Representation, Mentorship, and Integration: Black Leadership Roundtable

Representation In Life and Careeramp8220We watched channel 7 which was CBS from the beginning of the morning through the amp8216storiesamp8217 or soap operas and the evening news There was an African American female anchor which was pretty revolutionary for the timeamp8221 Wright explained when asked about an early example of representation growing up amp8220I remember seeing Sylvia Newsome and thinking amp8216wow thereamp8217s someone that looks like meamp8217 We all say politics is local and where I saw representation in the media was local with heramp8221amp8220When you think about the concept of intersectionality people often say amp8216what does representation look like for youamp8217 I show up as an African American woman at all times I canamp8217t splice myself and say amp8216this is what it looks like for me as an African American this is what it looks like for me as a womanamp8217 thatamp8217s just a factamp8221Impact of Vulnerability in LeadershipSpeaking on mentorship in the workplace Sherriff recalled a manager who wasnamp8217t afraid of admitting when he was wrong or uninformed which made a big impact on him amp8220We enter this field and career paths as minorities You show up as you are You may feel like you have to be perfect I had one manager who when on difficult calls with clients and vendors would say amp8216Look I donamp8217t know what you guys are talking about Explain this to me like Iamp8217m a sixyearoldamp8217 For him to show that level of vulnerability on the call made me realize that I donamp8217t have to be perfect but I have to get it perfect The fact that he would put himself out there and slow it down so that everyone would be on the same page and move forward had an impact on my career and how I go about thingsamp8221Calls To Action for The Industryamp8220There is quite a temptation for companies to bandwagon especially those who are newcomers to the space and donamp8217t have the structure funds or the endorsement of leadership in place And equally opposed are the ones digging in saying we are going to continue what weamp8217re doingamp8221 Wright explained amp8220There is a way to thread the needle which is to still continue with our efforts but we keep a risk mitigation standpoint in mind Who wants to be the next target No one No one wants to be sued or a PR nightmare Our 2025 focus within our team is to focus on inclusive leadership engagement behaviors and practices Thatamp8217s emblematic of a much larger thing In order to not be performative you have to integrate You have to integrate inclusive leadership practices you have to actually practice it so it models a way for others to follow and you have to reward it I donamp8217t mean from a financial incentive but from an accountability standpoint You have to make sure itamp8217s all part of your systems so it becomes integral to your success to your companies intertwined with your business strategies and part of your DNAamp8221Sherriff added amp8220Ultimately what we focus on is amp8216why are we doing this in the first placeamp8217 Is it something everyone felt that they had to do so they wouldnamp8217t get written up Now are they stopping because they fear theyamp8217ll get written up If we express to our leadership team why we39re doing this and how this is for the betterment of the company making sure that everyone working feels as included protective understood and heard that just benefits the company Forget the numbers youamp8217re trying to reach think of why youamp8217re doing this for the benefit of the company and its employees Itamp8217s going to grow your workforce and your team and build a more productive efficient and happier workforceamp8221Watch the full conversation above on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Representation, Mentorship, and Integration: Black Leadership Roundtable

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Juan Ayala

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

More Videos:

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

Representation, Mentorship, and Integration: Black Leadership Roundtable

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Juan Ayala

TAGS:

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

The payment was successful

Cookies