Genuine inquiry can promote trusting relationships and a safe, respectful, and supportive work environment even in times of complex change. Here’s what I tell leaders who are afraid of taking a misstep when trying to solve for diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces. If you want your team to stand up for inclusion, you need to stand up.ĭon’t let fear hold you back from this full engagement. I’ve led inclusion strategy and learning discussions at startups after which founders express dismay that their leadership teams did not participate more actively.

When they don’t, they lose their teams’ trust and belief in their willingness to lead fairly - and they also set a poor example. Should they say something? Do something? How could they, as white leaders, speak about anything related to the Black experience without offending anyone? Would I look over messages they were drafting for their teams before they sent them? They needed encouragement, permission, and advice before they could do the work of inclusive leadership.īut it is critical that leaders not put this work on employees of color but rather be visible doing this work themselves. Several of my white manager-level colleagues approached me to express their anxiety about how to effectively engage with their employees of color about the protests.

Black employees led walkouts to shine a light on the marginalization and structural inequities they faced in the workplace.

Take my experience at Google in the summer of 2015, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. These leaders are so terrified about messing up and saying the wrong thing to all their stakeholders -employees, board members, funders, clients, customers - or the wider world via social media - that they’re paralyzed into inaction. But again and again I find one thing plaguing their attempts: fear. Indeed, in my work in talent and diversity at Google, Disney, and other large firms, I’ve found many leaders eager for actionable frameworks and advice to create more inclusive cultures. While 27 percent of chief diversity officers find themselves still having to make the case for diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace, the good news is that the majority of top leaders already understand how critical these efforts are.

So you want to talk about race review