Hopefully the title of this article intrigues you enough to give it a quick click and further read. At this point, those of you brave enough to continue on are probably wondering whether this will be an analogous attempt to explain an ideal society by how the colors of a shish kebab work together. Not doing that, sorry. For the others—well, maybe your curiosity is likely centered on how this delicious, originally Mediterranean staple, the shish kebab, relates to my philosophical stance on the recent demonstrations, riots, and protests witnessed nationally in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Not going there either. I mean, as a black male that oversees university intercultural literacy and inclusive excellence, I should have thoughts, right? Maybe even a statement? I should write one, right? Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a variety of postures and read a number of statements from individuals far and wide. While I certainly have views that I’m happy to share, I choose to rather pit focus on what I’ve noticed as a glaring hole in the dissemination of more recent information and resources: how to better prepare our next generation of intercultural leaders, for the days to come, in a deeply divided world. Along the way I may also provide insight on how to create the perfect char-grilled shish kebab. Win-win, right?
On Tuesday evening we celebrated my wife’s 30th birthday by inviting several close friends and neighbors over to our home. It was a joyous event full of laughs, socially distant awkward side-hugs and fist bumps, a quick dip in the lake, and the best part—shish kebabs! For meal time, I borrowed a true and tested approach from Drs. John Foster and John Jackson (more on them to come) by adopting a make-your-own shish kebab station. As Dr. Foster would say, “there’s nothing more American than meat on a stick over a fire!” As I first learned back in 2009, the process involves grabbing a 10-12-inch bamboo skewer, placing already cut and cubed meat of choice on the skewer, adding onion and bell peppers at your intermittent discretion, and then plopping it on a grill (charcoal in our case) until ready. So simple, yet so delicious. With a house full of 20-25 adults and about 10 kids, the shish kebab station serves as a quick, filling meal, adds to the overall joyous activity of the household and relieves the host of doing all the cooking!
I can’t thank Drs. John Foster and John Jackson enough for this idea. I imagine this approach being a continued party hosting technique in our house for years to come! I also owe Drs. Foster and Jackson deep gratitude for other reasons. 11 years ago, these two professors of political science and public policy hired me to my first intercultural leadership position and I have not looked back since (special shout out to Dr. J. Tobin Grant for the hookup). From 2009-2016, I spent several summer months consulting and organizing cultural exchange programs as part of a State Department funded initiative to welcome exceptional student leaders from around the world to study federal and state public policy in the United States. Year after year, it was in the tightly landscaped backyard of Dr. Foster with students from Nepal, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Myanmar, to name a few, that we became better acquainted with people from all over the world that are nothing like us, and the glorious shish kebab station. As I grew into my calling as an intercultural leader, I dipped a toe into diversity and inclusion programming as a full-time faculty member at a prior institution (more on this to come) and today, serve my current institution (I should probably note here that none of my views expressed here are that of the university I work for and yada yada) as an administrator over our global and intercultural programs and services. Over the last decade, or so, I’ve learned a lot about how to be an effective intercultural leader and these lessons have, ironically, come through failure. As many in our nation are experiencing the same tug-at-the-soul calling towards a vocation of intercultural leadership that I once felt in 2009, I’d like to offer some practical advice I would have given myself early on in my career (so you don’t fail as much as I did): Adopt the shish kebab framework of intercultural leadership.
Yes, the shish kebab framework of intercultural leadership- it’s a thing. Almost science. Similar to the perfectly crafted shish kebab with 5 deliberately placed pieces of meat and vegetables on the skewer (again, science), I offer 5 tips below on how to navigate your calling in the next season to come.
On Tuesday evening we celebrated my wife’s 30th birthday by inviting several close friends and neighbors over to our home. It was a joyous event full of laughs, socially distant awkward side-hugs and fist bumps, a quick dip in the lake, and the best part—shish kebabs! For meal time, I borrowed a true and tested approach from Drs. John Foster and John Jackson (more on them to come) by adopting a make-your-own shish kebab station. As Dr. Foster would say, “there’s nothing more American than meat on a stick over a fire!” As I first learned back in 2009, the process involves grabbing a 10-12-inch bamboo skewer, placing already cut and cubed meat of choice on the skewer, adding onion and bell peppers at your intermittent discretion, and then plopping it on a grill (charcoal in our case) until ready. So simple, yet so delicious. With a house full of 20-25 adults and about 10 kids, the shish kebab station serves as a quick, filling meal, adds to the overall joyous activity of the household and relieves the host of doing all the cooking!
I can’t thank Drs. John Foster and John Jackson enough for this idea. I imagine this approach being a continued party hosting technique in our house for years to come! I also owe Drs. Foster and Jackson deep gratitude for other reasons. 11 years ago, these two professors of political science and public policy hired me to my first intercultural leadership position and I have not looked back since (special shout out to Dr. J. Tobin Grant for the hookup). From 2009-2016, I spent several summer months consulting and organizing cultural exchange programs as part of a State Department funded initiative to welcome exceptional student leaders from around the world to study federal and state public policy in the United States. Year after year, it was in the tightly landscaped backyard of Dr. Foster with students from Nepal, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Myanmar, to name a few, that we became better acquainted with people from all over the world that are nothing like us, and the glorious shish kebab station. As I grew into my calling as an intercultural leader, I dipped a toe into diversity and inclusion programming as a full-time faculty member at a prior institution (more on this to come) and today, serve my current institution (I should probably note here that none of my views expressed here are that of the university I work for and yada yada) as an administrator over our global and intercultural programs and services. Over the last decade, or so, I’ve learned a lot about how to be an effective intercultural leader and these lessons have, ironically, come through failure. As many in our nation are experiencing the same tug-at-the-soul calling towards a vocation of intercultural leadership that I once felt in 2009, I’d like to offer some practical advice I would have given myself early on in my career (so you don’t fail as much as I did): Adopt the shish kebab framework of intercultural leadership.
Yes, the shish kebab framework of intercultural leadership- it’s a thing. Almost science. Similar to the perfectly crafted shish kebab with 5 deliberately placed pieces of meat and vegetables on the skewer (again, science), I offer 5 tips below on how to navigate your calling in the next season to come.
- Prepare for Loss- If you are a novice to grilling shish kebabs like I was in 2009 in Dr. Foster’s backyard, chances are you will sacrifice some pieces of meat and vegetable to the charcoal gods before the skewer hits your plate. I cannot remember when I first successfully transferred the full five-piece skewer ensemble from grill to plate. It is infuriating! The grill being too hot, pieces of meat falling between the grill grates and forgetting it all together on the grill were some of the leading causes of shish kebab loss. It is inevitable.The inevitability of loss when proclaiming your bold intentions to do the work of diversity and inclusion in society or at your work place is also a stark reality. 11 years ago, I would have told myself that not everyone is going to like what I do and some, if not many, will choose to distance themselves from you. For some, you are challenging age-old assumptions and systemic norms that may be threatening. Whereas for the ambivalent others, they’d just much rather avoid the fatigue of the “highly charged stuff” that you deal with on a day-day basis. Get this—even those that may support you in your calling, may eventually decide you’re not doing enough or doing too much and lose faith in your philosophical approach! My advice: if you have a cheering squad now it will likely plateau in the next phase. Stay the course.
- Build a Team- One of the best, unintended (I promise), consequences of the kebab station is the “kebab manager.” The kebab manager is the guy/gal who, for no apparent reason, ends up watching everyone else’s kebab on the grill while its owners frolic and gallivant elsewhere. Maybe it’s the person that just really doesn’t want anyone to experience the loss described above. Or maybe it’s the person who just can’t watch Victor eat any more half raw, half cooked kebab’s and decides to take over. Who knows? Despite the explicit procedural rules and policies that specify it is a make-your-own and grill-your-own process, the kebab manager always mysteriously appears and often will delegate responsibility to others to care for the temporarily orphaned kebabs during his/her bathroom break. In 2013, I knew I had a passion for intercultural/diversity work on the college campus, I just didn’t know where to start. So, I built a team. I recall having a conversation with Megan Baldree and Dr. Vanessa Roberts-Bryan that eventually led to forming the Diversity Affairs Council with Erica Medina as our first student president. Years later, Megan, Vanessa, and I founded the Center for Community Inclusion on campus and with the help of Dr. Mark Waters, we were able to transform our campus in meaningful ways that touched the lives of many of our students. At my current institution, I inherited a phenomenal team upon my arrival in 2018 and have continued building along the way. My advice: You cannot do this work alone. Build a team. You will be better off for it in the long run.
- Dream Big but Start Small- As shish kebab grilling has taught me, patience is a virtue and it is one well worth exercising for that glistened, scrumptious meat on a stick delicacy. For years I looked with envy at Dr. Foster’s assembled mastery thinking I could certainly arrive there at a much quicker rate than what the process requires. Turning the skewer over early stalls your efforts. Taking it off the grill prematurely will give you bubble guts. Although tempting, anything more than 5 pieces of food on the skewer unnecessarily lengthens the cooking process and bitters the food altogether (remember, science). The heat of the grill ultimately decides when your kebab is perfect and the kebab does not, I repeat does not, acquiesce to any of your silly, hurried whims. People like us want to change the world. Call it an occupational hazard; the tendency to want to cure the “isms” and to have it done by yesterday carries such a heavy gravitational pull. As a result, we desire quick fixes. We want you to read all the books and articles, and listen to all the podcasts. I’m sure some of you reading this are also being bombarded by several colleagues and friends sharing anti-racist resources, podcasts on white privilege and fragility, the list continues. WE CAN’T HELP IT. Chances are you won’t cure racism by lunch on Friday. My advice: Share (1) book, share (1) article, share one (1) podcast and do it all in the context of relationship. Someone who doesn’t know you or your intentions is not going to read your Dropbox folder full of anti-racist resources. Would you insist a child walks before they crawl? Would you give a bible to a convinced atheist to learn more about God?
- You Cannot Do This Work Well When Heated- If you’ve ever stood over a charcoal grill out in the open sun, on a 100-degree day with no shade in the humidity of Southern Illinois, this next tip should reason well. I’m sure Dr. Foster never planned it to be this way, but his summer cookouts always seemed to fall on the hottest, most humid day of the year. It is no surprise many of us, including yours truly, often escaped the scalding and suffocating heat by swiftly running indoors to enjoy a few moments of air-conditioning before returning back out to tend to our kebabs on the grill. Thank God for the “kebab manager” that kindly kept an eye on several, I’m sure, abandoned skewers simply due to the heat of it all! In a similar vein, the work of diversity and inclusion can become more difficult when we, as practitioners, are “heated” or angry. Please hear me correctly here: the issues we deal with can and should anger us! I often wonder, however, how many times I say the wrong thing or maybe even convey inaccuracies in posture and message when boiling mad. Equanimity is a word I love and one I would have offered myself 11 years ago when I first started my journey. My advice: Be angry, but not when you are doing the work. This work requires emotional balance, tact, and an irreplaceable ability to build bridges with ALL. There are enough obstacles you will face on your own journey; your vitriolic emotion should not be one of them. Let anger be the fuel to drive your passion forward.
- Reserve and Prioritize Time for Self-Care- Grilling shish kebabs for the first few times hurt! There’s no perfect way to handle the slenderness of the bamboo skewer when on the grill and this often led many of us to resort to manually use our fingers to turn and flip the skewer. As you can imagine, blisters and band-aids were a common sight in the Foster household during his summer cookouts. For those of us that were new to grilling shish kebabs, one blister was all we needed before harkening the “kebab manager” to tend to our meats, while we painfully scurried indoors so Mrs. Terri Foster could tend to our (low level degree) burns. The work of diversity and inclusion that many-an intercultural leader commits to will, at some point, hurt you. As my colleague, Charissa Pierre, recently surmised, there is grave danger in doing this work day in and day out without instituting regular practices of self-care for you and/or your team. There will be burnout without such measures put into place. My advice: Decide now what your self-care routine will look like. It is very difficult for people like us (as I write this at 12:08am) to delineate between work and rest. If not addressed sooner than later, there will be no noticeable difference between the two and, ironically, both will suffer greatly.
