Thursday, September 01, 2011

Diversity Thursday

I'm glad I don't work for her; "her" being Rear Admiral Kathleen M. Dussault, Director, Logistics Programs and Corporate Operations Division in the Office of Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV N41).

RADM Dussault may be the most fair, balanced, professional, and performance driven officer we have in the Navy. But ... appearances matter - and this appears like a biased mindset based on sex.

... if you were a front running Junior officer who simply happened to be born XY vice XX, and you were in a highly competitive group setting up for the next career milestone and half your peer group were XX - how much confidence would you have with RADM Dussault come FITREP time when she led a panel on;
Barriers to Entry: Advancing Women into Key Leadership Roles

Rear Admiral Kathleen M. Dussault, Director, Logistics Programs and Corporate Operations Division, United States Navy
Sad thing is - as regular readers know there are few people in the Navy blogosphere who have been greater supporters of women serving than your humble, ahem, blogg'r. Many of the regulars disagree with my stance, but that is OK, friends can disagree and still break bread.

With that reminder - the fact that RADM Dussault would put herself in a position to allow the appearance of gender related bias as clear as this makes it completely understandable for any male junior officer to call in to question her impartiality.

I wouldn't work for her - and would advise other males to fight tooth and claw with their detailer to stay clear out of her way. Just like Skippy and I would agree that there are certain Flag Officers who people should have avoided in the last decade for other reasons - they are openly biased and are allowed to get away with it.

If there is an appearance of bias - more often then not there is one. I would offer to RADM Dussault that she remove herself from that panel and instead come out with a strong statement on a performance based advancement mindset. Perhaps she doesn't realize the message this sends to male subordinates. As I will give her the benefit of the doubt - I would guess that no one would tell her that, and she thinks it is fine. Well, I just did, and it isn't.

Hat tip M.