Our July Book of the month is Alan Main, who joined the Human Library in 2023 and has since published online, hosting dozens of Readings with participants from all over the world.
With the Book Title “Gay,” Alan brings a unique perspective of decades of corporate experience spent championing diversity appreciation. Originally from Scotland, Alan spent more than thirty years in the healthcare industry before retiring to Cape Town, where he now lives with his partner and children.
The Corporate Climb
Although Alan said he’s noticed greater appreciation for diversity in workplaces as the years have gone by, he said navigating the corporate world as a gay man has not come without its challenges.
Alan remembers a pivotal experien
ce at a large company, when he discovered why his career growth had stalled.
Having left a senior position at a large company after being told he wouldn’t be able to continue to advance, Alan said he later found out the reason for the halt in his advancement was due to the homophobia of the company’s chairman.
“It was interesting, it was kind of a very strange reaction, because I was actually partly relieved,” Alan said. “Because I realized that actually, it wasn’t anything to do with my capabilities or competence. It was really just the prejudice of this very old fashioned, conservative chairman.”
Diversity as a Strength
Alan believes the corporate world must actively participate in creating environments that celebrate diversity, including training to help employees examine unconscious bias. He often talks with Readers about how biases can quietly limit people’s potential and rob organisations of talent and innovation.
Readers aren’t the only ones confronting their biases during Readers, Books like Alan just as often learn to unjudge readers.
Alan remembers recognising an unconscious bias himself. Alan came out as gay at 30, more than two decades after realising his identity at 8.
He only later realised he had developed a bias against flamboyant gay people, which he believes to be rooted in the years spent hiding his identity.
“It was a wonderful realization for me
to be able to say, well, I have this bias and a prejudice that I need to work on.”
Everyone, Alan says, can benefit from recognising these invisible barriers within themselves.
Personal Impact
Alan admits he felt nervous before being published online at first, but the experience quickly proved rewarding.
“I’ve only ever had one very tricky question to answer,” Alan said. “I found almost all the readers to be extremely polite, engaged and interested, and wanting genuinely to understand what it’s like to be a gay person in a multinational company.”
Alan has experience in speaking in front of large crowds in corporate settings, but he says that sharing his story in such an open way has aided in his personal growth and self understanding in a completely new way.
“Even my kids have noticed that I’m able to speak a little bit more about my emotions and feelings and things like that.”
Alan’s story is a powerful reminder that unjudging goes both ways, and that workplaces and communities alike benefit when we bring our full, authentic selves to the table.
Alan and many other Books are available for readings on our Digital Bookshelf with the purchase of a Library Card.
