Thought Leadership
A thought leader is an individual or organization that is recognized as an expert in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and followed by others. Thought leaders are commonly asked to share their insights through speaking at public events and webinars, or as authors in articles and blogs. As communicators in an organization, it is paramount to uplift the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion as you support the organization's thought leadership.
We’ve created these seven tips with the communicator in mind. It’s flexible, so use it as a checklist, a launching point for a discussion, or even an assessment survey to improve your DEI communications.
Leadership
Position diverse voices in your organization as thought leaders.
Whether it’s a blog post reacting to current events, or a call-to-action advertisement, don’t simply feature the head of your organization. The McArthur Foundation's “Philanthropy, Privilege, and Racial Justice” blog post on Medium is a great example of a public collaboration that surfaced multiple points of view.
Create opportunities for people in your organization to share their perspectives and ideas publicly. This may be monthly blog posts, contributing articles to various publications, or a highlight on the website. There are rising leaders from all departments and locations who are eager to represent your organization.
Support those in your organization who seek to share their insights with style guides, language guides, and editing resources.
Learn More: DEI Starts With Us
Acknowledge the privilege and power of a thought leader.
Examine existing power dynamics between leadership and the communities they’re speaking out on behalf of.
Don’t just use thought leaders externally. Through mentorship, leaders can empower and equip a diverse array of passionate individuals within your organization with the tools and strategies they need to be vocal about issues central to your organization.
Cultivate authentic thought leaders who inspire trustworthiness. Leaders who possess humility are constantly learning and adjusting their outlook to better serve community members.
You do not have to be a person of color to talk about racism.
Do your research and have an understanding of the impact of racism on everyday lives, the systems that perpetuate it, and its historical roots.
Find your own voice. Find the perspective that you personally relate to and can articulate to an audience that connects with you.
It is okay to not have all of the answers. The important thing is to uplift the questions and call people to think more deeply about the norms in our society.
Learn More: You Do Not Need to Be Black, To Know That Black Lives Matter
Effective leaders possess humility and acknowledge that everyone has room to grow.
When reacting to current events, be honest. Employees value transparent, raw, authentic communications. Those in leadership positions should clearly articulate how they’re feeling, and tie it into the broader moment — how did the disparities come about, how does it relate to systemic racism, etc?
Be curious and comfortable with not knowing. Don’t let your discomfort around topics of racism get in the way of a productive discussion. Humility can be an incredible asset, allowing you to learn, listen, and grow from Black and brown staff members.
Be internal champions of change before making a public announcement. Your humility must extend internally before you go external with it. Don’t go public with your DEI “victory” before you’ve done the work internally at the leadership level.
Learn More: Building an equitable workplace: Senior leaders’ role
Be aware that others model your behavior.
Use your thought leader’s platform to uplift the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and influence the narrative through these ideals.
Find opportunities to speak out about racial injustice even when it seemingly doesn’t directly apply to your organization’s work. Every person and community is impacted by racial injustice and therefore, directly or indirectly, it does apply to your work.
Use the organization’s website to share DEI and racial equity insights and resources. The Heinz Foundation's website is a great example of an organization utilizing their public facing platform to promote and educate.
Learn More: Race Conversations Guide
Pay attention to accessibility of information.
In the event space, combat exclusivity by offering recaps, lessons, and free tutorials that run adjacent to the gathering. Use digital technology to your advantage by recording audio or streaming live video with closed captions.
Stay away from all forms of jargon. Complicating intellectual ideas and spaces is a clear way to exclude large sectors of the population. Use language that anyone can understand in order for all people to be receptive to lessons from leaders.
When physically gathering and showcasing thought leadership, make sure it’s available in a variety of formats. The last thing you want to do is lock an individual out because they can’t access your event space or your online quiz.
Learn More: How to Ensure Accessible Events
Create opportunities for non-leaders to learn from thought leaders.
All staff members are stakeholders and representatives of your organization. Create opportunities for staff to attend conferences and meetings to expand their expertise.
Give your employees the space and freedom to grow as leaders by supporting their individual perspectives and allowing them to share them within the organization and externally.
Ask for internal feedback. Organization staff members will likely have a keen awareness and familiarity with the subject of the event. Their thoughts and opinions on how things ran will be crucial to assessing how it went.
Learn More: Five Reasons to Send Your Staff to Industry Events
“...racism is pervasive and persistent. If we can’t address it directly, we will make little progress. It may be difficult to hear the pain and often anger that is expressed from communities of color and understand what it means unless there is an authentic commitment to confront bias and hate, respect experiences different than your own and understand current and historical data and its implications.”
Carmen Anderson, Director of Equity and Social Justice, Heinz Endowment