Allyship - It's What's For Dinner

Given my role in People Operations, I sometimes can't help but bring work home with me. The initiatives that we share with our employees are often a launchpad for what we tend to talk about over dinner; when I have our kids' full attention. Our kids are in elementary and middle school, primetime for things starting to get confusing and complicated.

In a couple of days, HubSpot will end its month of Allyship. What does a month of Allyship look like? In short, HubSpot has devoted a month to awareness of what it means to be an ally, how to be one and really try to make people think about being an ally in their day to day lives. There were plenty of workshops, recommended readings and internal events in support of allyship awareness. Before I go on, it's probably helpful to understand what it means to be an ally. This post from FairyGodBoss simplifies the definition nicely:

Being an ally means actively supporting and uplifting those who are less privileged than you. In turn, it’s about understanding the privilege you have in order to recognize the injustice you’ve been spared. Allies can never fully understand the oppression of those they’re supporting, but they acknowledge the ways in which others are experience it; they actively work to combat this oppression.

To many, this might seem like common sense. Of course, you'd stand up if someone said something rude about a coworker's sexual orientation. Of course, you'd know exactly what to say when you heard someone use a racial slur, unknowingly, in a meeting or group setting. Of course, you wouldn't react with a negative reaction to someone telling you that they didn't have the same religious beliefs or values as you. Of course!... But would you? Would you know how to handle this? Would you know what to say? Would you respond, with support and know-how to be an ally? Could you set your biases aside and be there for someone that might need you and might feel oppressed? Would you recognize that was what was taking place?

The intentionality of taking a moment (or a month) to truly think about what it means to be an ally and how one can make a big difference, often with a small action, isn't something that always comes naturally. We stumble or think of what we could have said or done, often after the fact. We also don't have all the answers because we haven't lived or walked in everyone's shoes.

Our Chief People Officer, Katie Burke, wrote a piece for Inc.com last year that builds on where one can start in their workplace with 3 easy steps towards being an ally. Quickly, there's something we all can do (I recommend you read the whole piece, though. :) )

1. Make space, don't take it up
2. Recognize your blind spots
3. Stand up, and show up.

I'll add one more to her list that has been important to me over the years:

4. Commit to educating yourself and be open to being educated.

As the month closes, I reflect on the fact that this isn't something you learn and set aside. It's great that we bring awareness with a month of activities etc, but my intention is to continue working on being an ally for anyone oppressed and also to continue to learn; because that work is never done.

For dinner tonight, we'll be serving up a conversation around "Allyship" along with the chicken soup we made. We've talked about this before with our kids, but it never hurts to bring it up again. If HubSpot's taught me anything over the years, it's never to early to get these conversations started.