Privilege at Work: Flipping the Script
Just a few months and a lifetime ago I felt compelled to comment on the Trump Administration’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. So today it’s only fair to recognize the significance of the Biden Administration’s steps not only to reverse course, but to make America’s government more inclusive.
While conservative forces continued their war on tolerance at state and local levels, on June 25 the Administration quietly released an important new Executive Order. At the heart of this action are serious measures to achieve a federal workforce that looks like America. The first sentences of this document are well worth quoting:
On my first day in office, I signed Executive Order 13985 . . . which established that affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government. To further advance equity within the Federal Government, this order establishes that it is the policy of my Administration to cultivate a workforce that draws from the full diversity of the Nation.
President Biden highlights an explicit linkage between having diversity in government, and making policy that recognizes and addresses the needs of diverse communities. Yet this won’t happen automatically, and it won’t be easy. Even with the right guidance in place, workplace inclusion will require a different kind of leadership than we have ever seen in government. It won’t be enough just to bring diverse staff to the table. There are some hard steps leaders will need to take if we are to truly include their voices and perspectives.
DEI initiatives are now proliferating in the private sector and among nonprofits, but the evidence on what these initiatives achieve is mixed. Biden’s incoming leadership team should take the time to look at this evidence and face some hard truths about the difficulty of this work. Even with the best data and the best systems, we can’t address some important hidden barriers. That can only be done through real leadership. Here are three signs of leadership that would set the right tone, not only for the current Cabinet leaders, but for representatives in government at all levels. First: acknowledge your privilege. Second: look for your unconscious bias. Third: share your power.
Let’s briefly unpack each of these three steps. Acknowledging privilege can be a challenge; we all like to think we’ve achieved our successes through the dint of our own talents and hard work. Leaders set a strong example when they recognize the ways in which their success reflects the social circumstances into which they were born. It’s often easier for leaders to tell the story of the hardships they’ve overcome. Learning to explain their advantages is unfamiliar but necessary new ground.
Our new leadership includes many who have had to overcome their share of bias to reach their current positions. Yet it’s hard not to fall into the trap of seeking to surround ourselves with people who are like us. In hiring and in selecting appointees, leaders will be asked to make judgments and then justify them. It’s important to be aware of just how much implicit bias affects who we even select for interviews. It’s not enough to simply bring diverse candidates into the room; leaders need to ask themselves what bias they bring to the interviews, and what additional perspectives they need to see past their ‘blind spots.’
Third, and perhaps hardest, is the act of letting go and trusting the diverse teams you’ve recruited. Unconscious bias affects the ways in which leaders decide to share their power; who they trust. This can be particularly critical for high-level positions in government, as effective policymaking requires negotiations that are well served by high levels of trust and collaboration. It’s much easier to build trust with people who share your life experiences. But it doesn’t necessarily make for the best policy. Think of the well-circulated photo of the group of white male lawmakers who negotiated with the Trump Administration over women’s health care. It’s easy for a group that all think alike to have mutual trust. It’s also at odds with building the sort of widespread confidence in government that the country needs. Leaders must make concerted efforts to get outside their comfort zones and learn to listen to diverse voices from their staff, and then trust and empower them to be the people at the tables where policy is made.
It’s wonderful and notable that the Executive Order explicitly identifies accessibility as a priority. Too many DEI initiatives fail to recognize the different needs and approaches needed to ensure that the substantial population of people with disabilities in this country (and globally) are fully included. The White House statement rightly notes, “In spite of decades of progress in removing barriers to employment for employees with disabilities, people with disabilities remain under-represented throughout the Federal government, and particularly in positions of leadership.”
The Trump Administration’s anti-DEI actions were reversed on Day One, but the Biden team saw that just reversing course was not enough. We’re glad to see that President Biden is putting his privilege to work for all Americans. Let’s hope the rest of his incoming team is ready to do the same.
Bama Athreya is co-founder of Diversity Matters and has led initiatives on gender justice, social inclusion and ending workplace harassment working in government and in philanthropy.