Closing the Leadership Gap: Achieving True Equity in Management

Authors: Dr. Mayra Austin and Danielle Nava-Mijares, MAOL

Thank you for reading our article. Here at Management Cues, we regularly write about management trends.

Beyond the Buzz: Making Management Equity a Reality in the Workplace

Today, concepts like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are integral to discussions around leadership, management, organizational development, workplace culture, and organizational success. While diversity speaks to the presence of differences, equity ensures fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all individuals. Inclusion fosters a sense of belonging by valuing and respecting, and intentionally making space for these differences.

In our experience and observations at Management Cues, managers and leaders often miss those distinctions in the workplace and are not prepared to address or act on them in their day-to-day interactions.

U.S. workplace demographics and the level of cultural competency across organizations speaks clearly to a fervent need for education and training around cultural beings.

According to Zippia, The Career Expert, there are over 1,920,990 managers currently in the U.S. workforce. In The U.S. Bureau of Labor highlights on labor statistics for 2023, there is a significant lack of representation within management roles and related occupations, which is crucial for driving effective DEI initiatives.

Achieving true workforce equity, particularly in the management space, remains a challenge for many organizations and hence so does identifying their potential capacity to lead. Central to overcoming this challenge is a heightened absence of awareness of the issues and a committed effort to address them.

Increased DEI awareness and knowledge around management and leadership practices includes, but is not limited to these five best practices:

1. Face the facts: Acknowledge the long-term damage of outdated, biased policies and practices. It’s a humbling task, and outside support might be necessary.

2. Create brave spaces: Encourage open dialogue with a diverse group of employees to examine outdated practices for hidden biases and exclusion.

3. Prioritize fixes: Commit to addressing both short-term and long-term solutions—no more waiting.

4. Seek feedback, take action: Don’t shy away from feedback, even if it feels overwhelming. Share findings, make actionable changes, and involve the entire organization.

5. Communicate transparently: Share both wins and setbacks openly. Build a sense of “we” rather than “us vs. them.”

It is important to these efforts that DEI work should not be seen as one department’s responsibility or work that is built solely on the shoulders of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals or leaders of color in an organization.

In our experience, many organizations treat DEI as a checkbox exercise, opting for the easiest wins or avoiding it altogether because it feels "too difficult." Managers bare the impact of this approach through a trickle down effect and ultimately experience gaps in handling that easily result in legal and business risk.

Quick change is often sought to soften the discomfort the awareness brings.  Managers are cautioned often times by leaders, to not quantify equity work in the same way one might with other business outcomes.

Productive discomfort is necessary to move these efforts forward and create intentional climate and culture change.

When we, as decision makers, enter this work, we need to commit to it for the long and messy haul.  Otherwise efforts may be experienced as performative both by internal and external clients. The old adage of “when the tough gets going, the going gets tough” rings true in this case.  When emotions arise, leaders might become fearful and try to “make nice” and table conversations so that things can calm down.  Instead of calm however, festering and resentment can develop in those around us, employee satisfaction can decline, and a breakdown of culture and climate can occur.

When it gets tough, this is often indicative that the real issues are being revealed and repair and communication can begin.

Organizations don’t become equitable overnight or because they say they are; or because they read a couple of books on the topic; or even because in earlier efforts, leaders have diversified the employee demographics.

Operational and organizational excellences takes leaders making informed intentional decisions and managers understanding what complimentary and effective tactics should follow.

As leaders, we aren’t counting widgets here! We aren’t completing a puzzle that needs one piece to fit in a designated spot.  We are talking about correcting systemic inequity stemming from hundreds of years of segregation, segmentation, and underrepresentation that shows up in daily interactions and experiences for our managers and our teams.

People are complex and multidimensional…and so is the work of DEI.

Understanding Workforce Equity

Workforce equity can require different things from different businesses depending on their disposition.  In the management space, this involves ensuring that leadership roles are accessible to all, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, abilities, or other characteristics. It also means creating an environment where all employees feel valued and supported to reach their full potential.

The Current State of Management Equity

Many organizations still struggle to achieve true equity in management, with leadership often less diverse than the broader workforce. Women, people of color, and other historically marginalized groups remain underrepresented in executive roles due to implicit bias, limited mentorship, and systemic barriers. Positively, two-thirds of companies now include both company-specific demographics and EEOC categories in their reports, according to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. However, while recruitment may be more inclusive, fostering an inclusive organizational culture requires intentional effort and effective tactical execution. Without cultural shifts, effective training, and support for diversity, retention remains a challenge.

Advancing  DEI Efforts

Awareness is the first step in realizing that diversity isn’t just about numbers—it’s about people and their experiences. True progress requires going beyond awareness to understanding issues that may not directly impact us.

For us to move the needle toward creating a more equitable management landscape creating opportunities for both increased knowledge and skill-building is key.

Here’s why:

1. Identifying Barriers:

Awareness and knowledge helps organizations identify the barriers that prevent equitable participation in management or leadership. This could include recognizing unconscious biases in hiring and promotion practices or understanding how corporate policies might inadvertently favor certain groups over others. This awareness comes from necessary discovery work which usually and unfortunately stems from employee grievances. Enlisting an outside professional to support, guide or consult may be useful for objective, experienced support. A leader’s self awareness is one of the first barriers to check for.

2. Cultivating An Inclusive Culture and Climate:

When managers and leaders become more aware of the important value the work of DEI is, they are more likely to create opportunities to foster an inclusive culture. This involves supporting and co-creating a workplace where all voices are heard and valued, and where diverse perspectives are seen as a strength rather than a challenge. In this case, managers need to be able to do their own work on checking for personal implicit bias, challenging their own schemas, and altering their own practices.

3. Assess and Drive Positive Policy Changes:

Awareness can lead managers to support leadership develop a new lens when evaluating policies.  This can drive policy changes that promote equitable practices and increase accessibility. For example, an organization that recognizes a gender disparity in its management or leadership might implement mentorship programs specifically aimed at developing female talent or review its parental leave policies to support work-life balance better.

4. Enhancing Recruitment and Retention:

Addressing issues and being aware of the below the surface issues can improve recruitment and retention strategies. Organizations that prioritize equity are more attractive to top talent, particularly among younger generations who value social responsibility and inclusivity in their employers.

Strategies to Increase Awareness

To increase awareness of workforce equity issues, organizations can implement several strategies:

1. Education and Professional Development Training:

Invest and implement effective and ongoing DEI management training programs that guide managers and leaders through their own journey and relationship with equity and inclusion.  Training and development cannot be a “one and done”. These on-going programs can include workshops, role-playing exercises, discussions on relevant laws and upcoming legislation, and how these elements relate to their personal success in their roles. Link training back to areas the management is responsible for and are quantified like productivity, output, team building, innovation, and turnover.

2. Data Collection and Analysis:

Collect and analyze data on employee demographics, hiring, exits, promotions, terminations and pay equity. Combine this critical information with performance metrics. This isn't solely an HR responsibility—managers are the owners of these outcomes. By leveraging this data, you can identify disparities, track progress over time, and enhance overall profitability. DEI work is known to increase productivity and better outcomes including employee morale. It’s imperative to recognize that the work must be people centered.

3. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs):

Offer support in the formation of ERGs. These groups provide a safe place for underrepresented groups to voice their concerns and offer recommendations for improving equity within the organization. Naming and addressing concerns is  proactive and having space to develop and offer solutions to support the wellness of the organization’s functions is empowering.  When employees have the chance to create and support positive change, their buy-in increases in all areas.

4. Leadership Commitment:

Ensure that senior leaders and decision makers receive training and are able to process their own relationship with principles of DEI.  Leadership across the organization must be visibly committed to DEI initiatives and have true buy-in.  Without support, training and coaching, leaders may feel resentful, angry and forced. To avoid this reaction, normalizing uncomfortable conversations is central to the success of this work.  Additionally, tasks like setting specific goals around culture and climate , regularly communicating about organizational DEI efforts, and creating opportunities to talk about tangible outcomes as a team is valuable and lends itself to develop non performative strategies.

Mastering Communication Training Bundle

Conclusion

Achieving workforce equity in management is an ongoing, intentional commitment rather than a one-time effort. By fostering awareness, knowledge, developing culturally responsive tools and strategies, and skill-building, we can create intentional practices and ways of being  that eliminate barriers to equity. Developing and implementing strategies to address these barriers enables organizations to create a more inclusive and fair workplace for all employees. This approach can lead to better performance results, increased innovation, enhanced creativity, and higher internal customer satisfaction, ultimately cultivating a more engaged, inclusive, and productive workforce.

Through Management Cues and our partners, like NAVA Consulting, we help ensure that embracing DEI is not merely about meeting moral compliance or ethical obligations. It's about harnessing the full potential of a diverse workforce to achieve greater organizational success without fear of making mistakes.

As awareness grows, so too will the opportunities for creating a truly equitable management space and maximizing the potential in your environment.

You can learn more about DEI management and our training programs by utilizing tools like our management planner and other Management Cues resources that will help managers succeed. Management resources and training are available www.managementcues.org.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/closing-leadership-gap-achieving-true-equity-management-rqbsc/?trackingId=0RrOQY6eSYeSdr4xUwQebA%3D%3D

The Critical Role of Cultural Responsiveness in Today’s Nonprofits

A culturally responsive workplace is crucial in bringing out the best in your team.

Today, our organizations are the most diverse they’ve ever been, with individuals from five generations co-existing in the workplace. In a world fueled by the immediacy of social media and constant news updates, we are continuing to diversify. Nonprofits are encountering potential workers who are linguistically, ideologically, and culturally different. And these new workers often do not aspire to assimilate to what has always been in terms of workplace culture and expectations.

As both educator and nonprofit leader, I have experienced the value and need to engage in culturally responsive practices. As I grow older in years and in my field, it’s imperative that I know, understand, and challenge myself to lead in a mindful way.

Some might assert that we, as a society, are just too sensitive — that we can’t and shouldn’t try to appease and include everyone. I beg to differ.

Now as then, we need cultural responsiveness.

In the late 1990s, I was introduced to scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings, who coined the concept of culturally responsive teaching. At the time, I was an anti-bias educator, working with new teachers who were from suburban areas going to teach in urban and rural settings. Creating connections for students to the material and in considerations of their assets, the new educators were in need of a fresh lens and approach. Here, I found culturally responsive teaching to bridge the gap between the teachers and their students.

But this gap exists in our workplaces as well, separating employees from one another (and from leadership). That is, our workplaces also need a fresher approach. While culturally responsive leadership historically has been centered in education, its practices are invaluable to the nonprofit sector as well.

To be clear, establishing a culturally responsive workplace is a crucial step in bringing out the best in your team. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are not just words organizations repeat; they are the foundations of who we are, and they are the steps we must continue to take.1 That is, organizations must work to foster DEIB in both external and internal practices for better productivity, effectiveness, and quality.

What is culturally responsive leadership (CRL)?

The CRL framework refers to a set of philosophies, practices, and policies that are adaptable and receptive to change. Culturally responsive leadership (CRL) is a framework that encompasses philosophies, practices, and policies that are adaptable and responsive to cultural diversity.

Culturally responsive leadership understands the cultural heritage and nuances of clients, employees, and communities. Culturally responsive leaders strive to have a broader, global perspective. These leaders are aware of their own values, commitments, beliefs, and prejudices as well as the way they utilize their power and influence. In this awareness, they are not afraid to question themselves.

Such leadership requires personal bravery: in the pursuit of learning, one must risk being a naïve offender, accepting that you are not an expert though you might be in a position of power. Culturally responsive leaders are committed to continuous learning and addressing any service delivery gaps or inequities. Such constant learning may — and probably even should — reveal systems of inequity and oppression; as such, leaders need to prepare to challenge such systems, which might also include a critique of themselves. Culturally responsive leaders, then, recognize the importance of empathy and cultural humility, understanding that leadership is a process (not an end) through which we continue to learn how to lead.

When I discuss the importance of CRL, I often hear the same responses: “This is the way we’ve always approached the work.” Or: “Our practices reflect how we do business and our team needs to get on board.” In response to these concerns, I want to be clear: practicing culturally responsive leadership doesn’t mean we lose but rather enhance our business practices. Our organizations must grow with the times. In the pursuit of equity and inclusion, we gain new perspectives — which means we sometimes (hopefully) lose outdated paradigms and practices.

By becoming more culturally responsive leaders, nonprofit organizations have the opportunity to be great agents of change in business practices. As we all well know, this sector often attracts workers who want to make a difference in society or in the world, and this invites more mindful awareness of and perspectives concerning the communities they serve.

So, what does culturally responsiveness look like in practice?

Every generation claims there is more diversity in the workplace than before — and each of them are correct. In the nonprofit sector especially, more and more workers are demanding freedom to be fully authentic, to show up as their full selves rather than having to hide parts of themselves in their work settings.

To address these wants and needs, many organizations are using affinity groups or employee resource groups as a way to become more culturally responsive. This is a wonderful recognition that younger generations are living out loud more so than any other generation has had the liberty to do so.

But affinity groups are not the only CRL strategy. In fact, CRL practices reach wide and far, ranging in terms of relative effort as well. Let me give you a few examples. Low-effort activities might include creating or updating email signature lines to include pronouns as an organization-wide practice. On the other hand, a moderate-effort activity could include writing a branding manual that includes how your staff and board talk about clients, identifying terms to avoid – terms like “at risk,” “poverty-stricken,” or “living in poverty.” Lastly, high-effort activities could include making single use office bathrooms gender neutral as well as re-evaluating pay scales to reflect equity pay for similar jobs. The list can go on (and I’d encourage you to share your own CRL practices, and denote their relative effort level, below)!

How do we become culturally responsive leaders?

At the root, culturally responsive leaders understand that culture is more than color and race; culture also encompasses a group’s collective ways of thinking, believing, and knowing. This includes shared experiences, consciousness, skills, values, forms of expression, social belongings, and behaviors as well as the organizational culture’s way of being.

This kind of leadership calls for shared decision-making2 as well as the sharing of perspectives. Such conversations allow both formal and informal leaders to help make decisions that align with stakeholder needs and expectations, especially where the implementation of programs or services are concerned. Most importantly, perhaps, being culturally responsive is not a top-down leadership approach. That is, organizations whose leaders embrace culturally responsive change efforts acknowledge the role of lower-power actors in assessing stakeholder needs. And indeed, this very practice can change how successful nonprofit organizations are in serving their clientele.

For example, one of my favorite practices involves creating a rotational facilitator for every staff meeting. That person (or team) has the opportunity to organize the meeting in any way they would like, often in ways that highlight their individual and gifts. Basically, this meeting leader is responsible for supporting the team in getting the information necessary to enhance and support the organization’s work. I have found this practice to be particularly successful in uplifting multiple voices, centering staff needs, and allowing for multiple perspectives to surface.

Another of my favorite practices involves allowing staff to co-develop community guidelines. These are especially effective in terms of creating staff-sourced measures for collaboration and conflict resolution, as the definitions for both of these can vary widely — as can preferred practices. These processes also encourage the natural evolution of leadership while creating opportunities to subvert typical leadership hierarchies by placing executive leadership in learning positions.

You must be willing to both challenge…

Culturally responsive leaders must question their organization, its culture, practices, and processes. That is, they must assess organizational culture before implementing new business strategies to ensure the alignment of current or proposed business strategies. As organizational leaders, they must ask themselves, “How does this strategy meet the needs of who receives our services and who delivers them?”

But these leaders do not simply ask these questions of themselves. That is, culturally responsive leaders must be willing to start these conversations around such organizational topics with coaches, mentors, and their peers. They also must be willing to bring these conversations to the people, involving their teams in similar conversations and modeling the willingness to learn from each other. After all, reading books on these issues is important but actively talking about these issues can be incredibly powerful in terms of paradigm shifting.3

In these conversations, it is important to remember that everyone has mental models of how things “should” work or be. However, being able to leverage five generations in the workforce — each with their own unique gifts and genius — provides organizations an opportunity to shine in how we deliver and serve.

….and be challenged.

At the same time, culturally responsive leaders must also be willing to assess their own leadership. Culturally responsive leaders recognize that it’s important to be aware of biases and how these biases can impact behavior towards other people (especially those on their team). As we’re all probably aware, these biases can be subtle and unconscious, but they can still send unintended (and anti-productive) messages.

Of course, we are often totally unaware of our biases — that’s what we call (and why we call it) unconscious bias. You might see this bias rear its ugly head in your triggers, especially in what triggers your frustration in your staff. This can look manifest in your annoyance in a staff member’s relationship with time or how they pronounce a word (or accents in general), process information, receive/give feedback, and/or respond to conflict. Your frustrations may stem from unconscious biases about a person’s racial, cultural, ethnic identity rather than their actions. That is, your triggers have more to do with you than they do with them.

So what do we do about biases we’re unaware of? Well, one of my favorite tools to begin the internal dialogue about unconscious bias(es) is Elena Aguilar’s Reflecting on My Own Bias activity. This tool asks the questions that afford a non-judgmental look at one’s own behaviors and beliefs. This information could be startling for some, but also be an invitation to learn more about one’s self. Again, your biases (and frustration therein) are really about you, not the other person.

Ultimately, assessing our own biases and fostering diversity in the workplace supports better leadership by creating a more positive and productive work environment where people feel they belong and are committed to something bigger. In the nonprofit workplace especially, many of the younger staff are looking for connection and alignment to their own lives, values, and way of being. On the other hand, more seasoned generations can be and are inspired and motivated by thinking about their legacy to their own communities, families, and important causes. The goal is to put such different staff communities in conversation with each other, as dialogue is what helps to make people feel as though they belong. And the first step to creating this belonging is by assessing your own biases to ensure that people feel safe enough to share.

Cultural responsiveness is not the destination but the journey.

Really, culturally responsive leadership is not a style; it’s who we become in the process of inclusion. It is a conscious way — of showing up, of being in the world, of teaching and learning, of creating space — for people to thrive, excel, and represent while being seen, heard, and valued. It’s both what we (continuously) do and who we are.

For decades, our workplaces have often centered whiteness and gendered practices. Many of those traditions have been challenged at the bare minimum, perhaps diminished, and yet, they still exist. To say that the whole sector is social justice minded would be an unfair characterization of the nonprofit world.

However, I have always experienced nonprofits as creative thinkers who dwell outside of the box, crafting solutions with care in the hopes of doing good in the world. And I hang my hope on personal experience that the nonprofit sector has the ability to become the ones to watch, as the facilitators of culturally responsive workplace practices. Like most journeys, this is one best taken together.

Footnotes:

For more on moving beyond performance, check out this article: Making DEI Actionable. ↩︎

For more on what collective leadership can look like, check out this article: Unlocking Potential. ↩︎

If you’re not already familiar, Kay Pranis’ work on restorative practices provides content on improving communication, including affective statements and active listening. ↩︎

About the Author

Author photo: Danielle Nava-Mijares

Danielle Nava-Mijares

Board Member at Fullerton Museum Center

In 2017, Danielle Nava-Mijares retired from a 25-year career in human relations/social justice nonprofit work. She started her consulting coaching practice in commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and a plan to support transformation in the lives of people. She is a consultant and coach to several nonprofits and school districts.

She supports organizations in developing more inclusive and equitable workplaces where people can show up authentically and showcase their genius and talents. Her strategies, approaches, and designs have earned her long-time client loyalty and recognition at the local and state levels. Danielle’s areas of expertise include restorative justice and non-verbal communication.

Danielle is a devoted daughter, mama, wife, friend, and community volunteer. She is a seeker of justice, protector of human rights, hoarder of books, and lover of coffee. She lives in Orange County, CA in an 80-year-old house with her husband and son. She is a proud board member of Fullerton Museum Center who is committed to increasing community accessibility.

https://blueavocado.org/leadership-and-management/cultural-responsiveness/

This article originally appeared in the online Blue Avocado Magazine on May 21, 2024 written by Danielle Nava-Mijares of Nava Consulting LLC

The Nonverbal Advantage: Your 5 Tips to Boost Your Influence

You and most anyone, can improve body language to increase presence, influence and confidence. Many of us don’t realize that in everything we do, we are communicating something. The question is, are we communicating what we want to be communicating?

Nonverbal communication makes up the majority of our communication…up to 93%! 

I know, right?  Your facial expressions, your tone of voice, the way you wear your hair, make up, jewelry, your clothes and your body language, like hand gestures and posture are all telling a story…your story.  The important question is the story we’re telling the story we want to be telling?

Taking control of our non verbal communication can help us communicate our messages more effectively and increase our influence by reinforcing our verbal communication with our non verbal reinforcements.

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Show your hands.  Hands are trust factors so when you hide them in your pockets or under a table or desk at meeting or interviews you are essentially telling people you are hiding something even if you aren’t.  This makes trust building hard to take place reducing your trust, know and like factorability.

2. Perfect your handshake.  A happy hormone is generated through touch and a good handshake equates to two hours of face time, so make sure yours is firm, vertical and dry. Keep it to one to two pumps. Any more and it’s just uncomfortable.  

3. Gaze with purpose for impact. You want to be intentional about looking in to people’s eyes, but you don’t want to bring too much intensity to most social exchanges.  It can feel overly aggressive. Great eye contact is no more than 70%.  Any thing less makes you look avoidant or uninterested and any thing more like a creep.   Don’t be a creep. 

4. Power Pose before your next big thing. That’s right, channel your inner Wonder Woman and strike a pose before you leave the house, in the ladies room or even in your office before walking into a big meeting.  This pose opens up your chest allowing you to take in deeper breaths and it changes our posture.  Mix in a mantra like, “You got this mama!” and immediately you will feel more energized. 

5. Front with people. When we like something, we turn our whole body towards it, especially pointing our feet toward it.  Whether it be a sound, sight, smell, person or thing, we give it full attention by facing it.  When someone you want to make an impact or impression front with them.  It makes people feel valued or feel  your genuine interest or support with this non verbal cue.  After all, who doesn’t want to feel important?

These sound simple, right?  They are and can have great impact, but you need to practice them.  

Take on one of these skills to practice every day.  Once it feels comfortable and easy, move on to the next one.  

These five practices will become part of your everyday experience with practice and they will amp up your presence and influence simply because you’re intentionally putting others at ease and exuding confidence. 

This piece first appeared in Mompreneuer Success Network online publication