How to celebrate Black History Month with Superstar Communicator

How can you celebrate Black History Month with SuperStar Communicator? Easy! We are featuring outstanding experts from the Black community to highlight the depth of talent and also discussing how we can all support talent from this community.

It is very easy to believe that everyone is the same; that they will have the same experiences; that others will respond to them in the same way as everyone else. The reality is very different. Having listened to a number of incredibly talented black people over the years, these are some of the additional challenges they face, in order to be taken seriously.

• Unconscious bias related to their performance, attitude and loyalty to work. We all have unconscious bias; but being aware that we could be making a decision based on previous experiences rather than the person in front of us.
• Myths: related to misconceptions around different groups – of which black people are one group. Coming from Birmingham, I have experienced many myths about Brummies, from being told we are all lazy; thieves (yes, unbelievable) and illiterate. But I understand these myths, are considerably worse for black people.
• Being blind to differences: I understand that something that black people really find uncomfortable is the comment “You’re just like us”. Most know that this is meant in a kind, friendly, inclusive way. But the reality is that we all have a different lens and experience of life. I cannot fully appreciate what it feels like to be followed round a shop because of my appearance; for a high ranking barrister to be mistaken for a cleaner – or worse the defendant in court.
• Ignorance: individuals not appreciating that our attitudes could be blind to the most talented candidate in a recruitment or promotion situation. That having a diversity and inclusion programme within an organisation makes the company stronger and values everyone’s contributions.

I am often asked, how you can ensure that job opportunities are visible to excellent clients from the black community. You can advertise in The Voice Online.

Listen to the SuperStar Communicator podcast on all podcast platforms. Here is a link.

Some of the work SuperStar Communicator does with organisations, is providing ideas and solutions for everyone’s voice to be heard, valued and recognised in all business conversations. I will be sharing some case studies in future, but this is one of the ways we celebrate Black History Month at SuperStar Communicator. If you could like to discuss how we could deliver a workshop for your organisation, why not book a call to discuss how we can work together.