6

STEP 4: ADVOCATE FOR PEOPLE

(RE)learning and doing no harm are incredibly important foundational acts of allyship. And to deeply correct inequity and build inclusion, we also need to take action as advocates. An advocate uses their power and influence to support a person or group of people. This is a crucial continuation and deepening of allyship, where we move from unintentional harm to intentional good.

Our work as advocates is to help build equity and inclusion, often through small acts that can make a big difference in someone’s life. Our actions can include helping ensure our colleagues have a seat at the table and their voices are heard, intervening if harm does occur, building confidence and courage if someone has lost theirs due to discrimination and microaggressions, taking on the burden of educating other people about allyship, and mobilizing people, teams, and companies to take action for positive change. It requires continuing to build your knowledge and stepping forward to take action on someone’s behalf.

Exclusion Can Change You

As an advocate, it’s helpful to recognize the impact of continued inequities and exclusion in the workplace, so we know how and why to advocate for people when they need it.

Tokenism

Tokenism is a symbolic gesture or appearance of diversity. It’s not inclusion; it’s a minimal gesture of diversity without doing the work to achieve true representation and it can make someone feel like they are tokenized. Many people with underrepresented identities regularly experience being the “only” in the room. Navigating through spaces as the only woman, the only queer Black woman, the only Latinx person, the only Deaf person can be exhausting—because it takes additional energy, and the chances of experiencing biases and microaggressions are higher.

As the only person like you in a space, you may feel undervalued, treated differently, like an “other” where you don’t quite fit in. You may be asked to represent viewpoints of your entire race, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, age, or other aspects of identity. You may find yourself feeling like you need to be perfect in order to best represent all people with your identity. This can be a heavy burden to carry on top of your daily work.

Stereotype Threat

Stereotype threat is a risk or fear of confirming a negative stereotype about your identity. With stereotype threat, a person experiences a physiological stress response, combined with consistent intellectual monitoring of their performance, and an emotional regulating of their own negative thoughts. As a result of this additional physiological, intellectual, and emotional response, they have less cognitive capacity to perform the task at hand.

In the first study confirming stereotype threat in 1995, Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson demonstrated that stereotype threat can undermine intellectual performance in Black students.3 Similar studies have shown gender stereotype threat can impact math and science performance, and age stereotype threat can impact memory, cognitive, or physical performance. Research has shown similar effects of stereotype threat among immigrants and people with disabilities.4

Covering

When a person doesn’t feel safe, or like they belong in a space or culture, they will often cover their identity or a portion of it. Many people will cover an aspect of their identity to avoid bias, microaggressions, or discrimination. Erving Goffman introduced this term in 1963, using the example of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was paralyzed from the waist down from polio, yet hid his disability from the public as much as possible. Secret Service agents would block the view of his wheelchair, he held on to advisors or family members as he walked with a cane, he held on to lecterns in front of audiences to appear standing, and entered a room and sat behind a table before other people entered so they wouldn’t focus on his wheelchair.5

In a study spanning 10 different industries, Deloitte found that 83 percent of people from the LGBTQIA+ community cover a piece of their identity, as well as 79 percent of Black people, 66 percent of women, and 63 percent of Latinx people. Even 45 percent of straight White men cover either their appearance, affiliation, advocacy, or association. The majority of people who cover feel it’s important to their long-term professional advancement, yet also feel it is detrimental to their sense of self-worth.6

Code Switching

The term code switching comes from linguistics, originally used to describe the alternation of language by a bilingual or multilingual person. In the United States, this might show up as people speaking African American English Vernacular (a dialect of English) at home or with friends, and switching to Standard American English while at work or in other predominantly White environments.8 A person who code switches often speaks one language at home and in private spaces, and another at work or in public spaces. Code switching can also show up in someone speaking a mixture of two languages like Spanglish (Spanish and English), Taglish (Tagalog and English), Hinglish (Hindi and English), and other hybrid or mixed languages.

Code switching has evolved to also include switching between the ways someone presents themselves in different sociocultural settings—this can include verbal language, body language, clothing, hairstyle, and other attributes. People code switch to fit in, survive (to literally survive in encounters with law enforcement, or to keep their job in the workplace), persuade an audience, show solidarity or affection, share group identity, or reflect social status.

Impostor Syndrome

If you’re told your whole life that you’re not good enough, regularly experiencing microaggressions that question your expertise, you might begin to believe. A person experiencing impostor syndrome diminishes or doubts their expertise, experience, skills, and accomplishments—believing that they are not up for the task at hand and even feeling like a fraud—despite evidence of high achievement.

The term was coined by Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in the 1970s.10 Even Albert Einstein felt impostor syndrome: “The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.” Eighty percent of women and 58 percent of men experience impostor syndrome at least once in their lives.11

I have experienced impostor syndrome regularly before speaking in front of large audiences, and even as I write this book. Despite decades of experience and expertise in my field, I still have to work to shake the feeling that I don’t know enough, I’m not experienced enough, I’m not an expert—as if I’ve been “faking it ’til I make it” for decades, never internalizing that I’ve “made it.” Much of my life I have worked in spaces where my experience and expertise have been questioned as a woman, consistently having to prove myself over and over. These experiences can cause and reinforce impostor syndrome.

People from underrepresented identities tend to feel this more frequently as we internalize messages from microaggressions and discrimination experienced throughout their lives. We may avoid taking a promotion or stretch assignment, speaking up when we have a great idea to contribute, accepting a public speaking opportunity, applying for a job—and fear may hold us back from being our best when we do. Dr. Adia Gooden has found that we also might overwork to prove ourselves, procrastinate because it feels overwhelming to start or finish a project, and blame our successes on luck.12

Impostor syndrome, bias, and discrimination go hand in hand. For example, women apply to fewer jobs than men, and only when they meet 100 percent of the qualifications (versus men who apply when they meet 60 percent of the qualifications). This could be due to impostor syndrome, being socialized to follow the rules, not seeing examples of successful people like us in those roles, and that we are statistically less likely to be interviewed with fewer qualifications due to biases of recruiters and hiring managers.13

Emotional Tax

As a result of an emotional tax from microaggressions and biases, a Catalyst study found Black men and women feel they have to be “on guard” in the workplace, where they often feel unsafe and are less likely to speak up about important or difficult issues at work.15

A single incidence of a microaggression can lead to an immediate 25 percent decline in an individual’s performance on a team project.16 Many studies have shown people who experience regular microaggressions in the workplace experience anxiety, depression, anger, fear, skepticism, fatigue, hopelessness, disengagement, and cognitive disruption—the psychological energy it takes to endure workplace microaggressions can detract from tasks at hand.17 We’ve learned that discrimination and microaggressions can contribute to lower self-esteem. This can affect participation, engagement, creativity, energy, efficacy of presentations and collaborations, as well as performance, productivity, well-being, and overall career success.18 Here’s how the emotional tax might show up:

Images   Lower engagement. If someone is not feeling safe, respected, or supported in their workplace, they are much less likely to be engaged. This may be reflected in a company’s engagement surveys.

Images   Lower productivity. Due to cognitive and emotional disruption from discrimination and microaggressions, a person can find it more difficult to do work tasks.

Images   Numbing, distancing, and stepping back from opportunities. When not safe or engaged, a person may distance themselves from the team and culture, and avoid situations where they might experience microaggressions.

Images   Increased turnover. If someone doesn’t feel safe or like they belong, they are likely to seek a different workplace or a different industry.

Images   Fatigue, burnout, and physical and mental health outcomes. The emotional tax can wear a person down over time and can impact short- and long-term wellness.

Images   “Failing up.” A person might earn a leadership position due to hard work and expertise, only to find they are not succeeding in that role. Microaggressions can have high stakes in leadership roles.

Each of these can take a lot of energy, and we are missing out in the workplace if our colleagues are not showing up as their authentic selves. But where exclusion can change someone, allyship can too. Now that we know some of the impacts of biases and microaggressions, and are working to interrupt them in ourselves, it is time to learn ways we can intervene and advocate as allies.

Becoming Someone’s Champion

Earlier, I shared our Change Catalyst research showing that the top actions people want from their allies are to trust them, give them confidence or courage, and mentor them. Following in fourth place is recommending them for a new opportunity, followed by taking action when someone harms them, amplifying their voice and ideas, and recognizing their work and accomplishments.20 These are all acts of advocacy.

“Give me confidence or courage” is a countering of the impact of oppression, inequity, and marginalization. People who experience impostor syndrome, stereotype threat, tokenism, and even covering and code switching could use a boost in self-esteem. “Trust me” is a countering of the lack of trust people often experience in their lives, especially people from marginalized groups. Trust me to do the job well given my experience and skills, to have the capacity to learn new expertise, and to manage people if given the opportunity. Research shows that when employees perceive that their supervisors trust them, their workplace self-esteem grows—which in turn impacts their overall task performance, job satisfaction, and well-being at work.21 Trust me to succeed, and mentor me to help ensure that I do succeed.

When people recall their most impactful experiences with allies, often it is a time when someone took a risk for them, took a chance on them, went out of their way to support them or champion them. We spoke about biases in “Step 2: Do No Harm,” including affiliation bias. We tend to be champions of people with whom we share affiliations, whether we share a common school, neighborhood, employer, fraternity or sorority, children’s school, religion, or culture. Yet people who are from marginalized and excluded groups often don’t have those networks of affiliation. So it’s time to rethink who we are champions for, and look for opportunities to champion people outside our affiliations. The following are some ways you can be someone’s champion:

Help a person navigate their new workplace and role. If someone is new to a role and a company, it can be difficult and time-consuming to navigate through the new culture, systems, and processes. Share your time with them to help understand how to access workplace programs (like ERGs, benefits, and professional development opportunities), systems (like technology, culture, and company norms), and processes (like performance review processes, how to get promotions and raises, and how to submit time off).

Invite, encourage, and support new leaders. People from underrepresented backgrounds are statistically excluded from leadership roles, with very few of us making it to the top of organizations. As you rise in your career, keep sending the ladder back down and supporting people as they climb that ladder. Use your influence, open your networks, and lend your power so that people have opportunities to rise. Refer people for jobs, promotions, new projects, education, and leadership opportunities.

You might make space for people to step into opportunities by sharing your own platform—ask someone on your team to present a piece of a new project instead of presenting the whole project yourself, take a chance on someone for a new leadership role, even consider stepping back a bit so they can step forward. And then continue to support them so that they succeed in that new role. If there are no leadership opportunities currently in your workplace, create a succession plan for current staff to become leaders when an opportunity arises.

Mentor and sponsor people. These terms are often used interchangeably but there are important distinctions.

A mentor educates and guides someone throughout their career. You can become a mentor formally through mentorship programs, which are often structured around a specific topic and time-based. Or informally, by meeting for coffee (physically or virtually) once a month or a few times a year, and making yourself available during key moments throughout someone’s career. A mentor can help with career strategy and vision, help develop specific skills needed for career advancement, or offer advice in navigating a key career move.

A sponsor backs someone with their power, position, and networks. As a sponsor, you personally invest in and advocate for someone’s career advancement. You make key connections for them, advocate for them even when they aren’t in the room, give their work greater visibility, and stick up for them in difficult situations.

When focusing on DEI, many people and organizations default to mentorship, which sometimes comes from a bias that people aren’t getting opportunities due to their lack of skill and expertise. However, as we know, often people aren’t getting opportunities due to systemic barriers and lack of access.

Mentorship assumes someone needs help with building their skills. Sponsorship assumes they already have the skills and just need help opening doors so they can use those skills. For an intern or junior person, mentorship might be life changing. A junior manager with a mentor is 21 percent more likely to reach the next level in their career as someone in the same position without a mentor. Someone who is ready to move forward further in their career often needs a sponsor who can open networks they don’t have access to, or use their influence to help them gain recognition, build their reputation, and land a new job, promotion, or raise. A manager or executive with a sponsor is 53 percent more likely to progress to the next level in their career than someone in the same position without a sponsor.22

Get involved in your workplace ERGs or affinity groups. If your company has ERGs and they are open to allies, get involved as an ally. ERG meetings and events are great places to listen, learn, and grow your empathy and understanding. But don’t stop there, offer your time to help advance their mission and projects. If you’re an executive, consider offering your power and influence to become an executive sponsor. These groups are often notoriously underfunded, so regardless of your position, you can advocate for them to receive the funding they need to do their work well.

Fund and partner with advocacy programs. If you’re in a position to donate to an organization personally, that can be very beneficial to an advocacy organization. If you have a corporate budget, consider sponsoring an existing program, partnering on a project with an advocacy organization, or hiring them on a project where their expertise can mutually benefit both organizations.

One of the big issues we often see in our tech industry ecosystem is that corporations with money will develop new programs that compete with advocacy organizations who have been doing the work for years. Before you create a new program (e.g., events, internships, apprenticeships, code schools, mentoring, and other advocacy programs), do the research and see if there is an existing program that you can partner with for mutual benefit.

Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to give back and open the doors of opportunity. You can volunteer to speak at a local middle or high school, volunteer for afterschool programs, or open your workplace doors for tours and events that inspire youth to enter your industry and see it as an opportunity for them.

There are likely lots of advocacy programs focused on DEI in your field—donate your time and expertise to an organization that can use it. Often these organizations need marketing, sales, public relations, accounting, legal, research, data analysis, project management, and business help—give them a steady number of hours or work in a project-based capacity. Do your research to find them and then reach out and list specific expertise and hours you can offer them.

You can also volunteer your time to an internal program at your workplace focused on DEI. Open your networks, give your time for behind-the-scenes tasks that need filling, do whatever they need to accomplish their goals. Be open to serve in whatever capacity is needed—DEI work is not all glorious work, and allies can really help with the work that just needs to get done.

Help build allies. To create the change we wish to see, we need a critical mass of allies in our workplaces and across industries. Use your power, influence, knowledge, and passion to normalize allyship. If you are a person with power and privilege—especially a leader—it’s easier for you to bring more allies to the table. So use your influence to create change. Talk about the need for allyship and your journey as an ally, model allyship, and build norms in the culture around allyship.

EXERCISE

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