There Must Be Action...Mellody Hobson

"...corporate America is on notice. You can't just talk about issues. There must be action. Talk is cheap." 

--Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO & President, Ariel Investments

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com provides #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. 

Mellody Hobson has been a leading and consistent voice on racial inequality in corporate America and its unwillingness to be accountable for making meaningful change. In a frank conversation with the @TheEconomist's Anne McElvoy, Ms. Hobson speaks about how corporations can be braver on race and hold themselves accountable for the change that is needed.

Mellody's talk is required viewing for all leaders working for change as it relates to diversity and inclusion, and racial equity. Check out, "How can business be braver on race?"

Follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter at @LeadershipTues to see daily posts with resources that help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills.

#Leadership Tuesdays: Leading In A Crisis

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts."

--Abraham Lincoln

To effectively lead people in a crisis, you must have the trust of the people you lead. How do you gain their trust? You gain their trust by telling them the truth about the situation and the path forward. Telling the truth builds trust, lying destroys trust. Give them the facts, don't give them spin. People know integrity when they see it.

Secondly, they must believe that you care about them and their wellbeing. Listen to them. Talk to them, not at or down to them. Walk with them. Empathize with them.

Also, please know that your track record matters. If you have been tone deaf in the past, or if you have been callous or untrustworthy, people are not going to trust you. They're going to trust your actions.

As crisis manager and lawyer Judy Smith said, "There's always an opportunity with crisis. Just as it forces an individual to look inside himself, it forces [an organization] to reexamine its policies and practices." A crisis is not the end of the world. It can be the beginning of something much better than what was before if leaders meet the challenge with integrity and a commitment to change.

If we look at our current national crisis, the #BlackLivesMatter protesters are saying what we have, the policies, systemic racism, and callousness regarding black and minority lives when it comes to police accountability, is not working. Do you hear them? Don't be tone deaf.

We must take this opportunity to build something better now. But it must start with the truth. What we have is not working for all. Only then can we move to build something better that includes accountability, true equality and opportunities for all.

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com provides #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter at @LeadershipTues to see daily posts with resources that help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills.

#LeadershipTuesdays: His Dream Still Speaks To Us...Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The ultimate measure of a man [woman] is not where he [she] stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he [she] stands in times of challenge and controversy.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Prints are available of this artwork by Derek Russell.
Go to: http://www.derekrussellartist.com

On Tuesdays, @womenatliberty presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today marks the 90th anniversary of the birthdate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Had he been afforded the opportunity to live out his normal life expectancy, he may have been around to celebrate his 90th birthday. Who knows, his sister, Christine King Farris, a powerful force in her own right, is still alive at 91. 

Alas, we will never know an older Martin King, but what we do know is his dream, his words, his legacy are timeless. Just as his dream inspired a generation and a nation more than 50 years ago, it inspires and calls us forth today. The dream still whispers to our conscience, our spirit, our heart, saying "Where do you stand and what are you doing?"

Today, King's articulated dream has more meaning now than ever. As 800,000 federal government employees went without a paycheck last Friday; 30,000 Los Angeles, CA County educators serving the second largest school district in the U.S. enter into their second day of a labor strike; the unemployment rate is at an all time low but yet the rate for Africans Americans is still almost twice that of White Americans; women are still likely to be paid less than their male counterparts even when all other things are equal; and minorities including Native Americans, Latinx and Asians have to continually fight not to be type cast into societal roles and stereotypes that do not reflect their skills and individual potential, the dream, Martin's dream, still speaks to us. Again, it's saying, 'Where are you standing and what are you doing?' Do you hear it? In the #BlackLivesMatter movement, in the fight for immigration rights, in the women's movement. Do you hear Martin's voice and dream?  

Those words "I have a dream today..." spoken from the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 changed our lives and inspired several generations of leaders and ordinary Americans in addition to those standing at the March On Washington with him. That was yesterday, but today as we stand yet fighting for equality and civil, human and economic rights, his voice is still heard. What is his dream challenging the leader in you to do? Because there is a leader in you.

For more information on #LeadershipTuesdays, follow us at @LeadershipTues on Twitter.  There you will find daily posts that provides resources to help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills. 

--Nona Ogunsula, Founder, womenatliberty.com and #LeadershipTuesdays

Image credit: Derek Russell