Why I Call My Organization Out

Anyone who knows me knows I share my truth. I created this Stop Playing Diversity episode because any place that falsely advertises its diversity efforts needs to be called out.

I’m not afraid to share insights about my workplace experience during my time as a department chair. I go hard for workplace justice. Doing work that matters isn’t a game. It’s time for organizations to walk the walk they talk.

Many people will say efforts were made in my college and the path was paved for me to be successful as a department chair from 2016-2020. I disagree. Although people bragged about diversity, the primary diversity focus was on women, not people of color. I wish I’d known that before I entered the organization because the work that needed to be done was intense.

I often hear people say my time as a department chair was awful. They aren’t lying. That’s often how the conversation ends though when people reflect on my experience. There’s no “X was held accountable for his actions” or “We’ve developed policies to ensure that no one else is treated as Monica was treated.” It’s always, “Monica was treated terribly. There was so much resistance to her leadership.” People can talk about how bad it was, but I rarely hear a solution from those same people about what could have been done to prevent the harassment and discrimination that happened to me.

My tip to organizations is that if every type of diversity hasn’t been addressed in your organization, you still have work to do. Your media team can brag about diversity numbers and new hires, but if the qualitative work isn’t done, you're setting someone up to be slaughtered. The quality of one’s experience is part of your workplace’s diversity portfolio, good, bad, or ugly.

I call my organization out because it needs to be called out. Somebody has to speak up. I know countless people who could whistleblow, but they won’t. They have retired, resigned, or moved to new positions. They say what’s going on isn’t their problem anymore. They say because we have a new leader (who happens to be a Black woman) the environment is better. People have labeled diversity “fixed.”

I know the stories that haven’t been told and will never be told. I know about the people of color who’d rather work retail jobs at Amazon and Target and start their own businesses than work in my organization. I know women of color whose health was in jeopardy because people in positions of power gaslighted them and treated them like disposable property. ?

I was a living, breathing tenured professor thrown to workplace wolves and left to fend for myself when the diversity heat was too much for people who talked a good game but couldn’t finish the diversity tasks at hand.

When I entered my organization in 2016, the people around me weren’t equipped to do diversity work at the level I needed it to be done for me to be successful. They failed a lot of people. The workplace casualties remain high. When situations became heated, the people who bragged about diversity ran and hid. They relied on the Black man diversity officer to fix the problems they created. They outsourced work that was everyone's responsibility. They gave up.

Yes, I still work in that organization. I've earned my position. I've worked for almost twenty years to make a difference in my profession.

I stay in this organization because I don’t want anyone to experience what I did. Everyone couldn’t survive that professional lynching.

Being a team player is important to me. When I see lasting change, I will step up to the plate again to play my part in diversity efforts. I will be that "ride or die" colleague when the people who can tell true diversity stories publicly acknowledge the harm “leaders” caused so many.

That’s what true diversity leadership is about.

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Check out the diversity offerings I’ve created at www.drmonicacox.com. My purpose is to guide people and organizations to wholeness, boldness, and strength.