CALS Office for Diversity Programs, the Campus Life Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office, and the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invite you to join us as we host Dr. Fred Bonner II on Oct. 8 from 9-10:15 a.m. for a virtual professional development session. His session is titled Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: Defining New Pathways for Culturally-Relevant Leadership.  Dr. Bonner currently serves as the Professor and Endowed Chair in Educational Leadership and Counseling and Founding Executive Director of the Minority Achievement, Creativity and High-Ability (MACH-III) Center at Prairie View A&M University.

Cultural leadership can be explained in two ways:

  1. The first interpretation is that leaders cast a long shadow: what they say and do has a very large impact. People look up to leaders and, because there is a human desire to want to fit in, start copying them and
  2. The second interpretation of the concept is that after a while, organizations tend to become the shadow of their leader.  Whether you intend it or not, you cast your shadow over your team. Your people will, either consciously or subconsciously, take clues from you about their behavior, values, motivation, and work ethic. They will mirror what you do and say, and how you react to situations.

This professional development opportunity will support the growth and development of your cultural leadership skills.  Join us as we begin to answer the questions:

  1. Are you aware of the shadow you cast over your team;
  2. Is this shadow a positive or negative one; and
  3. Are you displaying the behaviors that you would expect see from your people?

If you are interested in attending the session, please register here. Should you have any questions or need more information, please reach out to Dr. Theressa Cooper, CALS Assistant Dean of Diversity (tncooper@iastate.edu).