Show Up
If you are not Black or Asian, you may feel it’s not your place to say something about all the terrifying ways racism is playing out around us. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Demonstrate humanity. Show up.
Staying quiet, keeping your head down, acting like this is none of your business sends a message - even if totally unintentional - that you do not care, that because this does not affect you directly it is not important. This is totally contrary to being an ally at a time allyship matters most. Allies show up.
We can’t proclaim “We’re All In This Together” about the pandemic and pretend we’re not all impacted by the racism we’re seeing play out all around us. We are all part of this system, willing or unwilling, whether we like it or not, and we have the power to collectively change it. The pandemic has already shown a bright light on how deeply intertwined our personal and professional experiences are, and how dependent each of our well being is on the other’s. Racism is everyone’s problem. We have to show up and solve this together, now.
On May 27, AdWeek hosted an online webinar with CMOs across multiple organizations, a diverse collection of leaders in terms of race, gender, native language, country of origin and path to the C-suite. Several of these executives came to tears in front of an audience of several thousand people in reaction to the erupting violence, police brutality toward Blacks and recent Xenophobia toward Asians. These are senior executives who are polished and seasoned and know how to handle high stress situations. Yet they showed their humanity. Those moments of raw emotion made an incredibly powerful statement about how deeply impacted they felt, and provided an amazing call to action to every attendee on that call to figure out how each of us can do something. To show up.
Showing up is radically impactful no matter how small or grand the action because you prioritize care over everything else. You show empathy, compassion, love. It also gives you a chance to show honesty that even if you don’t know what to do you are holding that person in your heart.
Acknowledge this is an incredibly painful and scary time. That you’re there for your people. That you care. That you know this is terrifying and exhausting and creates an amazingly vast set of worries that won’t be resolved overnight. That you are with them and support them. Ask how you can help, how your company can help, how you can leverage your leadership, access and community to help.
Most of all listen - really, really listen. Don’t feel compelled to jump to action. Listening is the most important part of the whole equation. Unless this is happening to you you don’t know exactly how it feels. And it is very likely tough conversations need to happen - tough to hear, tough to share, maybe even tough to realize how something in your company is contributing even subtly to the problem. These conversations are a critical part of leadership’s work. Without them you won’t know how to provide meaningful support.
And remember, this is not a once and done, check-the-box exercise. Keep showing up.
Michelle's mission is to help companies create equitable workplaces. She is the Founder and CEO of Equity At Work, helping leaders achieve major impact through their diversity, inclusion and equity work. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter.