The power of being authentically you.
By Juliana Atencia
There are many unspoken rules, expectations, and etiquette in corporate America that serve as a foundation to maintain homogeneity in each employee’s workplace identity. Every employee is expected to wear sharp attire, speak professionally, and ignore aspects of their culture or personality in fear of it being seen as “unprofessional”. Decolonizing these institutions built on white supremacist ideals by showing up as your most authentic self is what Surge Institute alumna, Loreal Latimer, aims to do.
“Surge just taught me how to own my strengths and earn my qualifications in a way that allows me to truly continuously live into the natural person that I am,” said Latimer. “Oftentimes in some of these spaces, being a senior leader and being young and also being an African American woman, it’s like people try to test you and make you question your worth and your value. I learned through Surge: One… that I don’t have to deal with that, and two… that I have something that no one else has, and I would be selling myself short if I allowed myself to play small and not use that.”
Before working at the Surge Institute, I onerously kept the ideals that corporate America expected of me. I used a nickname so I wouldn’t have to correct the mispronunciation of my name. I often didn’t speak my native language. I knew to be quiet and polite to my superiors.
As a daughter of Colombian immigrants, I knew that I didn’t want to hide my Latinidad but, before Surge, I just didn’t have the confidence to show up as my authentic self.
Latimer shared more of her experience during the Washington, D.C. Surge Academy and how she learned the importance of maintaining confidence professionally and personally.
“I think that confidence piece is everything too. We were all given executive coaches through Surge,” said Latimer. “The first phase was all about how can I walk confidently as a leader knowing all that I bring to the table. So, that shows up in every area of my life. I have such a low bandwidth now for negative self-talk or for people who try to make me question my worth. My confidence is through the roof and that could be a good or a bad thing, but it’s only done good things for me. I don’t think I would’ve had this sense of self-appreciation, self-worth, self-confidence, or confidence in my abilities and my talents had I not done Surge.”
Working with a diverse institution like Surge that encourages people to live their truth and be authentically themselves in the workplace is life-changing. There’s healing and growth when you feel accepted and seen by your peers, which makes this movement so special. Countless leaders of color share the sentiment of feeling confident in their abilities to become change agents in their communities.
Latimer described the importance of showing up for yourself authentically and maintaining your values to make a difference.
“You have to demonstrate a certain level of excellence in order to get in the room, but that’s not what keeps you there. What keeps you there is your authenticity, and that’s what I found as my superpower,” Latimer said. “I also find that you gotta play some of the game because we haven’t built a lot of these institutions. I mean Carmita (Semaan) built Surge, and Surge is an institution that is in favor of the people. I still work for an institution, and I’m leaving my current role to go work for another institution that was built around white supremacy culture standards. They educated us on how we need to enter these institutions but also how we can be thoughtful, creative, and integrate more voices of the people to transform those institutions.”
Now is the time to support the Surge Institute, a movement that allows more and more leaders to become their most authentic selves.
