Leading While Black - The Power of Storytelling -Why Hadiya Roderique's Resonated With Me & So Many

"Nowadays in Canada, overt acts of racism are rare. Instead, the subtle ones tire you out and wear your sense of belonging. They happen more often, more insidiously." Hadiya Roderique

There were so many moments of Me Too in Hadiya's Globe & Mail article that I felt like I should take her out for a glass of my favorite malbec to say Thank you.

Thank you for being brave enough to tell your story, our story, parts of a story that many of us Black women can relate to - lawyers or not. Thank you for talking about the "Elephant in The Room." The article was shared with me by lawyers (some no longer on Bay Street) and other women in Corporate with cries of "Me too, I can so relate, I'm not surprised" and who also wanted to get my opinion.

While I am not a lawyer and cannot relate to the recruitment and experiences in the Law Firm industry, as a Black woman, an immigrant Black woman who started her career on Bay Street in the Technology & Operations division of a major Financial Institution, in her mid-twenties, I can relate to the question of belonging, feeling like an outsider, not fitting in, invisibility, immigrant blues and more. And surprise, surprise, I wasn't the only one.

Another Black woman private messaged me and said:

"I cried reading it. So relatable."

Truth be told our workplaces have not evolved with our workforce. Women of colour are a growing and underutilized resource. Research shows that senior leadership does not reflect the diversity of our population and more and more women of colour are leaving the workforce due to lack of a better word "not fitting in or lack of belonging."

The microaggressions Black, Indigenous, women of colour go through every day and still show up to do the work is why I do what I do. I didn't fully understand terms like microaggression, conformity, emotional tax, psychological health & safety until after I went through my own battle with emotional tax and the negative impact on my psychological health & safety.

First let's deconstruct mircoaggressions

"There are several types of racial microaggressions and coping strategies Black Women who had broken through the “concrete ceiling” of corporate leadership face", say Dr Aisha Holder, psychologist a psychologist at Columbia University Counseling and Psychological Services in her lecture Racial Microaggressions and Coping Strategies of Black Women in Corporate Leadership

The Article as seen on Fordham University' site states: "The term “microaggression” was coined by psychiatrist Chester Pierce in the 1970s as “subtle insults (verbal, nonverbal, and/or visual) directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously.” According to research, persistent microaggressions can lead to a variety of symptoms, including anxiety, paranoia, depression, sleep difficulties, lack of confidence, and feelings of worthlessness. Holder mentioned that Black Women are particularly vulnerable to microaggressions and their effects due to their intersectional identities.

Who else can relate to the anxiety, depression, sleep difficulties, crying yourself to sleep, lack of confidence and feelings of worthlessness? *My hand is up*

Reading Hadiya's story affirmed my experiences, recalled all the microaggressions I coped with or ignored and validated something I knew all along - that I am not alone. And if you can relate to this - you are not alone. But truth be told, we women of color are tired of talking about microaggressions we go through in the workplace (due to lack of action by Senior Management), feel like it's not a big deal (be quiet, perform, perfect & please) or do not talk (enough) unless we're in the hospital, go on short-term disability, our marriages are in the dumps, we are struggling with heart disease, cancer, and the list goes on. We are left to enter the wilderness daily with no tools in our First-Aid Kit aka Self-Care: Mental & Emotional Resilience box.

Reading this story also gleaned 6 powerful leadership strategies I've applied over my career and lessons learned from mentors. I believe that women of colour can thrive in the workplace - we've been surviving for way too long - it's now our time thrive.

Here are 6 Leadership strategies for Black, Indigenous, self-identifying women of color. Click here for more.