Welcome to the Tero April eZine

Unconscious ignorance can lead to devastating results.

Take the recent Pepsi advertisement fiasco. An ad Pepsi ran to advertise their brand and sell their product was deemed by the public to be completely out of line. A simulated protest scene and an offer by Kendall Jenner of a can of Pepsi to a police officer demonstrated ignorance rather than providing the intended inspiration to enjoy a Pepsi. Using a social justice context to sell soda completely overlooked the magnitude and context of what true citizen action entails. The immediate public reaction caused Pepsi Co. to pull the ad. They can make the ad go away, but how do we get rid of the tendency to act in such unconscious and insensitive ways?

Most of us are not creating ads to message to diverse audiences. We may not be at risk of offending on a large scale. We all however are operating in a business environment that is increasingly diverse. The representation of human experience is vast, and just as we cannot stay in our department silo, or our industry silo, we cannot remain in the silo of how we alone view and experience the world if we are going to be interpersonally effective. If we do, we risk affecting others negatively in ways we may not even realize until we are told.

Of all the ways interpersonal skills serve us at work, perhaps it is in the ability to be conscious and aware with respect to what others live through that serves us best. The risk of being unconscious to what we need to know and understand about someone else’s experience is mitigated when we embark on the journey of using interpersonal tools. The tools to enhance our understanding of what it means to be inclusive and sensitive to diversity are tools designed to make sure we do not find ourselves having to "pull the ad", or redo the conversation, or apologize for something we could have prevented. They are the tools that enable us to genuinely know and understand who we are selling to, talking to, and working with.

This month's eZine focuses on these tools. The Q and A addresses dealing effectively with sensitive topics and rude comments at work. The development activity is a visual activity this month. We have provided two Tero Tips Videos for you to gain from. One is on how critical diversity is to high performing teams, and the other illustrates how poor communication habits can unknowingly alienate. The feature article is from the book authored by Rowena Crosbie and Deborah Rinner titled, Your Invisible Tool Box: The Technological Ups and Interpersonal Downs of the Millennial Generation. The feature is "I Never Knew You Felt That Way" and discusses three pertinent case studies of how ignorance of another's view impacts leadership success. The book comes out this month and will be available on Amazon. Our resource section is a treasure trove of articles and videos to keep consciousness top of mind as you go through the month. Lastly, we close with an inspirational thought that presents the ultimate challenge.

Why does putting the tools of awareness to work at our work matter? Wouldn't we all rather act in an inspiring way toward others rather than an ignorant one?