Friday Best Practices - Microaggressions

Happy Friday!? This week’s Friday Best Practice is going to take a look at Microaggressions.? Simply put, microaggressions are slights that communicate negative attitudes towards underrepresented groups.? There has been a lot of research done on how microaggressions hurt team performance and much of this article explores ways to limit this from happening in the workplace.

What Microaggressions Are (define and describe the negative impact)

Consider this question:

“Where are you from?”

It’s generally a benign question, often asked when meeting someone for the first time.? However, try changing your perspective a bit and consider when it is asked to someone who has an accent that’s not common to the region.? It can feel and sound like “you’re not from around here”.? And with this, the person on the receiving side is reminded that they are different, not the norm and feel like the “other”.??

This is an example of a microaggression.? It is the commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental slights that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes towards stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.? First defined in 1970 by psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, he used it to describe insults and dismissals which he inflicted on African Americans.? It’s application has expanded over the past 50 years to capture the casual degradation of any socially marginalized group.? One of the important things about microaggressions is that someone who makes the comments may be well-intended, but generally unaware of the negative impact of what they’re saying.

The Negative Impact of Microaggressions - How Microaggressions Are Like Mosquito Bites

The issue with microaggressions is that they compound over time.? They are small -? hence the name “micro” - so, as a unique, individual comment, they may not seem to be that big of a deal.? If you heard it only once you might shrug it off and just move on.? The problem is that when you are on the receiving end of many microaggressions, they can become overwhelming - a lot like mosquito bites.? This short video captures the issue well. A few bites every summer might be ok, but what about when it is more than one and it is every day? It starts to feel like you are being attacked and always swatting the bugs away (or, perhaps worse, like you are being attacked and can’t do anything about it).??

How Microaggressions Come Up At Work

Microaggressions are common at work - especially with colleagues who may not come from the same demographic as the majority of their peers.? This is particularly true in leadership roles when there are much smaller numbers of underrepresented groups.? For example, when you look at the Corporate American landscape, there are few African Americans in executive roles.? Black execs often hear comments such as “you’re so articulate / well spoken” or “you’re such a hard worker”.? They are generally conveyed as a compliment but what sits behind them is not always positive. It is as if it is a surprise due to pervasive and unfair stereotypes that African Americans are not well spoken and hard working.? The reality is that any executive needs to be an effective communicator and a hard worker - traits that fit squarely in the stereotype of a successful executive.? And people rarely praise these characteristics of white leaders, because they go in expecting them to hold these qualities. This microaggression refocuses the comments around race, reinforcing derogatory attitudes held toward African Americans.??

What To Do About Microaggressions At Work

Now that we have an idea of what microaggressions are, the question is what can we do about them when they happen at work.? There are two primary scenarios to consider:

Limit Microaggressions Through Psychological Safety. As a leader, you know there’s not one solution for a significant management problem.? However, the benefits of psychological safety can go a long way to limit the impact of microaggressions in the workplace.? As I wrote about 2 weeks ago, much of it focuses on creating positive, genuine, open relationships among the team.? This approach relies on being curious, respectful and authentic.? It provides safety for everyone to share their voice on any topic, including something as powerful as microaggressions, and promotes feedback to address fundamental problems.? It embraces that everyone is fallible, so in the case of a microaggression perpetrator, they start from a place that they aren’t certain that they are 100% right, so if they are told that they communicate a painful slight, they’ll be open to that feedback.? Lastly, psychological safety depends on problems being learning opportunities, and through that lens, a transgression such as a microaggression presents an opportunity for the organization to learn from it as part of the commitment to get things right.? A workplace that focuses on creating psychological safety won’t eliminate all microaggressions from occurring, but it does create an environment that is committed to diminish the pain associated with these comments.

When They Happen To You. If you’ve been on the receiving end of a microaggression, you have a couple of options.? First, you can let it go.? Ignore it, don’t ruffle any feathers, and just move on.? The tradeoff is that it hurts your psychological safety and potentially impacts your work performance.? The second option is to react and respond immediately.? You can address the comment directly, nipping it in the bud.? However, this can be risky because this can lead to an adversarial exchange that can leave the target of the comment feeling like they lost control.? The other option is to respond later.? Potentially a more balanced approach to have a productive conversation, the downside is that delaying the response creates a time lag that may make the perpetrator feel like the target is harboring resentment over what is perceived to be a “little thing”.? There’s no one right way to respond to a microaggression - every situation is different.? This Harvard Business Review article offers a good framework that focuses on 4 components - Discerning, Disarming, Defying and Deciding - that can guide you on how you want to respond.

Conclusion

That’s it for today - I hope you found this valuable.? FBPs will be back in 2 weeks.? Until then, reach out if you’d like to chat.