Column: Journey Can Have Additional Challenges
[Column written by Jessica Lightbourne, which is Part 2 of a five part series]
As a Black man your leadership journey can have additional challenges and as you prepare to take your career to the next level, showing up powerfully in the boardroom becomes even more significant. We continue this series to guide you on your executive leadership path.
Leverage Assessments. Know your workstyle and personality intimately. Learn your strengths so that you can lead from a place of power, and let those strengths shape your personal brand. Learn how you sabotage yourself and what derails you. Find out your languages of appreciation [also known as your love languages].
Seek Feedback. Gather as much data about yourself as you can from as many sources as you can. The more data you have, the easier it is to validate the information and the harder it is to be in denial about who you are. It is a smoother road to success when you can leverage your special sauce and knock down your personal barriers, while breaking down external ones.
Seek feedback everywhere. Self-reflection is only one side of self-awareness. Sometimes our ego gets in the way, and we live in a world of denial. Studies have shown that experienced and powerful leaders are less likely to know themselves due to biases and a false sense of confidence. They also are less likely to gain unsolicited developmental feedback. That is why you need to seek it out. To begin, approach trusted friends and advisors and ask for their honest views so that you can uncover more data. We don’t know what we don’t know but many of the people around us do. First approaching people that you trust allows you to ease into an area that is difficult for even the most successful CEO. It is human nature to shy away from feedback which is why it is important to start with people you know, like and trust.
Don’t stop there though. Also seek feedback from people who you think don’t like you. Consider strongly that you ought to seek feedback from people with whom it appears from the outside that you have nothing in common. You do not have to agree with, assimilate or internalise this feedback, it’s simply more data.
Knowledge is powerful and you get to choose what you accept to be true. Just pay attention to recurring themes. Sometimes the people who you trust the least provide the data that you need the most. Diversity of thought helps create a more effective team and when you are crafting your strategic communication, it is best to approach your argument from all perspectives.
The best way to ask for feedback is to ask for suggestions and advice, rather than constructive criticism. People are much more likely to give you honest feedback if it is framed in a less confrontational way. Colleagues want to be sure that they preserve their relationship with you and people love to give advice.
Hire a leadership coach. You knew it was coming. Executive coaches have been the secret weapon for decades for many up-and-coming White male emerging leaders on their rise to the top, and while seated at the head of the table. Even with privilege, they have had to compete to achieve their goals and they have been able to do so because they had support. It is the investment in self that has reaped dividends precisely because all human beings have blind spots and inner blocks. In addition, any coach worth their salt will approach you as a whole person, whole and complete with nothing to fix, and historically, for a Black man in this world, that is priceless.
BIPOC leaders no longer need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps to rise and succeed. You know your worth and deserve all the resources available to secure your seat at the head of the table.
- Jessica Lightbourne PCC, is a co-founder of International Coaching & Leadership Institute [ICLI], specialising in coaching BIPOC leaders to aspire to and achieve exponential career advancement. Questions? Email her at jessica@iclitraining.com.
Jessica thank you for sharing your insight, first-hand experience of the power of executive coaching, and for honoring Black men.
Conversations like these give me hope that my teenage son will get to experience coaching as a natural part of his entrepreneurial journey. We need more conversations on this topic especially in boardrooms.