatekeeper. Hey, go figure.

Let me transition now and say that I deeply resent being pigeonholed and chafe at narrow depictions of who I am or who others suspect me to be. My title bears some responsibility, I suppose. So at this writing I’m seriously contemplating a title change. “Facilitator of Inclusion?” …“Inclusion Barrier Breaker?”… “Chief Inclusion Dude!” Any one or combination of those might have some potential. If you can think of some better ones I’m wide open to suggestions.

But the good thing is that authoring this column has helped reconcile this meddlesome title conundrum. It’s cathartic on one hand and, or the other, it allows me to resist being force-fit into narrow definitions of who people think I am, or want me to be. It’s given me a venue for tinkering with the vast mosaic of past, contemporary and emerging issues of diversity and inclusion plus, to my pleasant surprise, to weigh in on issues that appear even to me to be outside that realm:

“Terry. My wife works at a pharmacy and deals with our employees on a regular basis. She has on numerous occasions told me about the rude and obnoxious behavior by some of them who ream her out over problems relating to insurance. What people like that don’t realize is that the clerk, technician, waiter or waitress they just screamed at just may be the wife, sister, son or husband of someone who sits just a few cubicles away. Any advice?”

Another benefit is that this space has connected me with folks worldwide, allowing me to join them in their offices, cubicles, labs, on manufacturing floors and, as I learned recently, in AP English classes in rural Kansas. It’s permitted me to fade in on monitors when folks log onto their computers, to insert myself into global conversations, to sit next to great people over lunch, around water fountains and outside under the blazing August sun during their smoke breaks.

And when I managed to stumble into universal themes and issues that resonate – body odors, subtle workplace bully droppings, groupthink, building trust – or ones that made people laugh (or even offended), my readers have not hesitated to tell me any of that as well.

Clearly this space attracts lots of interesting people and dilemmas that keep my creative juices flowing. I cannot think of many things more invigorating and exciting than answering the phone, or opening my email and getting hit with still another jaw-dropping challenge. But the greatest satisfaction is being able to help in some way:

“After talking with you, Terry, I counseled John Doe about not making inflammatory comments at others based on gender, ethnic and religious differences. Not long afterwards, he made provocative comments about why we call our “Christmas” party a “Holiday” party and why he can’t have his “Christmas” party when we offer “Tranquilly” rooms for other religions. Now what?”

So back to the question I posed at the outset; “What does a diversity director do?” Guess I still haven’t fully answered it, huh? Tell you what. Give me a call, or send me an email, and I’ll give you my answer ….at the time.

Oops! Excuse me. Wow. My, my, my! You won’t believe the email I just got. Whoopee!

Terry Howard is the Diversity Director at Texas Instruments. He hangs out in a local Starbucks in Richardson, Texas and is available as a speaker for small and large group functions. This article is not to be copied, distributed or otherwise used without permission. W-howard1@ti.com (214) 480-2800.

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