Barely a week goes by without a headline exposing a corporate culture gone bad. Beloved brands and household names turn out to be hotbeds of bullying, burnout, harassment, unreasonable expectations, blaming and shaming – these cultures are truly toxic. According to MIT research, about one in nine Americans think their workplace is toxic; and toxic work culture is the number-one reason people cite for leaving their jobs. […]
There’s an ongoing and overwhelming burden on black people to drive DEI efforts in organizations. This is part of the problem – not the solution. […]
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder big tech made many promises and pledges around diversity, equity and inclusion. Two years later, there’s little evidence of action or the level of sustainable change that we need to see. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 83% of tech executives are white. Business Insider’s research tracking progress in representation in the tech industry post George Floyd found that only 5% of the tech workforce, 3% of executives, and 1% of [...]
Life is a contradiction. We are awash with good intentions, performative actions, anger, and apathy. We’ve never had it so good; or so bad. Everything is changing faster than ever yet progress is also extremely slow. Technology is going to make us work smarter not harder; things have never been so complicated. Which is true? All of it and also none of it! For this week’s blog I’m taking a look at some of the recent research that points to [...]
Unbeknownst to me at the time, I lived through a moment of Black History that would prove to be instrumental in shaping my future. […]
The civil rights movement was born in the 1950s. Black History Month was proposed in 1969 and first marked a year later. It is 2022 and we are still having the same conversations. We must move DEI further this year. We must expand our understanding and empathy because dismantling structures and systems has taken, and is taking, decades… and it will definitely take more than a month. […]
That “people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad bosses” (or some variation thereof) is a handy quote coined by management consultancy Gallup that has given organizations the world over a free pass. But who employs and enables these “bad bosses”? […]
When I brought my usual brand of laundry detergent home and went to place it on the shelf… it wouldn’t fit. Perplexed, I inspected the bottle and compared it to the nearly empty one it was scheduled to replace. The brand was the same, the volume was the same, it even had the same fresh scent, but for some reason, the cap design had changed. This bottle had a taller cap than its predecessor. I couldn’t see a benefit to [...]
When I work with organizations – especially in the energy sector – it’s clear that safety is a priority and there are systems and mechanisms in place to ensure that things happen in a safe way. And when things aren’t happening as they should be, a safety dashboard provides a transparent and simple way to flag issues. It works because the business depends on it – and, of course, it is the right thing to do. […]
There are many variations on the theme of this saying (I also like: when you climb the wall, throw the rope back) that speak to using our own success and good fortune to help others. You’ve worked hard to get where you are and now it’s time to elevate (pun intended!) your own goals by helping others because great leaders create leaders. […]
