Posted by H Levi Smiley in Question For the Candidates
As one person who has personally felt attacked or excluded at times, I have to wonder why it seems so far fetched that there may be many people who feel that way. While I don’t know that it’s a specific group, I do think it comes down to listening to and favoring people one knows and works with frequently and ignoring or even belittling those one doesn’t . Companies have taken strides to curb some of these behaviors within their organizations. For instance, the company I work for has A Chief Culture Officer and one of her biggest impacts has been to guide the entire company toward a “person centered” approach when dealing with issues.

My question is, and this is for everyone, do you feel there is a cultural issue within the club that makes certain members feel isolated and unheard? If so, what are some specific parts of our culture that may be the cause? Finally, should you win the election, how do you think your administration will affect the culture of stf, as all administrations have an impact one way or another?

I thank you for your answers and I would just like to say that I don’t envy any of you and am impressed with all of you for your professionalism and positivity.

Best of luck!
-Harley

I might seem like I’m just repeating myself over and over again, but I truly believe the key here is transparency. I could get on a soap box about in-group bias and social identity theory here, but the simple fact is that, without evidence to the contrary, human beings take things personally. My goal as President is to be the leader that provides the evidence to the contrary and sets the standard that it doesn’t matter what’s going on with friendships and relationships and whatever behind the scenes – what matters as a leader is the club. I’ve put someone that I dislike personally in a Cabinet role before because they are, objectively, the best person for the role. I’ve turned down friends’ applications for positions because they were not the best person for the role.

I don’t think there is a quick fix if people feel excluded or isolated. The best thing that I can do as President is to set a clear expectation of behavior and interaction within the club and hope that, eventually, those members will begin to feel safe. I hope that it’s been made clear over the last seven months that my DM window is always open and all I can do is to continue to demonstrate that time and time again. This isn’t a situation where grandiose statements and massive government changes can fix a problem; it really just comes down to building trust through action, not words.

• Sarah