WHAT IS YOUR ORGANIZATION DOING IN RESPONSE TO ASIAN AMERICAN HATE???

Last year following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, companies all over the country rushed to release statements to condemn these horrendous acts of violence, social injustice, and racial inequity. They restated their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and vowed to make substantive change.

Since last June, my firm, SDS Global Enterprises conducted over 60 listening sessions to discuss racial inequality and they were insightful, emotional, and educational. We also found them to be refreshing and well received. People loved the chance to share their story, to be heard, to be validated, and to be supported by their colleagues. We conducted even more learning and education sessions on Unconscious Bias, Inclusive Leadership, Tips for Talking About Taboo Topics, and Strategies for Building More Inclusive Workplace Cultures. We conducted DEI audits, led DEI Strategic Planning sessions, assisted in the launching of DEI Councils and ERGs, and coached numerous executives, and worked with several corporate Boards on their role and responsibility to influence, govern, and drive inclusion in their organizations.

But I'm curious as to what has been the response to the violence and the recent murders of 8 people, 6 of which were women of Asian descent. Has your organization's top leader spoken out against this knowing that many of their staffs, customers, clients, members, donors, and community leaders are watching and waiting to see if their commitment to DEI is limited and only focused on Black and African American people. Has your organization conducted listening sessions to listen and learn from the pain and trauma of hate towards Asian Americans and the impact it is having in the workplace and in their communities? Has your organizations expanded its efforts to include other aspects of diversity?

I know that the issues around race are far from over and we have a lot of work to do, but it must not be done in isolation, or at the exclusion of our other brothers and sisters from other ethnicities, colors, races, creeds, or any other aspect of our identity. We are living in a defining moment where if we are really serious about DEI, we must speak up, stand up, and step up for ALL who are oppressed, discriminated against, marginalized, hated, killed, and deprived of life, liberty, and justice. They are our co-workers, our friends, our direct reports, our customers, our neighbors, our families, and our fellow Americans.

Nearly a week has passed and we have not seen nearly enough company leaders putting out statements speaking out against these heinous acts, restating their commitment to ensuring a safe and harassment-free workplace, or perform listening sessions regarding the anti-Asian hate that has increased in our country over the past year.

I know that some will say that "We cannot put out every fire every time something happens or after every killing." And that "We have a job to do and these kinds of issues are a distraction to our ability to get work done." They may even be thinking, "These issues are better left to be fought by minority organizations, through legislation, or by the persons directly impacted." But may I challenge you to think about how many other fires did you see in year's past, and ignored the call for help. Thus, the flames grew hotter and bigger. May I remind you that leadership is about courage and demonstrating empathy no matter how often someone is hurt. And will you consider that if one of us is hurting, it affects us all.

It's easy to defer to the statement that "We are all American," when we trying to relate to someone and put them on our level, and when we are trying to convince them that we don't see them in any other way. Actually, that is minimizing and trivializing the person and their experience, especially if they are from a marginalized and underrepresented group and have been affected. It is convenient to use that slogan, but if that were the case and we all actually believed that we ARE all Americans, perhaps these acts of violence, hate, and these inequities would cease to exist. Let's face it, we are more polarized and divided more than ever before. We are divided by our cultures, beliefs, political affiliations, language, our intake of news and current events, relationships, and so much more. But like it or not, this DEI work is not going away because it is about all of us--our ability to attract top talent, our ability to innovate and solve challenging business problems, our ability to build cultures of trust, belonging, respect, inclusion, and high performance, our ability to serve our customers and our communities, and our ability to retain the best talent. And if companies want all of these to happen, they must do the serious work of DEI. Look around you and see how the world has changed and how the demographics have and will continue to become more diverse. IT IS WHAT IT IS.

I hope that companies make the calculation that if they are really serious about staying in business for decades to come, and if they want to remain competitive, attractive, and become great places to work and to be patronized, when the moment presents itself to take a stand, they must step up and speak out in that moment. THIS IS THAT MOMENT AND WE ARE WATCHING. Company leaders, now is the time to be consistent in how you carry out your efforts and recognize the breath and depth of this work. Now is the time to call it what it is. HATE. Pure and simple. No dressing it up, no putting lipstick on a pig. Not political correctness. This is how change happens. Now is the time to condemn it and to eradicate it. One leader at a time, one company at a time, one community at a time will make our America a place where ALL can live, work, and enjoy the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

Every leader must do their part. If you haven't checked in with an Asian-American colleague, direct report, customer, or friend to see how they are doing and how they are impacted by this hate, make that a small but significant step this week in the right direction.

#stopaapihate #AsianAmerican #violenceagainstAsians #diversity #inclusion #hate #racism #leadership #violence #hatecrimes