It’s Okay to Shift
“Times were hard for everybody” will not be a satisfactory answer in the long view of history, because times aren’t hard for everybody equitably right now. What are you doing to produce more equitable and socially just outcomes right now? Because the people will remember.
From my note: Reflecting on Organizational Leadership in a Pandemic
My brief note, Reflecting on Organizational Leadership in a Pandemic was intended to address “the leadership” and decision-makers as traditionally and hierarchically defined in working environments operating within white supremacy culture. The ask was for leadership to resist that culture by centering equity in their policies and decision-making.
In this brief note, I wanted to address the staff members, particularly those with marginalized identities in the event that they are unwilling to do that.
In its deadly relentlessness, the pandemic has presented many opportunities for reflection and reevaluation. Sadly, instead of recognizing the opportunities that exist to turn inward toward one another for support and the collective adaptation and problem-solving that is necessary for this moment and for a more equitable world that could await us when this time has passed, some organizations have turned inward against their people in maladaptive and ultimately self-destructive ways which ultimately threaten their own survival and viability in the long term.
While many of these self-destructive behaviors exist, one dynamic I work against often as an organizational consultant is the strategy of using fear and scarcity as a motivator for increasing “productivity” and acceptance of oppressive working conditions.
One of the ways I often see it manifested is through the creation and sustaining of a scarcity culture of “gratitude” and indebtedness. That is, subtle and overt actions and messages that communicate to employees that they should be “grateful” to have a job in a way that asserts an obligation of indebtedness.
Dynamics that create the feeling that something is owed. You owe your toxic supervisor, your toxic CEO, you owe it to your students, to your patients, your clients, your teammates, your community, etc who have a variety of needs to stay in an oppressive environment where you’re ultimately set up to fail among a host of other issues.
It is often a precursor to, or accompanied by an abusive dynamic where in addition to that, employees are gaslighted into feeling as if they should not only be grateful to have jobs in this economy, but that no other job would take them.
Even though this isn’t true in reality, the pervasiveness of systems of oppression and the disparate conditions created by those systems make experiencing this scarcity a very real possibility for people with marginalized identities.
Still, I want to acknowledge this for the power and control tactic that it is.
If you have ever experienced or are currently experiencing this dynamic, I want to affirm that each of us are complete and inherently worthy people.
You were complete and inherently worthy before you came into that workplace, are complete and inherently worthy now, and will be complete and inherently worthy whenever/ if ever you leave, or if the environment changes.
This energy of indebtedness; this expectation of a warped kind of “gratitude” for leadership without accountability from leadership is ultimately a self-destructive organizational practice if not addressed in words, as well as actions which include policy change at the interpersonal, institutional and structural levels.
It’s okay to shift
People with marginalized identities put in major work in companies, organizations and institutions; making space for themselves and the ones who will come after in environments that did not have them in mind when they were created, and are often resistant to the equity that they strive to bring about.
It’s ok to resist. It’s ok to fight for change. It’s okay to build coalitions and organize and work in solidarity with others to bring about the changes we seek.
and
It is also ok to consider your own multiple and varied needs; including your mental and physical health in the process. It’s ok to reevaluate and if you come to the realization that you need to after reflecting, it’s ok to shift.
It’s okay to change directions. It’s okay to put a plan that works best for you in place that will enable you to move to a more supportive and restorative environment when opportunity calls for you.
And, it’s ok to realize that doing so does not mean you lack commitment, that you’re abandoning people, or whatever messaging you might get in an attempt to convince you that your experiences aren’t real, or to stay in an environment that isn’t healthy for you.
One thing I’ve found helpful when I’ve personally experienced this is to remember my own sense of service and purpose. I’ve found that identifying and staying connected to those larger ideals allows a deeper sense of clarity and focus that transcends individual people or personalities, as well as organizations, institutions, and occupations. You know; those things that could be used to convince us to stay someplace where something isn’t working out of some warped sense of loyalty or obligation that prevents us from being more effective and impactful than we could be.
Staying focused on the larger things in this way enables us to enter environments from a partnership perspective with the understanding that sometimes needs shift and change. It enables us to remain in partnership to the degree and time that that partnership is in alignment with our values for equity and justice. It also enables us to move on when things are out of alignment with the recognition that the work is much larger than a particular environment and can be done in a variety of ways, in a variety of places.
There are many self-reflective exercises out there to help with staying connected to your larger ideals. One exercise I’m able to return to periodically is completing a personal SWOT analysis because organizations aren’t the only places where we should think ahead to the future and watch out for mission drift.
Although systems of oppression create the disparate outcomes you experience, as a human being you are not truly expendable. You are not truly replaceable. You are more important than you may feel like while having to wade through so many oppressive messages and systems that target your identities. Your “leadership” is accountable to you even more so than you are to them. That’s what that mantle demands. And you yourself are also a leader. It’s important not to forget that.
It’s an incredible feeling to operate in the gifts you have, with the support you need to be your best self and do your best work. Search your feelings. Take inventory. Evaluate however you need to.
It’s ok to resist. It’s ok to fight for change. It’s okay to build coalitions and organize and work in solidarity with others to bring about the changes we seek.
And
If you’re finding that you’re out of alignment, it’s okay to put a plan that works best for you in place that will enable you to move to a more supportive and restorative environment when opportunity calls for you.
It’s ok to shift.
This post is also featured on the Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian Podcast.
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From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones
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