By Jada F. Smith
“Our book is not a page turner in the usual sense,” said Thomas Kochman of the book he co-authored with his wife Jean Mavrelis. “It’s a book that requires some thought and reflection. One of the strengths of it is that people can go away with accurate research and information that will help them climb that corporate ladder.” What their book, Corporate Tribalism, may lack in entertainment, it certainly makes up for in value. It chronicles more than 20 years worth of research from two cultural anthropologists about the implications and affects of cultural differences in corporate environments.
Mavrelis and Kochman are diversity training veterans, having conducted training in the field since its inception in the 1980s and working with companies like AT&T, Boeing and McDonald’s. Passed over for a seemingly well-deserved promotion? Fade into the background in the boardroom? Kochman and Mavrelis argue that in some cases it has less to do with the quality of work or ideas, but more to do with the quantity of cultural differences that can keep some ethnic groups from relating to those in the mainstream.
“The whole goal of our book is to develop and promote multicultural flexibility,” said Kochman. “It’s not to make everybody the same, but to develop the ability to manage differences.” The concentration on ingrained cultural differences as opposed to the skin-deep brand of diversity training is what makes their services resonate so personally with their clients.
They examine how different cultural practices relate to those in the mainstream (white) culture in corporate environments. Kochman explains that while some cultures are taught to be more reserved and tend to shy away from being braggadocios about their work, it can translate into meaning that person is not assertive enough for a leadership position in mainstream corporate America.
“It’s not politically correct anymore to be racist,” Mavrelis said. “So people discriminate based on culture and a flippant comment such as ‘she’s not leadership material’ can be career ending.”
Mavrelis, a white woman, shares her experience with career ending cultural clashes at work after studying how different women of color relate to White women on a cultural level. “The first way that Mainstream U.S. White people – especially White women – get to know others on meeting them for the first time is by asking personal questions. It’s a way of expressing interest in the other person and showing oneself to be open and friendly,” she said.
“There is also the expectation that the other person will respond by being inquisitive in return. African-American women view those openers by White women as nosy and often come up with some kind of stock answer to get the person to back off.What they don’t do, however, is ask questions back to the person which, in their culture, would be considered rude. Because of that, Black women often become labeled by White women as unapproachable and mean. Also, by seeing white women simply as being nosy, they miss that it’s also the way White women network. Both White and Black women miss opportunities to connect, in part because of these differences.”
Although the two have dedicated their careers to heightening understanding between mainstream cultures and those of other backgrounds, the two seem to understand that change is slow when it comes to an overhaul of societal behavior about race.
“One African-American man in one of our trainings asked if we will ever get to see people just as individuals,” said Kochman. “I said probably never, but we can help people know what it means to be a member of a group by understanding their social history, cultural background and communication style.”
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