Leadership Matters: Choosing humility
Acknowledge your power in the workplace and strive to have open and humble conversations that encourage other voices to be heard.
I’m starting to see, more and more, why so many people shy away from conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. They’re complicated. And confusing. And as one of my former colleagues once said, it’s easy when the decision making is clear—when there’s a distinct right and wrong, a simple “this way” or “that.” It’s the shades of gray or the competing values that make decisions and the discussions that surround them tough.
I was feeling this way recently when I was talking with a colleague of mine about power differentials. Specifically, mine. As the relatively new CEO at Quantum Governance, my colleague was making the point that, like it or not, I was now seen as someone with power over my coworkers.
Yuck.
But at some point, we’ve all had some power over someone or something else—whether it’s our employees, our children, students that we’ve taught … even our pets. (Although my dog, Toby, regularly ignores me like a toddler in a candy store.) Some revel in it, while others would rather not acknowledge it. And some use it to support those with less.
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