Who would have guessed that our already challenging environment, dominated by the impact of COVID-19, would have catapulted to another extraordinary level so quickly?
The protests and demonstrations following the death of George Floyd have consumed our country and overtaken our conversations.
And, in the past few days, increasingly more CEOs have stepped forward and made public statements of their commitment to fight racism and injustice.
It’s time for every leader to commit to action.
Whatever action you choose is the right one. For example, your company may have suffered so greatly during the pandemic that you don’t have bandwidth to do more now. But you can plan what you will do in the future.
You may change the way that you hire and promote by being intentionally proactive in terms of diversity and inclusion.
You may formalize your commitment to inclusion and justice as corporate values that everyone adheres to, not just words on a page.
If you are a purposeful leader, you will want to make meaning of this in the days and weeks ahead. This requires reflection and intention. Give yourself some time and space to do this.
You can make positive change, no matter how seemingly small the actions are. Commit to do something more than you were doing before.
Remember that leadership is a mindset, and the aggregation of small, deliberate actions start with your attitude.
