If Black Lives Matter in your organization, what are you doing to support Black employees? What steps are you taking to dismantle the institutional pillars that support racism? Now is the time: we need to dig deep into our awareness of hiring, performance management, and our failure to have open discussions on unperceived biases.
I wrote about this in my last post, here. Some of the best leaders I work with examine their implicit bias, take action to mitigate their biases, and dismantle policies and systems that support inequity. Oftentimes, the first step is to recognize our own learned socialization.
Examine Your Bias
As much as we’d like to believe otherwise, our society teaches racism. Consider your own childhood:
- Was your neighborhood racially diverse? If not, why?
- Where did people of different (from you) races live?
- What was their neighborhood like? How do you/did you know this?
- Were you encouraged to visit different neighborhoods? What about neighborhoods where people of different (from you) races lived? Did you get to know anyone?
- What were the characteristics of a good school? What about a bad school?
- Was your school/district a priority or concern for your parents? If so, why?
- Were all classes (advanced to special needs) equally racially integrated? If not, why not?
- How frequently were you and your teachers of the same race?
- Reflecting on your entire life, how often have you been to a wedding that was virtually all white? What about a funeral?
- What are some of the ways in which your race has shaped your life?
If you haven’t already, I strongly urge you to complete the Implicit Association Test (IAT), also known as the Harvard Study of Bias (Project Implicit). The IAT measures our hidden attitudes and beliefs. You see, bias and racism rely on our racialization: the grouping of people based on perceived physical differences, most commonly, the color of their skin.
Counter Your Hidden Bias
Of course, becoming aware of our hidden bias is just the beginning. We need to take steps to counter unconscious bias. One technique that works is visualization.
At the beginning of your day, visualize the tasks you must complete. Close your eyes, and picture those you might encounter for the first time. What do they look like? Notice if they are a man, woman, or non-binary. What is their skin color? Now, picture an alternative. Open yourself to different possibilities, and normalize these: make it expected.
For white people, the immediate future requires us to accept that implicit bias exists. Then, we must be focused on what Black people (and ethnicitiesare really facing. We must break our silence.
What do you think? If Black Lives Matter in your organization, what are you doing to support Black employees? I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
