This is where the skills of unlearning and relearning come in, because instead, you need to reverse engineer your approach and seek to change the conditions, your workplace cultures and behaviours so that it works for everyone, not just the ‘majority’ who look like you. Lean into that discomfort; it's a sign of growth. Demonstrate moral courage and be willing to take the lead, rather than seeking safety through consensus. And do it in a way where there is a depth to the work, giving you a prime opportunity to put in solid foundations to increase equity, inclusion and safety for all of your colleagues, without having to keep repeating the same change programmes over and over again.
Your customers, colleagues, investors and key shareholders want to see you committing to and delivering on action. This is the time to be honest and recognise that while you may not have all the answers and you're not sure what steps to take, it's time to move away from the expectation of fixing people. Instead, you need to reverse‐engineer your approach and seek to change the conditions in your workplace culture so that it works for everyone, not just the ‘majority’ who look like you.
Having conversations internally is important, but they must go somewhere. Every organization that has knocked on my door since the summer of 2020 has had the same problem, no matter who they are. Multinationals, growing startups, household names and brands across a dizzying array of industries all explain to me, in almost the exact same way, ‘Shereen, we want to do something, but we don't know what or how or even where to begin.’
They're convinced they've been too slow to act. They're worried about answering questions, about why it's taken them so long. They are different from the companies I've previously mentioned, whose social media teams are keen to show action through the liberal use of trending hashtags.
These executive leaders made the decision to do something, but despite an unwavering commitment, they're nervous. For many it's uncharted territory; they didn't want to be the first, yet they don't want to be last. They're fearful that their lack of action will reflect badly on their organization. They don't want to get it wrong but they aren't sure they 100% want to get it right. They don't want to spend too much money. They're apprehensive about taking things too far. And they believe they must avoid the ‘politics’ of race and are desperate to find a way to do something that's safe and won't upset their white colleagues under the guise of ensuring that they're ‘on everyone's on side’.
In their own words, here's a snippet of what they were grappling with:
We're a majority white, male and middle‐aged board. None of us have a clue where to start.
Watching your videos has made me realise we don't really understand as much as we thought we did.
I don't have access to anyone credible whom we trust to help us navigate this area. Lots of diversity and inclusion consultants out there claim they can help, but how do we know who to choose?
I know representation is an issue. It's embarrassing and I want to fix it, but suddenly just hiring more Black people doesn't feel right. Or is that what we should focus on?
My HR team is majority white; that's also an issue, isn't it?
We've never trained our managers on anything to do with race and racism. In fact, we've barely talked about it as a business, and I don't know where we should start.
If people make mistakes, they're only human, but should we just fire them? Is that what we should be doing now?
We understand our approach needs to be aligned to our business strategy, but how do we do that?
What do we call you people? Can we say Black?
Should we be talking about this in our other territories? How do we do that? I'm particularly thinking about Africa – there isn't racism over there like there is here, is there? So maybe this isn't relevant for them?
I'm being asked more challenging questions by our shareholders and if I'm honest, I don't feel confident and comfortable with my answers.
We don't really have a budget for this, but we know we need to do something. What can you suggest?
We've done a lot, but we feel like we are a seven out of ten. How do we get to ten? How do I know that we're doing enough?
We've spent a lot of time on listening and raising awareness. How do we convert it to action?
Our Black colleagues are reluctant to come back to the office after extended periods working from home and/or they are still leaving, despite everything we've done. What are we doing wrong?
Does it matter that I'm the only person leading this, that I'm the only person who cares?
Not everyone is supportive of what we're trying to do. How do we deal with that?
What about everyone else?
Does any of this sound familiar? And in reading this list, think about whether you noticed these things missing:
No mention of how their Black colleagues or customers were thinking or feeling
No mention of what it was like to live, work and play in a society that was accepting of racial inequities and inequalities
Little recognition of the inherent power and privilege afforded to leaders who could objectively debate and discuss a course of action according to convenience, comfort, ease and ‘affordability’
Very few questions about how to ensure their products and services don't perpetuate harm
Some (not all) mentioned how the lack of substantive action is impacting their Black colleagues, but even when they did it was to express sympathy (tinged with pity) rather than compassion (empathy tied to action).
That's why so many, to this day, struggle to take the necessary steps to address systemic racism within their corporate structures. I say this not to judge but to highlight the reality of what sits beneath public pledges of solidarity and commitment to change, and what our reluctance to tackle this has led to. Logically, we know that systemic racism is a bad thing, that it's unfair and we should all do better, but practically, it feels uncomfortable and messy. Plus, isn't it a problem for society to fix, not an agenda item for the boardroom?
Public perception matters – sometimes more than the impact on the colleagues most impacted.
A Day That Changed Everything
Everyone assumed that the death of George Floyd officially started the global race to equality, with everyone else coming out of the gates hard and fast. But that wasn't the case.
Yes, some did, for a variety of reasons – some personal, some not. Yet it actually serves no purpose to ruminate on this in an attempt to explain away the delay in taking action, other than seeking reassurance that other companies are lagging too.
The other point to note is that even though some companies did start their journey earlier, that doesn't necessarily mean they're ahead of the curve. Speed doesn't equate to depth of understanding and quality of action. Thoughtful action is better than knee‐jerk statements and aspirational goals that sound good but don't actually effect change in the long run.
Think about where your company was in the summer of 2020. What actions did you take? How much time, money and resources have you dedicated to this so far? To what extent has it made a difference? How would your Black colleagues respond to these questions?
Think about where your company is today. How much has changed? What are some of the conversations you're having now? Where are the challenges? What is stopping you from realising your ambitions to be seen as a company that is taking this seriously?
Whilst timing or speed doesn't necessarily equate to a better outcome, by the same token, claiming