USING OUR PLATFORM

I am pleased to share another installment of Lessons for Leaders of Color. I appreciate your feedback and would welcome your thoughts on any subject matter you may find valuable. #LFLOC

USING OUR PLATFORMS

As we continue our leadership journeys, we may find ourselves in unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory. Sometimes we do not fully utilize all the tools we have available to us.

One of these tools is our personal platform. Platforms are elevated physical structures meant for us to stand on and to communicate from. Educators, speakers, clergy and even candidates for elected offices are among those who use physical platforms to share their messages.

Our platform is also known as our sphere of influence. Each of us has one or more spheres of influence that we have organically and strategically curated. No one else can reach those within our spheres of influence in the same ways we can. Those spheres can be a family unit, a work group, a club or organization, our place of worship, or other ad hoc group. Whenever a person uses their platform, the intent should be to have an impact and a purpose.

Our roles as influencers within our own spheres cannot be overstated. Whether we realize it or not we have people who trust us and will listen to us. This is a big responsibility. The size of our sphere of influence is not important. Even if we reach only one person with a word of encouragement or a nugget of advice, we will have lived up to our responsibility of using our platforms productively.

Don’t Be Shy

Leaders of color, particularly younger ones, may be reluctant to speak up and use their platforms in a work or social environment where they are underrepresented. It can be daunting to speak up where they may feel at risk of being dismissed, ignored, dealt with in a condescending manner, or worse. When a leader of color looks around the room and sees few, if any other people of a similar background, it is very lonely. This happens to me frequently. And if an organization or work group has not had a leader of color on the team before, it can be a learning opportunity.

We should never be deterred from speaking up within our spheres. Our curated groups may not hear the messages we have to share from any other credible source than us. As a Black leader, I have found some practical ways to use my sphere of influence. They include:

????????????????????? Trying to do my job in an exemplary manner to help dispel any overt or covert biases about work ethic or commitment. I know that the vast majority of those I have managed in my career have never had a Black manager and I want to make sure I am able to optimize the experience for the team member and for myself.

????????????????????? Reminding my work group of the importance of having a set of diverse voices present at the inception of an idea or concept. It is difficult to tell a diverse story without having diverse storytellers.

????????????????????? Sharing with those around me that there are cultural nuances that may be unfamiliar to them. I do not try to be an office diversity expert. Instead, I share my experiences as a fellow consumer who is sometimes motivated differently than others.

Leaders of color should not fall into the trap of sitting quietly until asked a question or feeling that they must earn the right to speak up. I remember a CEO-only gathering I attended as a first time CEO. I was anxious to get into this room with seasoned CEOs to begin to elevate my own thinking and perspective on professional life. I was prepared to absorb all that I could from these leaders. But I was sorely disappointed that there was no earth-shattering conversation or anything that challenged my current thinking. I learned that my thoughts and opinions were just as valuable as those who had been around for a long time. Tenure does not necessarily guarantee impactful thought leadership. Do not be shy about speaking up.

Inspired Messages

There are times when we are compelled to use our platforms or share our voices when traumatic circumstances move us to do so. That was the case for me in 2008 when my mother passed away after a brief and debilitating illness. I was distraught and even angry that the woman who was at the center of so many of her own spheres of influence, including her family, could be taken away so abruptly. But through introspection and prayer, I began the healing process. I was also led to use my recent personal experience as a platform to speak to those who had also lost parents in that same year. I was given the unique privilege of sharing an emotional journey with those in my sphere who had gone through a similar experience as I had in that very same year. The bonds formed with those friends and colleagues still exist today.

On the professional front, you will recall that our nation was held in the grips of a pandemic in 2020. It was the worst global health crisis since the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-20. Over the course of months, we received grim reports on numbers of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths due to the virus that came to be known as COVID-19.

During that same year, another epidemic reared its ugly head in the form of police-involved violence perpetrated toward Black citizens. Andre’ Hill in Columbus, OH, Manuel Ellis in Tacoma, WA, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY, Daniel Prude in Rochester, NY and George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN were among the Black citizens who lost their lives in 2020.

The killing of George Floyd was not the first, and certainly not the last, police-involved killing of a Black person. Mr. Floyd was killed at a time when life was slowed down by the restrictions of the pandemic, allowing people more of an opportunity to engage in current events than when the pace of life was faster. Also, a young woman, Darnella Frazier, used her platform to capture this egregious act on video. Our paused lives along with the clear thinking of a poised young videographer, brought the incredulous tragedy of Mr. Floyd’s killing to us in a raw and unfiltered manner. Across the country and around the world, people used their platforms to loudly say enough is enough and demand changes in policing and to reengage on issues of racial disparities. Sadly, some of those expressions of rage, distrust, and exasperation turned violent and destructive.

There were others who used their platforms to speak truth to power in our travel and hospitality industry. Led by Elliott Ferguson of Destination DC, seven Black leaders collaborated on an open message to our industry and the world on how racial bias has infectiously permeated all aspects of life. Five Questions About Race is an eight-minute video that is a compilation of the lived personal and professional experiences of seven Black men who have all experienced racism in life and in our industry. I was honored to join this project. This collective platform helped raise awareness about racism in this country and in our industry. Only time will tell if these united voices change the trajectory of the racial disparities narrative in our industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqfUrMMIa0U6

We can all use our platforms in many ways. They may be quiet and targeted ways or widely publicized. They may be in the workplace or even in our own homes. We can be impactful within our spheres of influence in ways we cannot even imagine.

When we use our platforms to speak up, we are not just speaking for ourselves. We may be providing a leader – an emerging one or a seasoned one – with the benefit of our experience by sharing a message that they may not otherwise receive. We must be good stewards of the platforms we have been given. They are not just gifts to be cherished, proudly admired, and held closely. Our platforms are gifts to be shared.