By Dr. Akilah Cadet
I keep being asked what leaders need to do with recent events threatening the lives of and taking the lives of Black people in America. Even with these tips, some companies are struggling specifically with leadership. Before I get into actionable steps, it is important to understand that if the highest level of leadership does not want to support, value, or understand the Black experience and Black lives, nothing will change. Since we know that leadership is predominantly white this is intended for white leaders or white passing or assimilated leaders (aka they may be people of color but have to act like white dominate leadership in fear of losing their jobs or code switch). These are in no particular order.
Be uncomfortable: I can tell you as a Black woman I learned at an incredibly very young age how to live so white people would be/feel comfortable around me and I would not be harassed or harmed by them. This was carried throughout school and continues in the workplace, social settings, cafes, malls, stores, driving, walking, airports, etc. See where I am going. For my existence to make sense in America I had to learn how to live in white America. White leaders will feel uncomfortable because they don’t know everything, have implicit bias, stereotype, don’t have experience in diversity, or quite simply feeling like they are less than. FEEL IT. Learn the same ways to exist in Black spaces as I have to exist in white spaces.
Compassion not Comparison: It is important to have compassion for what your Black employees are experiencing right now. Do not compare your lived experience to a Black person’s lived experience if you are not Black. Stay away from saying “I know what that’s like” because you don’t. These include “my partner or child is Black,” and “I grew up poor” so I know. If you are not Black you absolutely do not know the Black experience. Also don’t ever say “I don’t see color” and if you feel you need to say that ask yourself what you do at a stoplight…spoiler alert you see color.
Do not put the Work on BIPOC: Here’s a term you may not know, Black, Indigenous, People of Color or BIPOC. Start using it. WOC (women of color) and POC (people of color) are fine too but Black people’s experience is different from Asian, Indigenous, Latinx and others. This is evident with the current unrest. Black people cannot rest right now so do not expect BIPOC senior, mid, or entry level staff to do the work for the CEO, President, or Executive Director. Do not expect them or any person of color to have difficult conversations so you do not have to feel uncomfortable (see number 1).
Prioritize Internal Message: Black employees should not see a social media post about how a company is donating to a cause BEFORE they know what leaders are doing for THEM. Start with your internal memo. The highest level leader should apologize, offer support and resources (therapy, support circles, workshops, etc.), as well as what they are planning on doing externally. ALLOW for time for Black people to suggest other ways to feel valued and supported internally along with what message goes out externally.
External Message: This message should not be MORE than what leaders are doing for Black employees. For example don’t give 100K to a fund or nonprofit advocating for Black people when that same amount of money if not more isn’t going to Black employees via employee resource groups, wellness funds, professional development, diversity consultants, and therapist for support circles or individualized care. As soon as you give more to Black people externally than you do internally you start the process of losing your Black employees (see number 8 intent vs. impact). Companies who do this (many do) are literally sending the message that Black people matter and not our Black employees matter.
Give Black People an Opportunity: If there are Black employees who would like to lead an internal or external effort not only give them the resources to do so, but PAY THEM TO DO IT! Do not expect them to carry the weight of being Black in America into the workplace without proper compensation. We do it all the time for free in our personal and professional lives. Make sure you highlight what Black employees are doing company wide and pay them accordingly.
Don’t Make it About You: Black employees do not need to comfort or educate leaders. It is the responsibility to make it about Black employees. Go back to number 1; Be uncomfortable. Leaders need to think about the last time they lost someone, a death of a loved one or how they supported a love one who was grieving. Black people are grieving! Some of us may want to put our time and energy into work, others may want to take time off. Some Black people may have an outburst. All of these are normal responses to grief and loss. Look at your bereavement policy for direction and guidance.
Intent vs. Impact: Companies do this all the time where they think they are doing something great but in actuality they are making something worse. For example, intent being public message of supporting an organization working on X in the Black community and the impact is Black employees upset that they are not supported at work like the organization. Think about what your plan is internally first and then communicate the external plan in a way where feedback can be received. Once approved collectively then move to the external message. This goes for Black employees who may have emailed their direct Supervisor, Executive, Head of Diversity, or a company wide/all staff asking for a response. Leaders, if you are at a point where someone must bring up injustices towards Black people then you are not in a good position. This means Black employees have seen leadership responses for other tragedies and are confused as to why there wasn’t one last week. You can recover by using this list, but ask yourself why did you not have a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging plan AND company values that included BIPOC in the first place. Now is the time to hire a diversity consultant to assure it does not happen again.
Belonging: This is the simple concept of everyone, regardless or ethnicity, race, gender, age, religion, identify, etc. can be themselves in the workplace. Belonging is a simple part of workplace culture that is often hard to achieve in white dominated workplaces as they only think about what they need to belong in the workplace. Take time to look at who is in senior and executive roles. If they are primarily white, change that. Not just with hiring one Black LGBTQ+ woman (companies like to do catch all’s) take the time to diversify the culture so that when something like George Floyd protests happens again you respond in a timely manner.
Power + Privilege Workshop: Hire me, a Black woman to conduct my Power + Privilege workshop. We all have power and privilege in the workplace. This topic examines the many forms of power and privilege such as roles in the workplace, ethnicity, social economic status, education level, and more. Tips will be shared on how to use your power and privilege for yourself, to support others, and cultivating allyship towards a path of becoming an accomplice. This interactive workshop via Zoom will include partner work and group discussions. Suggested for those new to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, pivoting culture due to COVID19 and racial injustices, refreshing diversity efforts, allies, and employee resource groups. Contact us for more information or to schedule.