Experiencing the Other Side of Diversity by Christopher Santomassimo

Winter 2008

Experience has shown that diversity works when talented people with different backgrounds are brought together to draw on their varying perspectives and approaches in order to solve business problems. Developing an open environment where all participants believe their opinions are valued is the challenge. I gained a new understanding of this challenge when, later in my career, I took a job that placed me in the minority for the first time.

Throughout most my professional life, I had been part of the racial and cultural majority within my workplace. That all changed when I joined Samsung. Samsung is based in Korea, and the majority of its workers are either Korean nationals or Korean Americans. Moving to Samsung was an interesting switch for me, and my new work environment involved both cultural differences and language barriers. I needed to learn to fit in, understand Korean culture, and learn how to communicate within that culture. During this process, I learned both the virtue of patience and the necessity of having someone to help me bridge the cultural gap between me and my colleagues.

After a few months at the company, I was sent to Korea for legal department meetings, which helped to kickstart my immersion into the company. But, by far, the most critical aspect to my success at Samsung was a friendly relationship I developed with a Korean-speaking coworker who graciously went out of his way to help me assimilate. He quickly became invaluable in assisting me to communicate and have success in professional and social settings. I came to think of my friend as a "facilitator" -- someone who could make introductions, provide counsel, and generally smooth out what could have been a much rockier transition.

Ultimately, my experience provided me with further confirmation of the value of diversity and a better understanding of the obstacles of navigating a workplace as a diverse attorney. I learned that when you are a diverse individual in a workplace, it helps to actively look for people who can serve as facilitators. Diverse attorneys who were raised in the United States generally do not face language barriers, but there may be less obvious business cultural barriers that a facilitator can help navigate.

In addition, having had the benefit of a facilitator at Samsung gave me a new appreciation for the value of networking through professional groups such as bar associations and corporate counsel organizations. It is not always possible to develop a facilitator or mentor at your workplace, so other networking opportunities can serve an important role. Membership in professional groups has helped me in my career, and I can imagine that they can help all attorneys -- diverse or not -- who need to develop a mentoring network within the legal profession.

In the end, my best advice is to find a workplace that is the right fit for you. One of the benefits of a legal career is a broad variety of job choices, and the workplace cultures vary greatly. I have found that, for me, the most rewarding work experiences come about in environments where young attorneys are allowed to try new things, make some mistakes, and learn the valuable lessons that come from those experiences. A facilitator can help you understand the true meaning of the culture in which you find yourself. Without that understanding, success and satisfaction -- and the "right fit"-- might remain out of reach.

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Christopher Santomassimo is general counsel and chief compliance officer at AGFA Corporation in Ridgefield, N.J., a 140-year-old Belgium-based company specializing in imaging. Previously, Chris has worked for Korea-based Samsung Electronics and several private law firms.

Chris earned his Juris Doctor from the Syracuse University College of Law and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University, School of Management. He is also currently a board member for the New Jersey chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).