Here’s What Your Colleagues Have Said About How
You Can Benefit from the Book

Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace

“Sondra Thiederman’s new book examines the thorniest prejudices that exist around race, gender, and other dimensions of human difference. Making Diversity Work provides tools that enable individuals to become immediate problem-solvers in this vital area. It is indispensable to any thoughtful person seeking a fresh and innovative framework for tackling the challenge of workplace bias.”

Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr.
President and CEO
Roosevelt Thomas Consulting and Training

“Making Diversity Work is a slam-dunk winner. It addresses a challenge that is as big an issue in the world of basketball as in the workplace: How can we rid ourselves of the biases that interfere with our ability to build winning teams? Sondra Thiederman’s play-by-play strategy for reducing bias is essential for anyone who is serious about making diversity work in their organization.”

Bill Walton
NBA Legend
ABC and ESPN Basketball Analyst

“Finally, a business approach to workplace diversity! Having been exposed to Sondra’s unique perspective when she addressed our management team, I am not surprised to discover that she has written a book which talks about diversity in a way that makes good business sense. She clearly recognizes that bias reduction is more than just a “feel good” issue.”

Pattye Moore
President
Sonic Corporation

“Making Diversity Work is an excellent field guide for leveraging the power of diversity in any business. Dr. Thiederman provides real-world illustrations of the often subtle biases held by us all. She then takes the next critical step of outlining how those perceptions negatively impact people and, by extension, business. This book should be required reading for any organization committed to turning diversity into a competitive advantage.”

Jo Jerman
Vice-President, Southeast Business Group
Merck & Company, Inc.

“This book is an urgent reminder of why making diversity work remains America’s great challenge. As long as bias remains a palpable presence in the workplace, important promises of the world’s leading democratic society will remain unfulfilled. Her book is highly readable and filled with useable and practical strategies to overcome bias. It is a must read for everyone interested in attaining a level playing field.”

Price M. Cobbs, M.D.
President & CEO
Pacific Management Systems

“Sondra Thiederman has broken new ground in the resolution of a problem that has long been a barrier to the achievement of business objectives. This book is unique in the diversity literature in that it provides a structured and realistic approach to achieving an inclusive and diverse workplace. Making Diversity Work treats an often volatile and complex issue in a user-friendly way and is invaluable for both the individual reader and as a resource for management and employee training. This book will be a must for all of our human resource and operations managers at Bausch & Lomb.”

Clayton Osborne
Vice President, Diversity & Organizational Effectiveness
Bausch & Lomb, Inc.

“…provides practical tools for navigating the pathway from confusion and fear to clarity and compassion. Filled with colorful real-life examples, Making Diversity Work is a great read for anyone determined to function more successfully in a diverse workplace.”

Richard Gaskins
Vice President, Diversity
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

“Am I biased? Yes. Do I need to change my attitude or my behavior? Yes to both. What can I do right now? Work this book, don’t just read it. Professionally guided personal work will get us to a healthier place. This book directs that work with realistic case material, diagnostic tools, active solutions, and a deep understanding of human nature. It is part of my personal and professional diversity bag.”

Robert Hayles, Ph.D.
Effectiveness/Diversity Consultant
Co-author of The Diversity Directive
1996 Chair of the Board of Directors
American Society for Training and Development
Former Vice President, Human Resources & Diversity
The Pillsbury Company

“Doctor Thiederman's new book reminds us that addressing workplace bias is a "process" of change and not a "special event" to be undertaken only until something better comes along. From her discussion of the importance of becoming “mindful of our biases" to how to become “diversity fit,” she shows us how to negotiate this process most effectively.”

Arthur Jackson, Jr.
Vice-President, General Administration
Costco Wholesale

“Making Diversity Work targets the key reason that many of us resist committing to diversity in the workplace: Our own biases. Workplaces have never been more diverse and the need for all employees to accept and promote a rainbow work environment is made all the more apparent by the issues raised in this book.”

Michael S. Olson, CAE
Former President and CEO
American Society of Association Executives

“Timely, candid, and practical, Making Diversity Work addresses a growing need in today's workplace: how to keep workplace bias from reducing productivity and increasing litigation. The author provides the answer when she challenges us to confront our own biases and develop constructive strategies for overcoming them. We can all benefit by reflecting and acting on the core message of this important new book.”

Stephen O’Connor
Vice President, Government Affairs
Mortgage Bankers Association of America

“Sondra Thiederman’s new book will motivate and stimulate employers and employees alike. It removes our bias blinders and allows us to see diversity as a workplace asset. Making Diversity Work is a prerequisite for a quality workplace and for life in general.”

Milton Clipper
President/CEO
Public Broadcasting Atlanta

“Making Diversity Work unveils a new paradigm to the world of diversity. Rather than focusing, like most diversity books, on what needs to be done at the organizational level, it argues that we must take individual responsibility for building effective workplaces. Toward this end, the reader is shown how to challenge personal beliefs and behaviors, how to become aware of biases, and, most important, how to change.”

Ernest Hicks,
Manager, Corporate Diversity
Xerox, Inc.

“Sondra Thiederman has written a fascinating, readable, and hands-on business book that brings the solutions to our diversity challenges to life. Yes, this book is a must read for every business executive, but it is also an invaluable step-by step guide for others, including educators, journalists, parents and, (heaven forbid) our political leaders, all of whom must deal with their own and others' often unintentional but still damaging biases. I highly recommend Making Diversity Work..

David Tulin,
President
Tulin DiversiTeam Associates

“Sondra Thiederman gives us an insightful, soul-searching look at how bias
takes root in our lives and in the workplace. In each chapter, she offers a new set of lenses with which to see how we can reduce our bias-based behaviors and achieve an improved level of diversity dialogue. This book is a must read for anyone who is willing to get beyond surface learning about bias and move to "gut-level" behavioral change!”

Edward Hubbard
President
Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc.

“Making Diversity Work exposes a harsh reality for many Americans: Nice people have biases and those biases cost us financially, competitively, and personally. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who is serious about building an inclusive organization.”

Barbara R. Deane
Editor-in-Chief
DiversityCentral.com and Cultural Diversity at Work

“With refreshing candor, Dr. Sondra Thiederman has once again contributed a landmark piece of work to the betterment of the field. Through the telling of poignant personal stories about real people, she shows how bias diminishes their ability to achieve full potential. A very practical guide, the book tells us how to address the “blind spots” that get in the way of fully valuing differences in the workplace.”

Mary-Frances Winters
President and CEO
The Winters Group
Author, Only Wet Babies Like Change and Inclusion Starts with “I”

“At last, a book that talks about bias with the light touch needed to make a delicate subject palatable to all. Sprinkled with humor, Making Diversity Work gives us the clear understanding and practical guidelines necessary to learn about our biases, address them, and make the workplace and our lives better for it.”

Julie O'Mara
President
O’Mara and Associates

“Dr. Thiederman captures in her book what so many of us, as managers, are afraid to admit. We become so busy in managing people, meeting deadlines, and staying up with current technology that we rarely stop to analyze how we communicate to the employees we work with daily. Constantly improving our style of communication is key to creating a workplace that is non-threatening, healthy, and allows people to be appreciated for their individuality. All managers should have a copy of this book in their toolbox.”

Teresa M. Gauger
Acting Deputy Director, Human Resources
Environmental Protection Agency

“I am thoroughly impressed! Sondra Thiederman has found a way to help us all identify the biases we carry. She makes it clear that many of us, even “nice people,” have biases and provides us with a useful mechanism for minimizing their influence on our lives. This innovative volume contains insights that have the power to transform our world and our workplaces.”

Emory Livers, Jr.
Director of Diversity
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

“Making Diversity Work is a critical contribution to making organizations more productive. Well written, with engaging examples, this book is a great resource for successfully working across all dimensions of difference.”

Judith H. Katz, Ed.D.
Executive Vice President
The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc.
Author of The Inclusion Breakthrough: Unleashing the Real Power of Diversity and White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training.

“Sondra has done it again! This book hits at the heart of matters and provides us the insight and actions we need to take to make a difference. This is about all of us for all of us. Honest and skilled dialogue across differences on a tough issue is what will move us forward to better understanding and a better world.”

Michael L. Wheeler
Program Director
The Conference Board

“Balanced, business-focused and realistic, Making Diversity Work takes a fresh look at a subject that has not received the attention it rightfully deserves. Recognizing that certain biases interfere with success in business, Dr. Thiederman provides a practical guide to solving one of corporate America’s most overlooked problems.”

James Lonergan
President and COO
TheStreet.com

“Faced with the question, “How are you going to deal with all of the differences that you experience in the workplace?,” I was happy to learn of Sondra Thiederman’s new book, Making Diversity Work. This volume is unique among diversity books in that, not only does it show us how to take ownership of our own biases, it provides the reader with valuable strategies for defeating those ‘personal fictions’ that negatively impact our daily lives.”

Linda Garza Kalaf, MA, SPHR
Manager, Human Resources
America West Airlines

“Stories are the carriers of wisdom and Making Diversity Work takes full advantage of this valuable medium of communication. Through page after page of stimulating narrative, the author illustrates how to become aware of our biases and how to suspend them long enough to see the full picture. I recommend this book to you as an instrument for personal advancement and bias reduction. Study it on your own, read it one story at a time in groups and discuss its implications and lessons. Your thinking will never again shrink to its former limitations.”

Jim Cathcart
Speaker and Author of Relationship Selling and the Acorn Principle

To check on Sondra’s availability or to receive additional information including a demonstration tape and references, please contact the bureau who sent you to this site or:

Joan Pierce
Marketing Director
Cross-Cultural Communications
4585 48th Street
San Diego, CA 92115
Phone: 619-583-4478 / 800-858-4478
Fax: 619-583-0304
E-mail: STPhD@Thiederman.com