Business Leaders — What to do?
In this moment, a lot of businesses and business leaders are asking what they can and should do to support #BlackLivesMatter and the movement to fight racism. I was asked recently to participate in a brainstorming session about what businesses can do beyond posting messages of support. I came away from that session with some greater clarity on the topic, and I shared it with some friends of mine who are business leaders. I thought I’d post it more publicly as part of my contribution toward change.
And as I do this, I’ll say from the outset: I am not black. I do not know what it’s like to be black in America. I have an inkling thanks to the time, energy, and emotional labor that my black friends and family have invested in me, but only an inkling. I’m not trying to speak for black people here, I’m trying to participate in the essential work of white people talking to white people. With all of that said, here are a few specific suggestions.
Learn About Anti-racism
The opposite of racism isn’t “not racist.” It’s anti-racist. There is no neutrality on this issue. Neutrality aids the oppressor. You can be racist or anti-racist. You have to pick a side. And picking the side of anti-racism means you have a WHOLE lot of work to do. Because, especially for white leaders, when we are not actively engaging in anti-racist work, we are coasting on the benefits of racism. We’re either swimming against the current, or floating downstream with it. There is no standing still in the river of racism.
Work on Yourself
The single most important thing that business leaders can do is not contribute to a cause or even create an inclusive company culture. The single most important thing that business leaders can do is to work on themselves as individuals. One of the most important concepts of anti-racism is that nobody is free of the infection of racism. To be anti-racist is to acknowledge our own racism.
“Doing the work” begins with examining our own, internalized racism. We strive to understand the ways we contribute to the white supremacy culture in our country and in our companies and seek to undo the damage we have done and do better in the future. The work begins with this, continues with this, but it doesn’t end with this. In fact, the work does not end. Period. We will be doing anti-racist work for the rest of our lives.
If you commit to being an anti-racist. If you work at becoming an anti-racist leader within your company and the other organizations you are part of, you will likely figure out what needs to be done in any given space at any given moment.
Work on Your Company
The second most important thing you can do is work to create an explicitly anti-racist culture in your company. Not diverse. Not inclusive. Anti-racist.
Being an EEO is table stakes. Having a Diversity and Inclusion committee is good, but not sufficient. Hiring black people and other people of color is also good, but also not sufficient. I sometimes hear HR people and business leaders say, “We just can’t find enough qualified candidates of color.” It makes me wonder: Where are you looking? How are you recruiting? Are your qualifications truly necessary for success? Are they racially biased? Are your job descriptions written for inclusion?
Many companies try to solve for this problem by creating entry-level pipelines. What happens as a result is that black people have access to entry-level roles and see no people who look like them in management or executive roles. The company culture remains dominantly white, and many promising black employees leave as a result. A truly anti-racist company will ensure there are black people and other people of color at all levels, from entry to executive.
Actually having an anti-racist culture, means that, like individuals, companies must acknowledge and fight their own racism. They ask themselves, “How do our policies and practices perpetuate racist outcomes? What do we need to stop doing? What do we need to do differently?” Anti-racist companies are constantly examining the ways that they contribute to racism internally within the company and externally with their customers and communities.
Invest in anti-racist training for the company. Build an outside accountability board to give you perspective and keep you honest.Commit to weaving anti-racism into your company culture as a bedrock principal. Put it in the mission statement. Make it explicit, and then do the work to make it true. Daily.
Work in and with Your Community
There is a role for companies to play in supporting anti-racist organizations. But this external involvement cannot be done as a replacement for the internal work. And it is important to do this work with humility and intentionality. It’s not enough to send a team of employees out to build a house or clean a park on an annual service day. It’s important to build ongoing relationships with the community and with organizations that serve oppressed communities in our city.
One of the best pieces of advice I read early in my anti-racist journey is that white people should join organizations led by people of color, support them, and NOT try to lead them. Listen. Follow. Support. That’s the best way to engage with organizations doing anti-racist work and working to build racial equity.
Work with Other White People
Racism is a white people problem. It’s not the job of black people or other people of color to solve it. White people created the racist systems in our country, and white people must end them. As a business leader, especially if you’re a white business leader, you carry clout within the white community. Use your status and connections to invite and encourage others into the work of anti-racism. Use every bit of your privilege to dismantle that privilege, so that all Americans can truly be free. So that our country can heal this open, septic wound that has made hollow the promise of our ideals for centuries.
