7 Way to Lead Your Team During a Racial Crisis
I woke up this morning to a family text thread about the riots in Minneapolis. My older sister informed us that my brother-in-law is in Minneapolis for work, but he’s safe. My younger brother responded saying “Man...it’s getting crazy over there. Just heard they burned down the police precinct.”
I’d just woken up, so I felt out of the loop. I quickly hit up Google to get a snapshot of what was going on. I skimmed a variety of headlines and felt paralyzed with sadness. My next thought was to see if I know anyone in Minneapolis. I happen to follow a woman named Steph who pastors a church there. I navigated to her Instagram and saw a picture of Minneapolis on fire. Her caption read: “Lord, have mercy.”
I sat in silence. My mind raced with questions…
“What can be done?”
“What can I do?”
“What should I do?”
“Are we doing enough?”
“Are we doing too much?”
“Are people taking care of themselves?”
“Is this another step towards revolution?”
“Are we on the brink of a race war?”
“Holy crap...we’re still in a pandemic...how does that impact everything?”
I imagine many of you are asking the same questions.
“Where is this all headed?”
In addition to educating ourselves, using our platforms to speak out...in addition to making phone calls and writing letters...in addition to processing with our families and teaching our children...what else can we do?
We can hold our people close.
We can lead our teams with compassion.
We can refuse to do business as usual.
We can acknowledge, personally and professionally, how the world seems to be falling apart.
We can increase our capacity for grief.
We can make space for one another’s humanity.
We can, together, be present to it all.
In holding these questions, and aspirations, in heart and mind, here’s a short list of a few ways you can lead your team and others during a racial crisis. Educating yourself is so important, but I’m also aware that learning takes a lot of time. Here are a few things you can do today to hold space for yourself and those who look to you for guidance in the midst of social trauma and racial tragedy.
Do a self-check in. How are you, really? Take 30-minutes or more to journal, go for a walk, to pray, to reflect. Use a feelings wheel to identify where you’re at and what you need to stay afloat.
Host a team check-in. Add this to your next meeting agenda. You can use the feelings wheel and/or a talking stick. Ask people how they are doing and make room for them to respond. If people are slow to discuss, or if you don’t have that level of trust on your team, give everyone an index card and let them write it there. The goal here is to simply make space.
Schedule a more formal group dialogue time. This one takes some finesse and facilitation skills. You may even need ground rules or group agreements. The Diversity Gap has a Conversation Guide that could be a good start. Set aside time for people to specifically talk about diversity, race, and justice.
Provide stipends for therapy. Let your team know that if they need extra funds to see their therapist or counselor in the coming weeks, that you’ve got them covered.
Cover the cost of a subscription to a meditation app. Calm and Headspace are great options.
Offer an extra day (or two) of PTO to those who need the mental health break.
Restate your organization’s commitment to diversity, reconciliation, and justice. Share what you are doing to shift your culture. And if diversity has taken a backseat due to the pandemic, create a plan to re-engage as soon as possible.
These are a few ways you can make a difference today. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but your willingness to acknowledge the impact these tragedies have on the people in your midst speaks volumes.
I’m with you as we navigate these painful and challenging times.
With love,
Bethaney