Leadership Consulting with a DEI Lens
Behavioral economics, leadership, diversity and inclusion intersect.
To evaluate our path to becoming a mission-driven individual there are six characteristics that we can use to evaluate our progress towards that goal.
Malcolm X's quote about partially removing a knife is not healing inspires a new analogy for racial harm. Racial harm is more like a bullet. It may be left in the body because it may cause more harm removing it. We also can start to heal even if the bullet remains.
The model minority myth is problematic it is used as a tool to help perpetuate racial hierarchies. Nigerian Americans as a group are successful but never seen as a model minority. The systemic racism that requires group ranking would break under the pressure of recognizing successful Black identifying groups like Nigerian Americans or HBCU graduates. There are individual and institutional paths to address stereotypes worth considering.
Mental health is health. ( Trigger Warning - Suicide)
Try these four techniques to help you through.
1. When the news of corrupt or self-serving people in power leave you feeling helpless, do something that you can control. Pick a junk drawer that you can tackle in one sitting and organize it.
2. Physical activity changes us physiologically and can help clear our thinking.
3. Be specific in what you are grateful for
4. Allow people to help you
Cleaning out a junk drawer may be what you need to stop doom-scrolling.
We can provide protection physically, mentally, or emotionally based on our abilities and experience. The pleasure of protecting those we care about is undeniable, and the pain of seeing someone who is part of our group hurt is also palpable.
Great leaders share characteristics such as courage, persistence, vision and the ability to communicate and adapt. These are the exact qualities of an effective Chief Diversity Officer (CDO).
In medicine we classify a problem as acute meaning that it recently happened or chronic for ailments that are at least 6 months old. This classification helps when trying to make a diagnosis and more importantly when thinking about what steps to take next. Racism is both an acute and chronic problem.
The formula to success is not an equation. Instead of the image of a static scale with weights evenly balanced reflecting priorities and resources, the better image to represent the interaction of mission and margin is of juggling and not focusing on profit above everything else.
To increase the number of under-represented people in a field let's talk pathways not pipelines. Pipelines extract a resource that once lost can't be restored. A pathway has unlimited opportunities to succeed.
