A Leader’s Job

As a leader, it is your job to prevent bias, prejudice and bullying from destroying respect on your team. Given the prevalence of these attitudes and behaviors, this may feel like trying to prevent the inevitable. That’s why it’s important that when these problems do occur, you respond in a way that makes it less likely they will happen again.

Preventing these behaviors is especially difficult for leaders who are also members of historically disadvantaged groups. These difficulties are what my colleague Michelle, the Black woman who was CEO of the company where I was giving a Radical Candor talk, was reminding me of in the story from the introduction. But no  matter who you are, leadership is hard work.

Too many leaders act as if creating a fair and equitable working environment is a distraction from their primary job: to get sh*t done. But more and more of these leaders are beginning to realize that getting sh*t done is difficult without a reasonable, inclusive working environment. 

In this episode, Wesley and I chat with Ellen Bennett about how to prevent bias, prejudice and bullying. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts, or here: https://www.justworktogether.com/podcast-season-2