The transitional level includes a focus on organizational rituals such as values, strategies, principles, and standards.

My Black manager felt like she was operating just fine and didn’t lose any sleep over other people’s expectations. Her persona was deeply reflected in her leadership style, to the point that it made many folks feel uncomfortable. Her style was far too unfamiliar, which was a problem for

The surface level is the safest, most comfortable, and most familiar area. Many leaders only go deeper when their company forces them to do so.

Diversity:

“selective listening.”

Companies want to do better so they hire their first Black person at an executive level. But, six months later, that same hire is already drained. They are being held to a standard that isn’t authentic to them, a standard that preceded them and was developed by people with opposite KPEs. Unless they voluntarily submit to losing themselves in the

many of my coworkers. Many years later, I realized that she was unapologetically breaking the mold.

mistakenly assumed that these unquestioned beliefs made their culture great.

You have to go to uncomfortable places and stay there for long periods of time. You have to regularly take steps back and evaluate whether or not your actions align with your culture. It can be challenging to go deep—it’s commonly difficult to get to those areas because we may not know that those areas are important, we may not have the right