WhY WHITE LEADERS NEED A REBRAND
These days, there is considerable buzz around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). But not much, the majority of leaders today, namely white and still predominantly male, haven’t added much to the conversation. I’m not surprised, but pretty disappointed that this entire conversation is about a “program” confined to participating HR departments rather than a critical issue led by CEOs, especially white CEOs. Yes, I’m white and have held several executive leadership roles. Also, I identify as “he/him” and have a Type-A personality. Oh, and I’m 6’4. Today, I’m highly aware of my racial identity, but unfortunately, for most of my career, I was ignorant of these pressing issues. As a result, I missed many people of color who were disgruntled colleagues and direct reports. So, should we feel nervous as white men in the workplace? The answer is yes! Because we will ultimately be more effective leaders if we wrestle with our personality characteristics, including our racial identity—something we haven’t had to do (which is a major part of the problem). As the majority, we take a ton for granted. As a result, we have become unaware of the real pain and issues the BIPOC community faces at work every day. That said, we must adopt better leadership practices and take moreinitiative in leading this conversation. Not because we are experts on the topic, but because, whether we realize it or not, our ignorance and insensitivity have negatively affected workplace culture.
According to Lily Zheng in her HBR article, leaders need to grapple with their racial identity and the context of where, who, and how they lead. What does this mean for white leaders? It means we need to think about it. Most don’t think about it at all, if ever. We need to think about it every time we hold a meeting. In her paper on White Racial Identity Development, Dr. Beverly Tatum writes, “the process involves becoming aware of one’s ‘whiteness,’ accepting this aspect of one’s identity as socially meaningful and ultimately internalizing a realistically optimistic view of whiteness that’s not based on assumed superiority.” In short, white leaders need to admit we often have workplace advantages that negatively affect those around us. Unfortunately, I haven’t always applied this with the teams I’ve led. And I’ve been in too many meetings where I’ve seen another white man put his foot in his mouth. If we want our teams to thrive as a beautiful tapestry of diversity, equity and inclusion, we’re going to need a complete rebrand!
Below, I use the lens of brand development in an effort to help leaders grow in processing their own racial identity and awareness. What that means for me is that even though I live in a diverse neighborhood in Los Angeles, am involved in a racially diverse faith community, and am in a bi-racial marriage, I still have large blind spots. It’s essential to be aware of your own biases, especially as leaders and even more important to have people in your camp who help you flourish. Having launched multiple startups, I've come to realize how challenging this journey can be and how many biases I have. For this reason, I’m pitching that we apply three critical steps of branding to our daily interactions. The goal? For us to prioritize purpose through teams of people over growth and profits. To rebrand and relearn.
“we have become unaware of the real pain and issues the BIPOC community faces at work every day.”
1. Brand illumination: Empathize & empower
In a brand development project, the research tools used to assess the brand's position in the marketplace are critical to creating brands that thrive. How does it fit in the context of the world around it? The logo, the letterforms, the geometry, the colors, the aesthetic. Each one impacts its positioning strategy. Applied to leadership, all leaders need to be willing to evolve. Applying this tool to our own awareness as leaders means we need to understand how and where we fit. Just like the elements of the logo itself, our skin color, history, location, hairstyle, ethnicity, language, name, and gender all matter. When uplifted, they are invaluable assets to any team. When seeking to embrace, empower and create unity among the people we lead, we need to illuminate these vital elements of our own identity and encourage them in others.
2. Brand Strategy: Listen Up
A Brand Strategy is how a company or product positions itself in the market to create a competitive advantage and a distinct quality that connects with its target audience segment. When developing a Brand Strategy, I take the time to create new language that includes guidelines for using specific words, phrases, and taglines. These guidelines include voice attributes so that the brand has a specific tone it speaks in when developing new sales and marketing materials. This is how the brand’s personality starts to take shape. Applied to the issue of leadership, according to the current President of Temple University (former Chair of NYU), Jason Wingard, white leaders should listen first. Why?
The issues are two-fold. When we dominate the conversation, we either polarize the room with vision and vernacular or with defensiveness and self-pity. Meanwhile, both result in teams that no longer feel psychologically safe to collaborate. Unfortunately, most white men haven’t moved past the first step of Racial Identity Development. In other words, we’ve had the privilege of never having to worry about it. And that’s a problem, especially if you discover this for the first time in a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workplace symposium.
According to an article in Harvard Business Review, most white males quickly become defensive. But that’s the wrong way. The right way is to ask people how they feel and how they perceive you. To apologize and approach from a stance of learning and empathy. This is not the time to take over the conversation and polarize the room if we are unable to understand the need for this article or its timeliness, given our current geopolitical climate.
I am calling for a rebrand. Our new positioning is to listen and learn. Our unique value proposition should be to empower others. And our brand essence is humility coupled with a hunger to learn. Not to know the answer, but to search for it through the stories of struggle within the BIPOC population.
”The issues are two-fold. When we dominate the conversation, we either polarize the room with vision and vernacular or with defensiveness and self-pity. Meanwhile, both result in teams that no longer feel psychologically safe to collaborate.”
3. Brand Identity: Know Your Place
During an internal branding exercise, branding experts use a polarization tool to chart how polarizing each leader is perceived to be. And if you’re a caucasian leader and a man, you’re at the top of the list to change the emotional temperature of a diverse team, just by stepping into the room, you set the temperature and tone of each conversation. Unfortunately, it’s usually negative right off the bat, not because of you, but because of the hurt and pain in each chair. Yes, many judge, but it’s understanding that those judgments aren’t personal yet. It’s historical. Just being able to hold that gently in your hand as you enter meetings is a powerful tool that can unify teams globally in a way you never imagined. Or that you assumed you’ve already done. For this reason, it’s crucial to increase your EQ, to step into other people’s shoes by observing and waiting. In my experience, that’s the most effective way to foster psychological safety. Listen, ask questions about others, and assess the overall health of the discussion. Not the content, but the delivery of the content.
Getting oriented with our racial identity is something all leaders can learn from. It should change the way we interact, our perspective, and our behavior towards each other, as well as the diverse teams we lead. So what’s your rebrand look like, white boy? Whatever it is, it's time for us to lead the conversation, stop hiding in our office, and become more outspoken about the issue, more empathetic towards the BIPOC community, and finally know where we sit on the spectrum instead of never thinking about it at all. If we do this, we will accomplish great things together with a team that is not just happy, but a culture that is built on unity because it feels safe, supported, and secure.