Paternalism

From Birthdaywishes.expert

In the time of COVID, paternalism has been a natural conversation point. Throughout history this country has always had some form of paternalism that was informed by racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression. As I look at the the aspects of the characteristic, I am struck at how common paternalism is and how there are some that seem to be concerned now that the policies related to paternalism are getting in the way of their autonomy. This makes sense to me because there are some things like wearing clothes, putting on my seat belt, and the many other vaccinations that were required for myself when I was young as well as those for my kids that most people agree with and don’t even think twice about. However, when paternalism is charged with other things such as politics and -isms, regardless of the facts, people will believe what goes to their gut and emotions more often then not.

As a manager and leader, I know that opportunities to leverage paternalism in my favor is real. I can choose to hold power in a way that lifts up myself and choose whose input I will value and “allow” into the decision making process. I have found that reflecting on these characteristics the past year has been helpful to understand when I can take any characteristic too far and how I can lean into something different offered as antidotes. I look forward to thinking about paternalism because I am committed to my leadership mission statement and this exploration can only make me a better manager and leader.

Paternalism shows up as:

• those holding power control decision-making and define things (standards, perfection, one right way)
• those holding power assume they are qualified to (and entitled to) define standards and the one right way as well as make decisions for and in the interests of those without power
• those holding power often don’t think it is important or necessary to understand the viewpoint or experience of those for whom they are making decisions, often labeling those for whom they are making decisions as unqualified intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, or physically
• those without power understand they do not have it and understand who does
• those without power are marginalized from decision-making processes and as a result have limited access to information about how decisions get made and who makes what decisions; at the same time they are completely familiar with the impact of those decisions on them
• those without power may internalize the standards and definitions of those in power and act to defend them, assimilate into them, and/or collude with those in power to perpetuate them in the belief that this will help them to belong to and/or gain power; they may have to do this to survive

Antidotes to one right way, perfectionism, and paternalism include:

• develop a culture of appreciation; take time to make sure that everyone’s work and efforts are appreciated
• develop a learning community or organization, where the stated expectation is that everyone will make mistakes and those mistakes offer opportunities for learning
• create a culture of support that recognizes how mistakes sometimes lead to positive results
• create a culture of inquiry about what constitutes the “right way” and what defines a “mistake”
• build in an understanding that every approach yields unintended consequences and even the most strategically made decisions will have unanticipated consequences
• separate the person from the mistake; when offering feedback, always speak to what went well before offering critical feedback; when a mistake is jointly or collectively acknowledged, ask for specific suggestions about what the person or group has learned and how we would do things differently moving forward
• realize that being your own worst critic does not actually improve the work, often contributes to low morale among the group, and does not help you or the group realize the benefit of learning from mistakes; if you are constantly criticizing yourself in your relationships with others, you focus the attention on you, on support for you, rather than on the issue at hand
• accept there are many ways to get to the same goal; once a group has made a decision about what to do, honor that decision and see what you and the community or organization learn from making that decision, even and especially if it is not the way you would have chosen
• work on developing the ability to notice when you become defensive and/or insistent about doing something your way and do everything you can to take a breath; allow yourself room to consider how a different path or paths might improve your approach and/or offer you something you really need
• look for the tendency for a group or a person to keep pushing the same point over and over out of a belief that there is only one right way and then name it
• when working with communities from a different culture than yours or your organization’s, be clear that you have some learning to do about the communities’ ways of doing; assume that you or your organization can’t possibly know what’s best for a community in isolation from meaningful relationships with that community
• make sure that everyone knows and understands the decision-making hierarchy in the community and/or organization (transparency)
• make sure everyone knows and understands their level of responsibility and authority in the organization
• avoid making decisions in the absence of those most affected by those decisions or, said more proactively, always include those most affected in the brainstorming and decision-making
• support people at all levels of power to understand how power operates, their level of power, what holding power responsibly looks like, and how to collectively resist and heal from internalized tendencies to hoard and defend power

Self-reflection exercises

a. What does this look like when you act with paternalism?

I tend to go towards acting with urgency and self-righteousness. I may still reach out to people to get input, but not with a full intention to hear them, but as a way to make myself think that I’m being open when I just want to appear to be open. On the other side when I am faced with paternalism, I will push back when it comes with signs and outcomes of inequities.

b. What feelings do you have when you act with paternalism?

Arrogance leads the feelings when I act with paternalism. My arrogance can come with too much swagger and feelings of disrespect when people don’t listen to me. That’s because I tend to think I’m right, so people are foolish for not listening to me.

c. What policies and/or practices does your work/organization implement that reinforces or encourages paternalism?

Working for the government makes me pause and wonder when are we not reinforcing paternalism. I think the truth is that rules can be paternalistic, but at the same time rules can be created with the input and value of various perspectives. My concern is when we do not have opportunities for community engagement we may tilt towards paternalism.

d. What actions can you take to go from paternalism to partnership?

Following guides such as Authentic Community Engagement can help ensure that we have partnership in our execution of programs.

e. What benefits do you think you would get from applying more of the replacement characteristics?

When I look at things like the health disparities that exists in Colorado for youth, I hope that if we change the way we have approach these disparities and do it with more community engagement we can get different results.

Action Plan Statement
From now on when I feel the urge to act with paternalism, I will seek to include authentic community engagement because it provides me with an opportunity to address health inequities. I will also support my work/organization to paternalism by addressing community engagement practices. When I do act with paternalism, I will give myself some grace, acknowledge the impact I had on others, and engage in repair work.