In the early 1980s, cultural sensitivity in the workplace was a strange notion. Women and minorities did not have formidable diversity departments standing behind them, and many dealt with open hostility and condescension on a daily basis. Jeannie Diefenderfer was one of them.

Diefenderfer, whose maiden name is Hyun, immigrated to the United States from Seoul, Korea with her family when she was 13 years old. After graduating from college, she was hired to the New England Telephone company as a field supervisor, one of the first minority women in a company with a long history of being dominated by white men.

"It was probably expected that I wouldn't be around long," she said. As with any new young person hired to manage a team of older workers, her authority was often questioned by her team. On top of that, a chunk of the team was made up of Korean War veterans who displayed an open hostility toward her.

One technician in particular seemed to have an ax to grind, and would question Diefenderfer's authority every chance he got. In a meeting one day, the technician started his usual offensive routine, finally blurting out, "The reason it's so difficult working with women is because you have to deal with their PMS once a month."

Diefenderfer fired back, "At least you only have to deal with it once a month. We have to deal with men's moods all the time."

That got everyone in the room laughing and the tension quickly fizzled away.

"It was his way of sending a message to the group. It was the gesture of a group activity. The only way to deal with that was to send my own message to the group," Diefenderfer said.  "To me, in order for you to fix the issue you don't want to give more credence to the act than the perpetrator deserves. You have to remember that comments and questions are often made to test the waters."

The chances of a group openly tolerating such comments as the disgruntled technician's these days are zero to none. Although her experience is hard to imagine in today's highly sensitive business world, Diefenderfer points out that there was no other recourse at the time. 

"I don't get intimidated easily," she said. "If somebody was behaving inappropriately, I made it known that I wouldn't take it lying down."

Diefenderfer's easy confidence with English now is clear, and it's not hard to see why she has become a top ranking executive at a telecommunications giant: her matter of fact, positive attitude.

Today, Diefenderfer's work environment couldn't be more different than when she first entered the workforce. She is vice president of Verizon Business, and helped found the company's Asian Focus Group (AFG), which has more than 500 members and is only one of the company's several employee network groups.

Employee network groups play an important role in the advancement of minorities at Verizon. One of the more recent Asian Focus Group's project was a development training workshop, where an outside consultant was brought in to help Asian-American employees learn how to promote themselves and deal with the stereotypes they face in the workplace, according June Jee, AFG's president.

Most importantly, Verizon's employee network groups have the full support of the company, said Jee, who has been with the company for over two decades. Verizon provides funding for each of the groups, and top executives, including the head of the Office of Diversity - meet regularly with the groups and its leaders. AFG also interfaces regularly with other employee network groups, including the African American and Hispanic groups, to exchange best strategies.

In addition, AFG acts as a broker to the various arms of the organization, including the marketing department, to which the AFG provides cultural sensitivity coaching on "what works and what doesn't work," Jee said.

AFG, and Jee personally, also play an important role in the promotion of Asian-American employees.

It is important for young employees to see people of color in positions of power, according to Diefenderfer, who said she was in the workforce for many years before she finally saw an Asian American in a leadership position. 

"There's nothing more powerful than to sit around a table where you see diversity at high levels. It tells them there's no glass ceiling," she said. "It always goes back to the numbers. When you have more women and minorities running organization, there's a tendency for the behavior of all employees to change."