On Leadership: Lessons from President Elect Biden

The night Joe Biden was declared President-Elect, in their first public remarks, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden explicitly named systemic racism and their mission to uproot it. In their first public action, they put together a diverse, multicultural team of experts to lead the United States’ fight against COVID, and named combatting the racial impact of as central to our healing.

Of course words and plans are not sufficient to bring forth justice, but they are necessary. Often leaders choose to avoid race talk, as they fear the inevitable backlash. However, the great ones learn to welcome and grow from the negative reactions. They recognize that the only way through the challenge is through it! There is no way to avoid difficult conversations and create an organizational culture of equity and belonging, in which all feel valued and respected.

Our willingness to lead is related to our sense of racial competence, our ability to understand race from historical, systemic, and development perspectives; to engage in the inner work of awareness of our conditioning; and to take action with accountability that stems from this awareness. Learning to recognize racial competence in others is a potent way to sharpen it in ourselves.