Airport_Business_November_2020 - 14

DIVERSITY
If I asked you to pick which
was the White and which was the
Person of Color, what would your
guess be? Well, Candidate A =
White and Candidate B
= Person of Color. As we
examine the differences,
look at the descriptors for
each person. Cultural Fit
versus Looks Folksy; one
is more professional and
positive than the other. As
we examine the words
Polished and Speaks well;
why does the Person of
Color speak well as opposed to Polished
or Professional Presentation or some
other positive statement? When a
Person of Color is labeled as "speaks
well," it implies that other PoC do not
speak well and that's not the case. In my
experience, a White person has not been
described as such; they've been described
as polished, politically astute, excellent
communicator. These are examples of
Implicit Biases at work. They work to

PRIVILEGE

DIVERSITY

IMPLICIT & EXPLICIT

BIAS

oppress in the littlest of ways, but ways
that still matter.
The final topic covers ones' own
discomfort around diversity and PoC;
this is an issue of personal insecurity. If
a White person is uncomfortable with
a PoC, that White person may lack the
ability to adjust to new environments
and new people. I've interviewed
hundreds of executives over the years
through the executive search services
ACS Firm leads for our clients. During

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the interviews, we ask a battery of
questions around deep topics of interest
to our clients; some of the topics revolve
around diversity. It's easy to tell who is
comfortable with diversity or PoC and
those who are not. One key indicator
is how diverse groups are described.
I've had a few executives say, "we don't
have much diversity here." When asked
about business diversity, other executives
have attempted to describe two separate
groups and compare populations of
each me. Typically, the next thought
from them is that those PoC groups
"are not as qualified as the other firms."
To that I say, well, at one point, the
"other firms" were as qualified as the
PoC firms you're evaluating now. Just
because the other firm has been around
a bit longer, doesn't make the PoC firm
any less qualified to do the work you're
asking them to do for you today.
That said, the uncomfortable
presentation the executives shared
was a clear indicator that they were
uncomfortable with diversity and
PoC. So, rather than adapt and grow
comfortable, they would simply choose
the firm they are more comfortable
with, which happens to be a firm
that looks more like them. Now this
uncomfortable feeling they have is a
personal insecurity and it's an Implicit
Bias that works against the PoC. Is
that fair? Is it right? No, it's wrong on
both accounts. The Federal Aviation
Administration sets Disadvantaged
Business Enterprise and Minority
Business Enterprise goals to be met.
They provide airports millions of dollars
to offer opportunities to those groups,
not for airports to request waivers
because of an Implicit Bias.
So, why is all of this important now?
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