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Six years ago I heard of an approach to workplace D&I (we were yet to use “Equity” in daily-speak) that changed my mind: Do not make workplace policies specifically around leave, remote and flexible work gender-specific. Be gender-, race-, disability-informed for sure but do not create policies that are focused only towards women, people of color, people with disabilities etc. What Inclusive Workplace Policies Sound Like I was interviewing Aniela Unguresan for my first book on how leaders could reduce the motherhood penalty (the financial and social price that mothers pay in the workplace, while academic research shows dads receive a fatherhood bonus.) She simply said: offer and ensure parental leave and policies around flexibility (what we now call remote work) is for everyone. If only women take it, they’ll be treated like “special cases.” They’ll be less likely to be hired, promoted or advanced into leadership positions, because they’ll always be seen as needing accommodations that men don’t need. So, offer everyone the benefit and don’t call it “maternity leave” or “flexibility for mothers.” Ensure senior leaders avail of it, visibly and vocally. Mind. Blown. Every “Issue” is a Human One Nothing in the workplace should ever be a women’s issue. That framing’s been on my mind as leaders plan returning to the office in the United States. For too long, remote work was characterized as a “women’s issue.” And now, the possibility of remote work long-term or a hybrid approach has been characterized as what female employees need. Because, you know, women are expected to be caregivers and work. As more leaders embrace a hybrid return-to-office approach––for employees privileged enough to work from home the past year-plus––we must lead inclusively. We must ensure we don’t create “special categories” and exceptions for some people (mothers and other female caregivers, people with disabilities, to name a few) to work from home, while expecting everyone else to return back to the office full-time. Leaders need to normalize everyone working from home when they want and as they need, not only in “special circumstances.” Otherwise, the inequities in our workplace–ones that were widened during the pandemic–will grow to gulf-like proportions. Ensure that employees who return to the office are not considered more committed or engaged (thinking of the CEO who made this public gaffe) than those who need or choose to continue working remotely. Bottom-line: trust people to make the right decision on what they need to be most engaged and don’t penalize those (often women) who make different ones than you. What’s something else people characterize as a “women’s issue” but isn’t? Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

I recently saw a tweet (from 2019) that captured what I’ve observed everywhere in the past year: Bone-tired exhaustion. I’m observing this in peers, friends, loved ones and most of all, myself. Even on good days, when I’m working on things that give me joy, when I have a village to help with childcare, when life seems to cooperate, I feel like I’m permanently exhausted. Tweet in words: "Anyone can be tired. You don't need to have kids, work 80 hours a week, have just finished your third degree, or have just recovered from a bad illness. You don't have to prove to anyone why you're exhausted and tired. I hope you can get some rest and feel better soon." ―@EverydayGirlDad In our workplaces, this chronic stress is reaching alarming proportions. When 53% of women say their mental health is suffering to the point of burnout because of their jobs, we should listen. When nearly 10 million working women in America–disproportionately women of color–say they’re experiencing workplace burnout, we should listen. And yet, and yet. The expectation to grind continues. Honestly, I just thought being tired to the point of daily, hourly exhaustion was just part of...adulting. I hadn’t even assessed burnout in my own life until I interviewed my childhood friend, surgeon Dr. Yumiko Kadota, for the New York Times. We spoke after 20 years while I was quarantining in a hotel room in Singapore after a week of not seeing another human being in person. Being alone in a room, responsible only for myself, held up a mirror to how much of my regular life was overstretched. Anyway. Yumiko (but please, do call her Dr. Kadota if you refer to her, here’s why) and I had a candid conversation about what workplace burnout really means. It was eye-opening. She talked about working 100 hour weeks, and being called an “emotional female” (the title of her fantastic memoir) when she pushed back against being woken up at 3 A.M. to confirm a non urgent surgery. Her book details galling sexism and racism, despite outperforming her peers in every way as a rockstar surgeon. But what really made me sit up straight, mouth agape, is when she told me the feedback she got when she brought up how overworked she was to managers: “you need to toughen up and deal with it.” I heard variations of this as a young journalist, I heard it in tech all the time, and even now, as an entrepreneur, the idea that “you can sleep when you’re dead” is alive and sniggering. But the truth is if we don’t sleep enough, we’re digging an early grave. Literally, a new study finds working more than 55 hours a week can lead to premature death. Everyone who works with anyone else, especially if you manage folks, needs to encourage others and ourselves to take a break. After hearing my “fiesty” (read the significance of this in the NYT interview) childhood friend recount the horrors of overwork, losing control of her gut, chronic insomnia that led to hospitalization, mental health traumas too deep to recount in any article, I realized that could be anyone. It could be you or me. For those of us who wear other marginalized identities, women, people of color, parents, people with disabilities etc...the burden to prove ourselves by overworking is even more pronounced. When Yumiko talked about having her job once define her identity, like I still do, I could only think of the heartbreak when your job doesn’t love you back. And I don’t want that for anyone. Workplace burnout is not a “woman’s issue,” either. It’s everybody’s issue. I want to see more leaders talk about it, get trained in recognizing it in your people and be accountable for creating a workplace culture that doesn’t expect people to be overworked to the point of burnout. And model taking breaks instead of glorifying how long you worked. As someone who reports to myself, I have to create the structure for myself. I’m building in time off monthly, which I know is a privilege. It’s the only way I can carry on. How have you addressed workplace burnout? Is “sleep when you’re dead” hurting your workforce? My talks address how to change your workplace culture to be more… human. Ideal for keynotes, company meetings, and ERGs, I'd be happy to come to your workplace (virtually, for now) to present to your team. Book me to speak. Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

It’s been more than a year since we plunged into a global pandemic. Depending on where you live, your skin color, your socioeconomic status and your profession, there have been moments (or whole blocks of time) where you were hit hard by the general grief and trauma of it all. I’ve been privileged in so many ways for most of 2020. I’ve been inconvenienced, outraged and heartbroken, yes. But I did not have firsthand experience of the devastation waged by COVID-19 until 2021, when India’s tragedies came to international attention. Then, it knocked on our family’s door. Suffice to say, I’ve been waking up with haunted dreams, heart palpitating at different times of the day, anxiously awaiting news while simultaneously scared to look at my phone. All while trying to work “as per normal” with people who haven’t been impacted in quite the same way. Last week, a person I’ve worked with for many years emailed me with a work opportunity. I declined, letting them know that my family was personally impacted by the COVID situation in India. Their response? “OK and thank you. Would you still be available to _____ and ______ so we can make the deadline?” Performative Inclusion Hurts I was...baffled. And hurt! Their callous response to my grief and anxiety shocked me. And, this person is well known in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space! I am lucky enough to decline the opportunity (I did) and if I choose, never work with this person again. But not everyone is – that person could be your boss, your client, or your coworker. My experience made me stop and gave me infinitely greater empathy. There are so many workers reporting to managers or leaders right now who expect them to deliver at full capacity. In a pandemic. When there’s a rise in police shootings of unarmed Black people and anti-Asian hate crimes have gone up by at least 150%. When millions of working women, especially mothers and women of color, are losing their jobs. We can’t deliver at full capacity right now. Physically. Emotionally. Humanly. The pandemic has exposed deep inequalities (and continues to), which we simply can’t ignore. So many think DEI means running a fancy program or speaking about it in public forums or throwing money towards a social cause. That’s performative inclusion if you don’t complement those actions with inclusive leadership. Inclusive Leadership Shows Up Every Day Inclusive leadership isn’t about the big gestures. (Or if you’re influential enough to have a public platform, it’s not only about the big gestures.) It’s about day-to-day compassion for your people. It’s knowing that your reality may be very different from others’ and reassuring your team that they’re still welcome even if they’re not performing at 100% capacity. The best leaders would anticipate this already, but if someone has communicated that they’re in crisis, acknowledge it and offer support. Check how people are doing. Push back deadlines liberally. Adjust expectations. Offer empathy and where possible, help. Most of all, give everyone room to say no and room to breathe. I wrote a Harvard Business Review article about inclusive leadership in a crisis in March 2020–long before we had any inkling of what was really on the horizon. All I knew was my clients and classes were shifting to remote work. But I could already see that the gulf between the haves and have nots was widening. Sadly, the chasm continues to grow. When I heard back from HBR readers, time and again, they said this tip I offered resonated with them the most: “Show compassion. Managers must recognize that crises affect employees differently — for many from underrepresented communities, this means not just worrying about and providing care for their immediate family, but also caring for extended family and the larger community. Give employees time off if they’re sick or need to care for a sick person. Liberally push back deadlines as more people adjust to a new normal. And remember, not everyone has the set-up to be equally productive. Common barriers right now include inadequate access to technology, private space, or even the basics such as food or healthcare.” If you’re in crisis right now, please know you're not alone. I write in complete solidarity. If you’re a people leader right now, how have you shown compassion? What does inclusive leadership in an ongoing pandemic mean to you? Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

Facebook announced last week that a certain former president would continue to be banned on its platform. The decision was made not by executives at the company, but a 20-member independent committee: the Facebook Oversight Board. I’m glad about the decision — in my humble opinion, it shouldn't be up for debate anyway. But you don’t subscribe to this letter to ask my opinion on how social media platforms should handle controversial users. Instead, I’m going to share that I’ve been watching the Facebook Oversight Board closely. That’s because I was among the team of advisors to Facebook on how to gather the board in the first place. The company approached me in 2018 to consult on how to gather an international, independent oversight board through an inclusive and equitable recruiting process. Essentially, they planned to put out an open call for nominations from all over the world...and were surprisingly transparent about their process. They later shared that a lot of my feedback on inclusive hiring was used by the team for the Board. So l’ve detailed some of my advice below and I hope it will be useful for your inclusive leadership too, no matter what you’re recruiting people for. Establish diversity goals as early in the process as possible – and well before interviews. This ensures that you’ve built accountability and intentionality towards building a diverse team from the get-go and you’re not scrambling after. Include an Equal Employment Opportunity statement in your job listing. Textio research shows it doesn’t just help you attract great underestimated candidates, but the best candidates of all backgrounds. Do not compensate people differently based on their location. If they’re expected to do the same work (um, as in advise on what constitutes free speech and what’s hate speech online, in the Oversight Board’s case), then they should be paid equally whether they're in Bandung or the Bay Area. No exceptions. Be very specific about what you’re evaluating during interviews–and what you’re not. In the west, particularly in the American work environment, candidates who express their excitement during an interview are preferred by hiring managers over those who appear calm during an interview. This can be discriminatory against people from other cultures who are not always socialized the same way, a Stanford study found. Ensure there’s diversity in the selection committee. I’m not going to elaborate on this. Full stop. Provide scenario-based opportunities for a candidate to demonstrate their knowledge. Do not just assess their qualifications by their background or education. How would they solve a problem they may encounter on the job, in real time? This ensures you don’t over index on pedigree. Building a diverse team takes intention and effort — frankly, so do most things “worth doing.” Whether the stakes are as high as in the case of Facebook or you’re hiring your next accountant, I encourage you to view this intention and effort as an exciting challenge (and not a burden). What would you add to the list above? The more we share these practices and ideas the more equitable and inclusive our teams and communities become. P.S. I did not have any insight into candidates or the final selection process. I am not affiliated with Facebook Inc. or any of its employees. Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share with you how many ways my heart has broken in the past few weeks, as I watch my beloved India contend with a tragic, humanitarian crisis. So many dear family members and friends are navigating unspeakable tragedy right now. I urge you to read. Donate. Speak up against patents that prioritize profits over humans. Whatever you do, please don’t look away. India’s Covid crisis is yet another reminder why inclusion, equity and access is not selective. Either we all have it, or none of us do. And so, onward I go in my quest for all of us to become more inclusive leaders. I’ve been outraged, comforted by the solidarity...and right back to being outraged again with the outpouring of your stories in the week since I wrote about my worst negotiation story. I can’t believe so many women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ and disabled communities have experienced such awful and relentless pushback when negotiating. I mean, I can, but it really is devastating how impossible it is to get compensated appropriately if you’re not a cis, white, straight man. So today’s letter is divided into two parts. I’ll start by talking about one way we could all do our part to fix the gender wage gap. Then, because inevitably whenever I address this topic, someone who needs to challenge me on whether the pay gap exists at all, I’ll talk about the data that shows it. Read either part first. Take action from both. Transparency is One Way to Reduce the Gap We all need to be more transparent about numbers we have access to. If you’re a hiring manager, say, “this role pays X. The last person we hired with your experience got paid X.” If you’re hiring a speaker, say, “our speaker budget is X. Our last speaker was paid X.” If you’re hiring a new marketing person and they’re low-balling themselves (because women and people of color are taught to), I challenge you to say to them, “I paid my last marketing person X or my budget is X. I insist we uplevel you from what you’re asking for.” If you’re in charge of putting an employee up for promotion, share that the role includes a salary bump of X and that they can also be eligible for Y benefits. If you’re recommending someone for an opportunity, ask the requester, “could you share your budget/the salary range before I connect you with my contact?” You have less to lose by asking than the referee. When we are transparent with the numbers in our immediate purview–whether you’re in charge of hiring for hundreds of roles or are a business owner hiring individual contractors––we are all doing our part in working to level a playing field that’s been historically uneven. Read more here if you really want your blood to boil––and this is just in the United States. Commit even more to transparency if you’re from a historically privileged community and gender. As my favorite podcast Battle Tactics From Your Sexist Workplace advises, we need white men to tell us what they earn. Let’s stop making it a secret. We all lose when we operate from the hyper-capitalist model that money is a zero-sum game. Firstly, addressing the pay gap against historically marginalized communities leads to economic growth and innovation. Paying women equally would add $512 billion to the U.S. GDP (and significantly more in countries where the gender gap is more pronounced). Secondly, when you pay people their true worth, they’re more likely to be engaged, productive and loyal. While capitalism tells us to feel satisfaction from low-balling someone in the moment (and having them accept a lower offer grudgingly), in the long-term, it costs us much, much more when they’re disengaged or feel undervalued. Great people are hard to find and even harder to replace. It’s the right thing to do. It’s good business. It’s good karma. (Take it from someone who read about karma from one of its original sources, the Bhagavad Gita.) Most of all, it's inclusive leadership. Is the Gender Wage Gap Real? In the U.S., there’s some quibbling over the exact disparity between what women and men are paid for equal work. You’ve likely heard 77-80 cents to the white man’s dollar. That’s for all women, when you don’t disaggregate by race. It drops down to 63(ish) cents for Black women, 60(ish) cents for Native women and 54(ish) cents for Latina women. And while high-earning Asian women drive up the AAPI wage gap to 85(ish) cents, when you take a nuanced view of the data, that drops down to 52 cents made by Burmese women compared to white men in comparable jobs. As it's Asian Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage MonthThe “ish” denotes which study and which year you look at. Regardless of the exact number, women are consistently paid less than white men for the same work—across industries, professions, qualifications and locations. More importantly, men are likely to be in higher-paid professions and roles, so they earn more money than women in general. Around the world, the statistics are just as grim. Differences in pay and employment opportunities result in large lifetime income gaps for women, according to U.N. data. Why the Gender Gap Persists One of the biggest obstacles to resolving the gender pay gap is denial. Most CEOs or senior leaders believe their companies would never discriminate by gender. No, their company is different—men and women must be paid equally for equal work, they think. Many senior leaders get away with their denial because they haven’t looked closely at their data. If you don’t see disaggregated data like what I’ve shared here, you can blissfully ignore that race and gender and other identity factors influence compensation. Avoiding your data is no excuse. The fact is, women are largely paid less than men regardless of qualifications and capability, across all levels of the organization and around the world. Even the highest-paid female executives take home an average of $5.3 million dollars—or 18% less than their male peers in the S&P 500. Add in race and other marginalized identities and the numbers are grim and needless to say deeply unfair. So, here’s my challenge to you: Share your numbers. Don’t be a data denier. Be transparent in every interaction. That’s the only way to put your money where your mouth is. Do you know someone in charge of hiring or managing people? Are you friendly with some CEOs? Send them this post and start a conversation. Change must come from all levels, especially the top. Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

I’m a good negotiator. I’ve observed how the men in my life (primarily, my partner) negotiate everything–from buying a car to rental agreements. I also read the study that found when women don’t negotiate their first salary, they lose $1 million over their lifetime. I came prepared to negotiations, researching the market and comparable rates, presenting a range and knowing the lowest number I’d walk away from. What I quickly learned is that all negotiation is not created equal. You don’t get what you deserve. You don’t even get what you ask for. You get what the other person thinks you deserve. And for women of color, that expectation is….low. A few years ago, I was asked to speak at an eminent women’s conference about negotiation. The organizer and I had a prep call to finalize details. Things were going well until I brought up my speaker fee. She started coughing. It was clear she was uncomfortable talking about money. Yes, the organizer of a conference on negotiation. She demurred and said she would get back to me, as the conference didn’t pay speakers. Here’s my HBR article on why that’s unacceptable. Then she went on to say, “since you’re a writer, you’ll also be expected to write 3-4 articles for our blog leading up to the conference.” “Great,” I said. “What’s your budget per article?” The answer was...none. A part of me left the meeting believing that she would check with her organizing team and find the budget for me to speak. Afterall, I was expected to fly to New York City on my own dime. Well, I never heard from her again. What Happens When Women (of Color) Negotiate I wish I could say this was a one-off, but variations of this happen to me often enough. I’m not expected to negotiate or advocate for myself. As a woman of color, I’m supposed to be grateful for the crumbs that come my way. Even managers and peers who have otherwise championed me have made backhanded comments when I talk numbers about how “I stand up for myself” and I “drive a hard bargain.” Descriptors I have not heard about my male counterparts in negotiations. The gender wage gap cannot be solved by teaching women to negotiate better. Well, Why Doesn’t Negotiation Work? Expecting women to individually negotiate away the pay gap is not just disingenuous, it’s harmful. “Asking women to take responsibility for closing the pay gap with their ace negotiating skills is sort of like teaching women self-defense as a way of addressing sexual assault. It puts the burden on women to figure this out as individuals—it doesn’t ask much of employers, and it doesn’t really address the bigger issue,” I read in The Cut a few years ago. Moreover, society expects women to be likeable and agreeable. When we negotiate, we aren’t conforming to those expectations. Women of color, especially, face a double whammy when negotiating navigating those tricky intersections of racial and gender expectations. But the “negotiate to get what you deserve” narrative persists. So...we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t. Corporate culture is ripe for change in this regard. With all these social barriers, it’s almost surprising that salary negotiation has continued as a practice for so long. I say “almost” because we know workplace systems were designed without women in mind. But you’re reading this because, like me, you believe inclusion is leadership. I see only two viable options for “negotiation” to actually address the gender wage gap: Find a way to overcome social conditioning so women are not penalized for negotiating. Easier said than done. Or, Take the negotiating tactic off the table entirely and normalize talking about numbers transparently. Guess which one I’m rooting for? What’s your worst negotiation story ever? Does the negotiate-to-lower-the-wage-gap myth persist at your workplace? My talks address why this is a problem. Ideal for keynotes, company meetings, and ERGs, I'd be happy to come to your workplace (virtually, of course) to present to your team. Book me to speak. Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

After the continuing heartache of last week, I had to switch off. I took three full days away from work to drive along the coast and spend time with my family. In a society that glorifies (over)work, it felt rebellious to take a break. I feel lucky to be able to and proud that I did, because I usually don't. Safely, of course. So, last week I promised I would share the story of my worst job interview ever. I’ve worked on four continents and in quite a few different work environments and I’ve seen and experienced...a lot. In some small companies I worked for early in my career, job interviews often meant a quick phone call with a busy business owner who was just trying to get the position filled. Others were more exciting. One company flew me from New York to London to interview for their fellowship program. I didn’t get the job (I bombed trying to describe the intricacies of Credit Default Swaps), but the hiring process was inclusive and well-communicated. For example, I knew how many interviews to expect and timelines for when I would hear back, including the rejection phone call timed to the hour that I was boarding my flight back to JFK. The worst interview I ever had was a guessing game designed to remind me I did not belong at the company. A five-hour nonstop interview where every 45ish minutes a different white man would ask me variations of the same question: Why should we hire you? What will you bring to the table? (Ummm, diversity?) We have an “always on” work culture–are you ready for that? Will you be a good culture fit? It felt like an interrogation room. No breaks. I left the process exhausted, hungry and questioning whether I would find another person who looked like me at that company. (I would not.) I didn’t know when I would hear back or whether I even would. Let's agree to do away with 5-hour interrogations, umm, interviews Much of the hiring process today is exclusionary and riddled with biases. At a time when we literally cannot afford to exclude great, underestimated candidates (because the only way we can navigate out of this crisis is when all of us rise together), we need to design our hiring processes to bring people in – not leave them out. Below, I detail three quick ideas to build a hiring process that’s more inclusive. These work in tandem with addressing our personal biases, which I recommended in last week’s letter. 1. Choose inclusive language in your job description Most of us have been socialized to conform to a rigid gender schema and many especially women and nonbinary people, often self-select out of roles that *seem* to be a better fit for men. How jobs are described matters. Women are less inclined to respond to job listings containing words like “determined” and “assertive,” as these words are connected with male stereotypes, according to research. Similarly, when job ads sought candidates who were “aggressive” and “analytical,” women were less likely to apply. Women were more likely to apply for roles looking for people who were “dedicated,” “responsible,” “conscientious” and “sociable.” Note: men were not deterred either way. When I think back to the job ad for my 5-hour interview from hell, it was rife with words like “analytical,” “data nerd” and indicators of a stressful culture: “our smart people work very hard,” and “we have an always-on culture.” I had the nagging feeling that I wouldn’t belong even before I set foot in the building. 2. Advertise with intention If your job listings are always advertised in the same places (like only your company website), you will attract the same groups you always have. Take time to develop relationships with relevant identity-based industry groups like Black Girls Code or the Asian American Journalists Association. Actively build relationships with these groups by attending their events and conferences and by financially sponsoring their events. Then, advertise your jobs within those networks. The only reason I applied for THAT job was because I was introduced by a former colleague to someone who knew someone, who was the hiring manager for the role. But referrals like this are tricky at best to ensure a diverse slate of candidates. Considering three-quarters of white Americans don’t have a single friend of color, it’s no wonder PayScale found white men are disproportionately referred for jobs (and benefit from higher pay as a result). Oh, and by the way, not all referrals are created equal. Later, I learned a number of current employees–all white–were hired because they were friends with current employees. They didn’t have to go through the same hiring process or the inter-rogation-view. 3. Create an inclusive and open interview process I don’t have much more to say besides do the exact opposite of what I went through in my worst job interview. Have a racially and gender diverse (at the very least!) interview pane or loop. Build in breaks, especially right now in the time of video interviews. Zoom fatigue is real and data show it’s worse for women. Don’t ask people why they’re a culture fit. Instead, assess how they’ll add to the culture. Create a work environment where employees don’t have to brag about working all the time to be considered hireable. Mention diversity, equity and inclusion in your company narrative: “this place is great for caregivers...here’s why,” or “we offer paid mental health leave,” or “we pay for self-development.” This is just a start and I’ve spent much of my career researching best practices like these. For example, in this media interview with Bloomberg where I share the next steps for companies that pledged to do better after 2020’s racial justice movement. I know what it feels like to go through a hiring process that makes your heart sink. I also know what it feels like to go through a process where you feel welcome and valued, so you can bring your best to a new job. That is the difference you make to someone's career (and life) when you are intentionally inclusive in your hiring. Want more guidance? I go into a lot more detail in my first book, The Diversity Advantage. It can be purchased here. Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

I write this letter with a heavy heart as we confront ongoing violence and racism against communities of color, particularly brutality against unarmed young Black men like Daunte Wright. Writing this letter on inclusive hiring can't even come close to bringing justice for lost lives. But given that data show that the workplace is where Americans interact most often with people of a different race, I believe one of our greatest chances of achieving justice and equity in our society starts in the workplace. Onward we go, because we must, even with heavy hearts. So...We’re not hiring diverse people (check out the last letter to learn why). But to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, hiring managers (you do not have to be in HR/recruiting to be a hiring manager) must do the hard work to reduce their own personal biases. I wrote about this for Harvard Business Review in 2019. The TL;DR version is this: We’re hardwired to be drawn to people who are like us. That’s why biases enter hiring decisions….and promotion and pay and….basically, all decisions. It doesn’t matter whether we intended to be biased (and, especially, discriminatory). Instead, we need to focus on the impact of what happens when we make decisions riddled with biases. To drive meaningful progress on this front, individuals––managers, leaders, even individual contributors––must take personal responsibility to understand their biases. I’ll address institutional (data-backed) policies for inclusive hiring in the next letter. But I believe change can begin with one person. You. How? Step one: Accept that you have biases. Reflect on why you might feel drawn to some people over others. Think about the last time you connected with someone who you thought was amazing, but you couldn’t explain why. They just were! And conversely, think about a case where you immediately disliked someone. In both instances, did their race, gender, hometown, educational background, socioeconomic status or other identities match yours? Or were they very different on all measures? It's human nature to be drawn to people like us and reject those we perceive as different. We need to accept we have this bias–affinity bias–and only then can even begin to address it. Step two: Honestly reflect back on the last few people who you hired. Did factors such as their race, gender, education or how much you liked them influence you? Add the lens of pandemic hiring and there’s a whole new level to this assessment. Did you maybe make judgments on what their house looked like on Zoom or whether you heard a child in the background? It’s uncomfortable to admit but these biases make all the difference when we choose who to hire. I’m not proud to say that I’ve fallen prey to my own biases in past hiring decisions. Only through careful and consistent awareness of them combined with careful and consistent action to correct them have I been able to make change. I still slip up occasionally when I say things like, "they went to my alma mater, so they're going to be amazing." Step three: When you’re evaluating a candidate, normalize asking yourself this question. “Where did bias show up in this decision?” It really, really, really helps to articulate it out loud. (Did I write “really” enough times? It helps. I’ve seen it in action.) It also helps disrupt others' biases in action. You can finally ask your peer whether their comment was biased, "I liked her because she smiled a lot. Let's hire her." Step four: Refuse to begin interviews until you have a strong representation. At least 50% of candidates should reflect the racial and gender diversity of the country you live in. At the very least. Research from Stefanie K. Johnson et. al. shows that if you have just one woman in the hiring process, her chances of being hired are statistically zero. Don’t just tokenize–make it count. Taking personal responsibility to diversify your hiring pool makes all the difference. Much before you make big policy changes. Because inclusion is leadership. Take it from an underestimated—I didn’t say diverse!—leader. Do you agree? What’s worked for you? Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

Incredible women I know are searching for jobs right now. They’re brilliant, qualified and would be a great addition to any workplace. But every time we speak, I learn something new about how broken the hiring dance (do-si-do?) is. From sending resumes into a black box (one qualified woman of color software engineer I know applied for 300 jobs to get 6 callbacks. She tracked it on a spreadsheet!) to all-male interviews, we have so far to go to make getting hired less painful — not to mention, more inclusive! Then I hear from so many hiring managers that they want more diversity in the applicant pool. I’ll also get emails with the subject line: “Hiring for a new position. Know any great diverse people?” Sigh. My problem with this question is the “diverse people” part. Diverse simply means difference. But you and I both know they’re not just asking for “different people.” What they’re really asking for is underrepresented people. Underestimated people (thank you Arlan Hamilton–here’s Arlan on a HBR podcast explain why she uses this framing). If you’re looking to hire more women, Black women, employees with disabilities, neurodiverse employees….then SAY THAT. When you vaguely say “diverse people” you’re using a euphemism that centers cisgender, white men (another way of translating the frustrating question above is “know any great not-white-cis-men?”). Of course, this must come in tandem with committing to building inclusive, equitable workplaces where all people thrive, so that the “diversity” you're seeking won’t enter a hostile environment that will tokenize them. That’s why I don’t want you to hire “diverse people.” Be intentional and own up to who’s missing from your organization today — and why. I appreciate it so much when leaders come to me saying, “we’ve not had a great culture for women because we haven’t addressed gender bias issues seriously before, which is why we’re almost all dudes. Here’s how we’re changing so that we can hire and retain more women — and here’s why it’s important to us.” Let’s do away with the term “diverse people/candidates” once and for all. If stop hiring diverse people was a mind-bender for you, or if it validated your own experience, I’d love for you to send this post to someone you know. I want to spread this message as far and wide as possible! Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.

Seven years ago I walked away from my last corporate job. I'd spent far too long in industries – and organizations – that did not welcome me. Everyday I asked myself: What was wrong with me? Was I not tough enough? Did I just not have what it takes to succeed? I was always a confident person (the harmful “submissive model minority” myth did not apply to me and, come to think of it, most people I know!) but over years in those unwelcoming environments I felt my confidence… and eventually my soul… being chipped away. My experience awakened a passion — no, an obsession — to get to the bottom of what really holds women back in the workplace. We can build inclusive workplaces with women of color at their center. I know it is possible. So what's the problem? Well, too much of the existing narrative focuses on “fixing women”—getting more women to negotiate, demand, and “lean in." But “leaning in” barely works for white women. For women of color, it’s actually harmful. When corporate structures are inherently biased, telling women to “lean in” doesn’t solve anything. What holds women back are biased, exclusionary workplaces, not a lack of confidence, leaning in or imposter syndrome. (I recently debunked the myth of women’s imposter syndrome in this Harvard Business Review article with Jodi-Ann Burey.) I’ve spent the seven years since I quit exploring what really works to create organizations where women of color and employees with other historically marginalized identities can thrive. I’ve interviewed countless leaders, experts and really smart people about the solutions that are working (or when those aren't available, at least how to think about these problems). That’s why I’m excited to tell you about what’s coming next: the Inclusion is Leadership series. Starting this month, I’ll write to you weekly about powerful, research-based interventions to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces. I’m sharing this series because the information exists and I believe it should be freely available. I don’t want to hear, “I want to do better but I don’t know how.” Start here. Start small. Start now. We’re in a pivotal moment. We’re already reimagining our workplaces and have a unique opportunity to learn from the carnage of the past year. Let’s build intersectional, inclusive workplaces where everyone can win together. Inclusion is leadership. Do you agree? Click here to subscribe to the weekly Inclusion is Leadership letter.