Respect is Not a Fad - Respect is an Enduring Value

I want to thank the organizers of Working OUT for inviting me and all of you for coming here tonight.

It's something of a cliché to start by saying, "I'm very pleased to be here." (sort of like "Have a nice day.") But I sincerely am pleased to be here, and want to tell you why.

First, I'm happy to be here to show my personal commitment — and Booz Allen's commitment — to respect, include, and support gays and lesbians. I learned first-hand a bit about the discrimination you face when I got some less-than-kind e-mails a few months ago (I'll explain in a minute).

But, the point is that I wanted to do more than pay lip service to the cause for respect and acceptance — I wanted to come here in person.

Second, I'm glad to be here because this is a recruiting opportunity. You are the best and brightest from our country's top business schools. I know you have a lot of job opportunities — and quite frankly, I hope you'll considering working for us.

I'm convinced Booz Allen has the combination of strategy and technology that companies need today — and that creates very exciting career opportunities for our staff.

And, third, I'm glad to be here because Philadelphia is one of my all-time favorite places.

My wife Janice is from Philadelphia. I went to Penn. We were married here — so it always feels like home.

Given my love of sports, I spent a lot of time at the old Spectrum and Veterans Stadium ... but also enjoyed evenings at the Philadelphia Orchestra and many other places very close to here.

So, you get the idea — Philadelphia is someplace I'm always happy to be.

In preparing my remarks, I asked some of our employees for suggestions or questions that might be on your minds.

One of the questions they raised was whether the current interest — by Wall Street, consulting firms, and other companies — to recruit gays and lesbians was a real commitment, or whether it was a fad — sort of an opportunistic response to the current tight labor market.

My short answer is — that the interest of companies in recruiting and retaining gay and lesbian employees is a commitment that is definitely here to stay.

My longer answer goes to why I believe it's a commitment that's here to stay.

From what I see, companies, governments, and neighbors are more accepting and supportive today than they have been before — and, I believe things will continue to move in this direction.

Why? Because RESPECT is not a fad. RESPECT is an enduring value. And, progress toward greater respect will — and must — continue.

Chance opportunities will help drive progress:

• The tight job market IS causing companies to be more creative in attracting employees and making them feel welcome.



• Certain client requirements spur companies to respond. In our case, work for city of San Francisco 3 years ago prompted us to speed up our decision to offer health, life insurance and other benefits to the domestic partners of all of our employees.



• Special events, such as this Working OUT conference, create opportunities for people like me — and my predecessor Bill Stasior — to come out and make a stand.

These may be chance circumstances, but their positive results build on each other and endure long after the triggering events have passed.

Even less-than-good circumstances can lead to lasting, positive change. A few minutes ago I mentioned some e-mails that came my way.

At Booz Allen, we have a number of employee forums — grass-roots organizations initiated by employees based on their common interests. The firm supports them with resources and funding for educational and networking events. Our Women's Forum, African American Forum, Hispanic Forum, and Asia-Pacific Forum are examples.

Back in October, a group of employees came together to form the GLOBE forum — Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Employees & Friends. The launch of the GLOBE forum was announced in an e-mail from our Director of Diversity. While there was support for it across our employee population — there was a vocal minority who criticized members of GLOBE, and also the firm for sponsoring the forum.

Some of this criticism was directed at me. Some was disseminated more broadly, including one particular e-mail. Because I felt this person's e-mail went beyond the right of an individual to express his or her personal beliefs, I responded with a message to all Booz Allen employees. It's not very long — I'd like to read it to you:

e-mail to all Booz Allen staff; dated November 1, 1999:

I want to take this opportunity to re-affirm Booz Allen's commitment todiversity as a core value of our institution and to reiterate our policies for equal opportunity and against workplace harassment. Last week, a global e-mail was sent objecting to the formation of a new employee forum for gay and lesbian staff. Sexual orientation, like gender, age, race and other characteristics, is a protected class under the firm's employment policies.

We respect the right of every member of our staff to hold their own beliefs and points of view. If you or a colleague has a concern about something at the firm, I want you to feel comfortable to raise it one-on-one to your supervisor, your partner, or to me. However, no-one at Booz Allen has a right to verbally attack another group of employees, nor to use the firm's resources — such as e-mail — to promote their personal views to others.

As a firm, our corporate commitment is to identify, attract, retain, and advance the most qualified persons, without regard to their race, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, or veteran's status. Our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and our Workplace Harassment Policy assure all employees of an environment free of hostility.

The remarks that Bill Stasior delivered at last year's Diversity Awards, called "Do the Right Thing" express our values well. I encourage all of us to re-read this and take it to heart.

— Ralph

So, what did we learn from this situation?

Tensions subsided — rather quickly, in retrospect. But, the most important thing we learned is that our firm is strong and resilient, and that the majority of our people want to do the right thing ... the vast majority DO respect and support each other. This was clear from the overwhelmingly positive response to my e-mail message.

As a result, I believe our firm is in an even better place today.

By way of context, Booz Allen's entire people strategy is built on a set of 10 core values — 5 we call individual values and 5 institutional values. They are: professionalism, fairness, integrity, respect, and trust — the individual values; and client service, diversity, excellence, entrepreneurship, and teamwork, which are the business values.

Three of these core values — diversity, fairness, and respect — speak directly to the interests of gay and lesbian employees.

Our 10 core values appear everywhere — on posters, pocket cards, appraisal forms, even magnets. While this magnet may be a trinket, I can assure you that the core values printed on it are a not a fad.

Although I hesitate to raise one core value above the rest, I consider RESPECT among the most important, the most fundamental.

I want to assure all of you here tonight that RESPECT is not a fad of a tight employment market. RESPECT is an enduring value.

I know there are still many places and situations in which you're not accorded the respect and acceptance you deserve — but I believe those places and those situations will diminish.

The strides you've made in gaining respect and acceptance — are here to stay. They're here to stay — in Philadelphia... at Booz Allen Hamilton... and in society at large.

Martin Luther King, Jr., who knew something about discrimination himself said, "The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy."

I admire your courage, optimism, and perseverance in times of challenge. You've earned respect from more people than you imagine. And, I know that it will endure.

Thank you.