Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from workplace discrimination. However, similar to all laws intended to safeguard Americans’ rights, it is only as good as its enforcement.
Unfortunately, religious employees are finding enforcement in their cases wanting.
In California, former Stockton Fire Chief Ron Hittle, a 24-year veteran firefighter, was asked to find a conference on leadership to benefit his role in the department. All the options he considered were beyond the city’s budget constraints and not locally accessible.
He eventually found one that fit the city’s expectations: a world-class leadership conference. The Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit has featured renowned leadership experts, including former President Bill Clinton and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, among others. Per his superiors’ instructions, he was gifted four tickets and attended the conference along with three co-workers.
Hittle returned from the conference motivated with fresh leadership insights to bring to his team. “How to motivate your team and get them to follow your leadership” and “Development of your staff in utilizing their ideas and making them part of your team” were just a few of the topics covered that he was convinced would help improve the department’s operations. The members of the fire department who attended all testified about the tangible benefits of the practical leadership training they received.