by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica

Letter to new graduates. And how about a braided career? - Brazen Careerist
“The best way to make sure you will have time and money to create the life you want is to have what I am going to start calling a braided career. Intertwine the needs of the people you love, with the work you are doing, and the work you are planning to do, when it’s time for a switch.” It doesn’t have to be scary to change your job situation. It doesn’t have to be scary to change your job situation frequently.

For the Chronically Late, It’s Not a Power Trip - New York Times
People who are always late probably aren’t doing it on purpose. And unless your job is on a strict schedule, it probably doesn’t really matter. Unless you’re pissing off your co-workers by being late to all your meetings.

Essay 4008 - MultiCultClassics
In response to the announcement of the Inaugural AdColor Awards to Recognize Outstanding Achievements of Diverse Professionals in the Advertising, Marketing and Media Industries: “Well, it’s certainly historic for organizations that have consistently failed in their diversity initiatives to suddenly team up to tackle the issues. Call it a case of the colorblind leading the colorblind.”

Southern Men and Baseball: Professor Timmerman ’s Study of Batters Hit By Pitches - Bob Sutton
The article is about the Southern “culture of honor” as demonstrated through pitchers’ patterns of hitting batters. In short, a Southern pitcher is more likely to hit a batter if the guy before him hit a home run or a if the guy hit a home run his last time up because he’s defending his team’s honor. Unless the batter is black. The author of the study hypothesizes it’s because the pitcher was either hyper-sensitive about appearing racist or was afraid of the black guy. Translates well to workplace interactions and retaliation, I think.

What Works In Women’s Networks - Businessweek
Profiles of successful corporate women’s networks at GE, Best Buy, and Deloitte. (via the Boston Globe Job Blog)

GE In-Houser Files Discrimination Suit Against Company - WSJ.com Law Blog
Conversely, a (female) top legal executive at GE has filed a class action lawsuit against the company claiming gender discrimination on behalf of 1500 female executives and an unknown number of non-executive female attorneys. (via Workplace Prof Blog)

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email tips@raceintheworkplace.com