An Ode To Courageous Leadership by Minda Harts, CEO of The Memo
In the words of Queen Bey, “if you’re feeling insignificant, you better think again. You better wake up because you’re a part of something way bigger. Bigger than you. Bigger than we. Bigger than the picture they framed us to see. But, now we see it.”
Most of us are used to being one of the only ones in the workplace. One of the only womxn of color. In that role, we settle into subtle micro aggressions or subtle bias. Sometimes we tell ourselves this story, “maybe they didn’t mean to do that and maybe it’s me?” It’s easy to get caught into a narrative of self blame and trying to “make it work” with appeasing others in the workplace when we’re the only ones who look like us there.
Minda Harts had settled into that environment because she felt that others were relying on her. But, we’re all adults. We all know when we are being mistreated. And in that time period, she lost her sense of self.
In 2013, she left that environment. She ran out with tears in her eyes to the parking lot. She sat there, turned on the radio, and mourned the career she worked so hard for.
She sat in the car thinking: how often do womxn of color have to leave because of bad characters or bad allies who have leaned into their caution rather than being courageous?
Then, Whiteny Houston came on. “Where do broken hearts go?”
Minda asked herself, where did womxn of color’s hearts go when they couldn’t take it anymore?
In that moment, Minda realized that her life mission was to do whatever she could to bring womxn of color choices and show them that they don’t have to stay in that environment anymore or leave the careers they worked so hard to build. Our dreams do not have to be deferred because of someone else’s lack of courageous leadership.
Courageous means doing something that frightens us. Oftentimes, in order to be courageous it will require to do something different. We cannot do the same things and expect the same outcome. Being courageous is going to require something different from us. That’s why so many people choose to be cautious leaders instead. They know if they’re courageous, it might cause a problem. It might rock the boat. It might shake the room.
But, who are you willing to be courageous for? You may not know yet. Maybe all you know is that you just walked through hell and you don’t want the person behind you to have to too.
So push aside your caution, and pull out your courage.
“Step into your essence and know that you are excellent. Rise.” — Beyonce
Rise up and be the courageous leader we are all born to be.
Take small acts of courage if you are not ready for monumental ones quite yet. Because those small acts will lead you into a revolution, because that’s where we are. The statistics show that womxn of color will be the next majority in the workplace. But, if we’re not courageous, what roles will we have?
This post was adapted from the Virtual Assembly’s Closing Keynote “Courageous Leadership” by Minda Harts, Author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table.
