A Reflection of Juneteenth in the Workplace

Most are reading this letter while “celebrating”?Juneteenth?with a day away from the workplace. Solely having a party for the tardy end to the American tragedy of slavery diminishes the impact of the day, which deserves true reflection and honor for the lives affected.?As I think about Juneteenth, I can’t escape the ideas of freedom and obligation wrapped in its history and meaning. I also think about the failed leadership that prolonged slavery long after its official end in America. What can we learn as leaders from this day to shape and improve our current places to work?

True, fulfilled, and effective leadership is magical; it creates the world and reality of the workplace. A great leader who operates under the calling of leadership cultivates a spirit of freedom within the workplace - freedom of ideas, contribution, expression, and flexibility.?But a person who only satisfies the function of the leader, the title and position, continues the tradition of a stale, rigid, and uninspired operation that no one questions, challenges, or changes because it’s easy to maintain the status quo. It works or seems to work, but the absence of chaos or confusion that accompanies innovation doesn’t equate to success because this belief fails to propel a team to its highest potential.?

"Freedom is a heavy subject, and most leaders struggle to give their teams more freedoms ..."?

Freedom is a heavy subject, and most leaders struggle to give their team more freedoms because it feels like they’re giving away their power, or it just feels too new, but restricting freedom will only dim the brilliance of a team who’s been waiting to shine. As Juneteenth approaches, I’d like to take this time to reflect on freedom and how leadership that encourages freedom is happier, healthier, more innovative, and more successful.?

The U.S. recently made Juneteenth a federal holiday last year, but pretty much what most people know about Juneteenth is that it’s an extra day off and that it celebrates “freedom” and the ending of slavery. While that is technically true, what Juneteenth really signifies is the withholding, or the non-enforcement, of freedom the enslaved Black population owed two years prior with the Emancipation Proclamation.?

There are many theories for this two-year delay, but we can simplify almost all of them as the incessant and desperate need to hold on to a particular norm. And although this, of course, isn’t a direct comparison, I can’t help but look at many organizations and leaders who ardently refused to allow for the workplace freedoms that the COVID-19 pandemic inspired. Some organizations have just ratified new practices, but many others who have been?rushing back to the office?to “return to normal” since the onset of the pandemic have finally gotten the green light to force employees back into the confining, limiting, arduous commute (while gas skyrockets), and away from family, self, and sleep.?

"Work from anywhere policies are?liberating, especially for employees?of color"

Typically with no solid arguments for why, every lengthy email to press announcement simply sounds like “just because,” ignoring all of the?stats and studies?that have shown that “work from anywhere” policies have been effective at reducing costs while increasing productivity. As an added bonus, it’s been?especially liberating for employees of color. I witnessed many take to social media to express their joyful relief in finally being able to exist in an environment (their homes) where they can be free to work and contribute without all the pressures that accompany the dance of being a social chameleon, “wearing a mask”, and code-switching,?and freedom from the microaggressions that are unfortunately rife in the workplace.?

This wide gap between leadership and the team in returning to work has been dubbed?“the great disconnect,”?proving that workplaces are split into two realities. Future Forum just released a global study, the?Future Forum Pulse, and the results are amazing but not surprising.?

According to the report:

• 76% of employees?do not want to return to full-time office work.
• 76% of employees?want flexibility where they work.
• 93% want flexibility?when they work.
• Executives who work remotely?are nearly three times more likely than employees to prefer returning to the office full-time.

It’s not just the in-office mandates that are problematic, employees are still experiencing leaders who lack transparency and hoard information keeping them from doing their best work. Also, the continued practice of annual performance reviews with a manager who isn’t engaged and finding ways to keep them from their promotions and raises is traumatic and demoralizing. We must ask ourselves why we hold onto old models, traditions, and norms like these especially when they restrict the freedoms of others. Sometimes it’s comfort, which is understandable; change is difficult. From my experience, many times it’s about control, or the semblance of control and power, but true intentional power and leadership understand that it’s about empowering others, your team, and allowing your team the flexibility to work in new ways that benefit them. One of the biggest fears of former slave masters was that once freed, the enslaved would automatically revolt and attempt to “turn the tables”, but that wasn’t the case. All they wanted was humanity, decency, the same freedoms as everyone else, and the right to live, exist, and be. That’s all.?

And if we trust ourselves as leaders and allow flexibility, new ideas, and workflows, and allow freedom to be the new norm in our organizations, we’ll see it grow to heights and possibilities never imagined and create a new model we can all celebrate.

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Be great,

CDJ