A 3-Step Clarity Process to Flourish as a Black Man in Corporate America
A study shows that over half of Black employees face discrimination at work. Among the 500 Fortune Companies, only five CEOs are Black executives. It may sound shocking, though it’s true. What’s more tragic is that only 3.2% of executives in the US are Black.
Nike stands among the top employers raising concerns about inclusivity, diversity, and equality. However, all five of their executives on the top of the corporate ladder are White. Their management's endeavor to bring more Black representation in its executive suite is an ongoing struggle.
The discrimination is not only evident in the proportion of Black executives, but it is also clearly visible in the compensation top executives get. Black executives receive 13% less compensation than their White counterparts. This is demotivating as Black executives are getting paid less for doing the same job only because of their skin color.
The Struggle for Black Men in the Corporate Arena
For more than 400 years, Blacks in the United States have been under the domination of a culture of White supremacy. With this being the case, Black men in the corporate world face the problem of having to code-switch and constantly adjust to attempt to not come across as threatening to their white counterparts. This includes changes in their vocabulary, tone, body posture, verbal syntax, hairstyles, clothing choices, partner choices, and more.
Why emotional intelligence?
In case you've been at the receiving end of discrimination, you may feel overwhelmed emotionally.
However, you have the opportunity to demonstrate the use of emotional intelligence to your advantage. Remember, by learning how to use emotional intelligence to your benefit you can promote relationships of harmony with your non-Black (and Black) counterparts.
I recommend using the 3-step Clarity Process:
Learn Emotional Literacy
In a survey by Harvard Business Review, findings from most of the White respondents revealed that Black employees who used the tools associated with emotional literacy had benefited from the updated approach.
Remember that emotional literacy is not a new concept that emerged with globalization and corporations promoting multi-ethnic values. In many ways, emotional literacy and the act of healing have always been connected to the act of Black people surviving enslavement in the US. Now emotional literacy is connected to their struggle for their right to equal treatment without discrimination in the workplace
To learn how self-awareness could become your strength and help you master emotional literacy, visit my site https://blackexecutivemen.com/
Intensity Scores
When we talk about intensity scores, it means that to what degree you experience emotions in work situations. High-intensity scores could lead to maladaptive behavior or unhealthy coping skills.
In a survey by Harvard Business Review, Black executives who resorted to using emotional intelligence reported that emotional labor without these skills had previously caused them exhaustion.
It could be discouraging if a person experiences burnout as a result of emotional labor without the skills to process it. Additionally, most Black men from the corporate world also cite the reason that it's a great burden on their shoulders to show empathy and compassion for others when the same is not afforded for them.
Getting Your Thoughts in the Equation
Our thought process plays a prominent role in how we feel about any given situation. The recurrences of racial events that we experience in our everyday life can cause us emotional pain. This emotional pain could become the cause of secondary trauma. Since Black people have a group-level consciousness, they empathize with the person who's publicly abused or victimized by racists. Black men, in particular, are often immediately sensitive to this reality and immediately identify with that person being abused.
Emotional intelligence is both the reason for the solution and the cause of the problem...
At one end we see emotional literacy as a solution to our problems. While people with insensitive remarks towards Black men in the corporate world show a clear absence of emotional literacy or care.
Such people who make debasing remarks may themselves be victims of extreme self-preservation. A lack of ability to self-reflect upon their behavior and primary attitude robs them of the gift of empathizing with others. Thus, they are in turn motivated to be inequitable to others.
Therefore, to improve our mental capacity, we must conduct some honest self-reflection.
To know more about how the 3-Step Clarity Process works, you may check other insightful videos available on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqZ0wwYiPJS4jBP2xItydQ
If you're looking for psychotherapy or coaching and want to begin with a one-on-one session free consultation, you may take a direct initial consultation call with me.