When a Leader Isn't Embracing D.E.I.

" A leader will shift their thinking on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion when something happens inside of them...or something pushes them to change."

Early in my career, I began to have intentional conversations about what it meant to lead my work with a D.E.I. lens, which is a fancy way of saying I was learning how to center D.E.I. in?all?that I did at work. It was a journey that shifted my core thinking on how I led as before, I assumed that I was automatically centering D.E.I. because I was a Black woman. The reality was though that I was simply defaulting to my racial identity as doing the work while in truth, just doing enough to get by and stay "safe" in the corporate world.

This changed when I made the decision to leave my first leadership role over D.E.I.

You can imagine the initial excitement I felt having accomplished joining being in a more senior leadership role at such an early point in my career and as the first Black woman to do so at this organization. I thought I had made it and everything would be easier to move forward with this work.

I quickly realized that it's not only lonely sometimes at the top, the visibility at the top gives you the chance to look down to see all of the inequities across the organization were experiencing. It made me realize that I needed to approach my work differently, I needed to lead differently in order to close these inequities.

Something was happening inside of me.

And while it was happening inside of me...it wasn't quite happening with the CEO I was working with in the same way.

He was a fantastic leader who also couldn't quite see the value in D.E.I. or the importance of intentionally focusing on it at that time. In his mind, we were already doing "the work" naturally by treating everyone the same every day. He couldn't see that treating everyone the same still was resulting in significant inequities that marginalized groups face daily.

And in some ways, he reminded me of me before something shifted for me.

He couldn't hear me when I kept saying " We need to change and this needs to become an initial focus." And so, I chose to leave this role, not sure if I would have another one again but knowing that if I did, D.E.I. had to be at the center of it.

Fast forward a few years later...D.E.I. is at the center of my work, always.

And that CEO?

Now has D.E.I. at the center of his work.

Something pushed him to change.

I see this story over and over again for leaders, where D.E.I. isn't a priority until suddenly it is and then it becomes Fast and Furious 27 where we need to do and fix everything at once without taking the time to realize that it doesn't need fixing. It never did.

It needs shifting. And it requires leaders to go through the shift too.

Inside and outside.

You may be reading this and thinking?" All of this is nice Dynasti but I'm working under a leader who hasn't 'shifted' yet and I'm not sure what to do!"

3 great places to start:

Have Conversations About D.E.I. without asking any Why Questions:?

What's a why question?

• Why don't you support D.E.I.?
• Why don't you believe Black lives matter?
• Why don't you care that BIPOC folx continue to leave the company?

While these are all valid (and great!) questions, why questions immediately may put a leader (or anyone for that matter!) on the defense to defend their beliefs rather than explore why that's a belief in the first place. Questions that start with what, how, and who can help a leader uncover what is their barrier to engaging in this work..and what may need to shift inside of them.

Engage leaders in learning spaces:?

Having a D.E.I. training? Make sure it's a space where it's not just a foundational definition session but rather a space that pushes leaders to consider differently about the work, understand the perspective of those in their organization who experience inequities daily. and helps them connect to why D.E.I. can be a core to a business's success.

If you are a Business CEO or Leader reading this:?

Ask yourself what's the positive impact D.E.I. can have on your business? What's the negative impact? I can almost guarantee that the positive list will be a lot longer and may encourage you to further explore your reasoning for not taking a more serious commitment to it.

My point is this:

You cannot shift a leader that isn't ready to be shifted.

You can, however,

have?the conversations to help them hear differently,

place?them in spaces to understand it differently, and

create?opportunities for them to think differently about D.E.I.

I believe all leaders have the potential to shift and it's less of a question of when...

And more of?how.