Finally, we’re including the last installment in a series from this summer on “Creating Momentum for Change," in which we’re highlighting ways you can begin to create change as leaders in your organizations and communities. In June, we discussed taking action that aligns with your values. In July, we highlighted centering collective action in our efforts for social change. Now, in closing the series, we’re featuring the importance of empowering and listening to people on the margins in your organizations. Check out the blog post version of this final installment here.

All our best, 

A key part of change in our organizations and communities must include empowering and listening to people who are marginalized. Indeed, as Zuri C. Murphy, a principal at Social Insights Research, LLC, writes for NonProfit Quarterly, “Practicing equity starts when the ideas and strategies of marginalized people are elevated.”
 
Murphy describes how elevating marginalized people allows them the full use of their oppositional consciousness—“a way of thinking and being in which the individual [is able] to read the current situation of power and consciously [create] strategies to navigate and reconfigure it while resisting its dysfunctions.” In other words, this ability allows people on the margins to resist the dynamics of power, oppression, and injustice in their environment and to create new possibilities for being and doing for themselves and others. In this way, all stand to benefit when marginalized people are given the power and space to use their knowledge, vision, ideas, and strategies to advance social change.
 
Organizations can empower marginalized people in their institutions by acknowledging the conditions in which marginalized people lead; by cultivating space for unjust dynamics and new possibilities to be identified across all levels of the organization; and by providing opportunities to promote the knowledge production of marginalized leaders. In addition, anyone can begin a practice of listening to people and leaders on the margins and allowing their stories and perspectives to shape one’s own.

• Motivation. Leaders who come from the communities experiencing a particular issue often have deep personal ties to an organization’s purpose. Because of their proximity, they are highly motivated in their pursuit of collective success and the accountability it requires.
• Relationships. Leaders on the margins learn to cultivate relationships across lines of difference, resulting in diverse networks they can draw on to learn, grow, access opportunities, and navigate challenges. They also often recognize, value, and tap into what each person brings to the table, which stimulates transformative thinking.
• Leading Self. Self-awareness and being comfortable with discomfort are often strengths that leaders on the margins bring to the table. These attributes allow them to understand themselves, adapt to new experiences, overcome obstacles, and see alternative possibilities.
• Leading Others. Because of their identities and experiences, leaders on the margins have learned to cultivate a high degree of empathy, to deploy observation and listening skills in their work styles, and to model collaborative leadership in the positions of power they occupy.
• Leading with Vision. Lastly, leaders on the margins often operate with an asset-based lens, as opposed to the deficit-based lens they may have experienced, as well as with a radical imagination for new possibilities even in the midst of the limiting systems they are required to navigate.

Leaders come in all colors. Take a listen. Darren Isom, partner at The Bridgespan Group and co-author of one of today’s articles, hosts a wonderful podcast that demonstrates what it looks like to recognize the assets and abilities of leaders on the margins. As host of “Dreaming in Color: Creating New Narratives in Leadership”, Isom talks with leaders with color about their backgrounds, experiences, and insights, all of which allow them to pursue excellence and impact in their work to create a more equitable and just future. To learn more about the podcast and begin listening to these leaders’ stories, click here.

Learning – and unlearning – for the future. As 2023 inches ever so closer, now is the perfect time to reconsider what it looks like to operate as an organization in our changed – and continually changing – environment. Transforming organizational culture is a complex task because what worked three, four, and five years ago may not work in the present. With that in mind, researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership have highlighted three things that organizations may need to unlearn for today’s landscape, and how they can pivot to better practices. Click here for more insights.

ABOUT MARIANA STRATEGIES

Mariana Strategies provides workplace culture consulting services focused on building safe and inclusive workplace cultures. We go beyond compliance to focus on how organizations can prevent harassment and cultivate respect in the workplace through tailored solutions.