SHOW SOME RESPECT! BY Randy Nabors I have a friendly name. Actually it’s my middle name, which I prefer, and I think it sounds friendly because it ends with a “y.” My friends call me Randy. I know of a famous evangelist who asked everyone to call him “Billy.” I have heard of a Prime Minister of England who asked people to call him “Tony.” This essay about cultural intelligence begins with a discussion about my name because “friendly” names can sometimes send a wrong or confusing signal to people, especially if one is seen as a person in authority and deserving of respect. Professor David Livermore wrote a book called, “Customs of the World; Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are.” One of the chapters has to do with, “Authority-Low versus High Power Distance. Professor Livermore teaches that some cultures see authority figures as distant, worthy of being shown respect in how they are addressed. These are High Power Distance cultures. Folks in these …
cross-cultural.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY IN CROSS CULTURAL MINISTRY
Recently someone called me from an inner-city non-profit ministry. They had some unfortunate experiences with trying to hire people and then having it turn into a negative experience. They wanted some advice. My discussion with them covered some basic human resource process as well as problems centering around race and class. I thought the discussion worth writing about and sharing with others in these kinds of ministries, which are of course my background and experience. [I want the reader to know that it has been my passion to champion African Americans as leaders in churches, to enroll in colleges, and be hired by other Christian institutions, as well as the poor, women, ex-inmates and other under-represented minorities. It is up to others to witness as to whether or not that has indeed been true of me, or if I have been at all successful.] I will try to cover some of the topic in two categories. We Must Establish A Good Process In Evaluating Whom To Hire. A. What is …