Part I: Out Front
We see companies and organizations writing heartfelt posts and emails, first during the pandemic, and now because of the racial wounds hurting the nation. Initially, I kept my own feelings confined to a circle of family and friends. As important as these issues are, they didn’t seem relevant to my data and coaching work.
But the realization dawned that the two most important things to me here at StudioC, leadership and data, are key to being part of the solution. Today the focus is on leadership, and I’ll tackle data in part II.
Why leadership? That one is pretty easy. Lead by example. It’s almost always the right answer. In how you conduct business, treat customers, clients and workers.
I’ve watched, studied, and learned about culture, society, politics, leadership, and data all of my adult life. And I’ve read and seen plenty that shows me we have problems with race and gender in our society. So what’s different now? The Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements have taught me two things: that it’s all worse and more widespread than I knew. The second is that it’s not enough to be a good person, and to treat women and people of color with dignity and respect.
What’s different now is that we see the need to be active. To use our resources, knowledge, experience, influence, and connections, whatever those are for each of us, to DO something.
For all those who lead, it’s time to take a step back before we take one forward. Do a quick self-check and remember:
• It’s not about you
• Make sure you are really listening to others
• Get out of your comfort zone with people and places
• Learn
• Push yourself to understand and accept what’s meant by privilege
• Walk the walk
We can’t fix the world, but we can do something in our own community. Something that matters.
