Citigroup and Gender Bias: What? Did You Think Staying Engaged Was Going to Be Easy?
“The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice…”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“ …but it does not get there without a little help from its friends.”
Michael F. Cook
Today I will not be practical, this is a day for the philosophical and inspirational.
Are we really all that shocked when we hear stories of bad or seemingly unjust behavior in our 
places of work?
There are a couple of ways to interpret the allegations of gender bias filed recently against Citigroup by six current and former female employees. 1) This is a continuation of a pattern of gender bias as shown by previous admissions of guilt and don’t forget that Citigroup has been involved in the flashy case of Debrahlee Lorenzana, the “Too Hot Banker” in recent months as well. 2) The Citigroup situation, while lame on its surface is merely a placeholder for reality as it evolves. (We are not there yet, “there” being a world of workplaces designed for full engagement, in case you hadn’t noticed!)
I prefer the second interpretation. This is not to say that we should put up with the behavior Citigroup management has been accused of, far from it. I see the law suits as a positive sign that people, in this case women, are fully engaged and insisting on entirely new working relationships with employers. These battles must be fought, and they will be, by small groups of courageous individuals on behalf of the rest of us, and they will not always win.
Margaret Mead as quoted by Pamela Slim
In the workplace of today the challenge for individuals to stay engaged goes well beyond merely finding the right work with the right people, though that is a big part of the story. Not seeing the Citibank scenario against the background of a larger context is no different than simply pouting when British Petroleum welshes on its promises to do right by the people and the environment of the Gulf Coast. (You can bet that individuals in small groups are already taking action to hold British Petroleum to account, and the fight will be long and full of setbacks.) Did Exxon immediately and completely live up to its word in the case of the Valdez catastrophe? Many people still do not think so, in fact the case against Exxon was only resolved by the US Supreme Court on June 25th, 2008. But someone carried the fight for twenty years after the events in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and many, many people were still not happy with the resolution. The list of similar events and disappointments goes on yet the fight is a good fight and it is ultimately a fight not against anyone other than ourselves, perhaps better said a mindset we share based in a belief that life’s benefits are scarce and "whoever dies with the most toys wins." As Pogo so rightly said so long ago in 1953, “we have met the enemy and he is us!”
There are always going to be people who will serve as placeholders for the existing reality, Kenneth Lay at Enron comes quickly to mind, but it is ultimately the mindset, the current version of reality, which is the real enemy. And what does this have to do with the commitment of many to developing engaged workplaces? Everything! If we move forward with programs and training and systems; we write books, conduct assessments, blog, hold conferences, blah, blah, blah…and do not address ourselves as the carriers of the beliefs that give rise to the actions we despise we will have missed the opportunity to take part in the true revolution/evolution of both the American culture and workplace.
Now go out there and sue somebody!
…and while you are at is visit www.pachamama.org
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Wordsmost often attributed to Edmund Burke, Irish born member of
British Parliament
