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The Authenticity in the Workplace w/ Darryl Adams
39 Plays2 years ago
This week, for episode 15 of “The 3D Podcast” Cedric Chambers sits down with an awesome diversity leader, Darryl Adams. During this interview, Darryl shared his thoughts about The Authenticity in the Workplace. This is a great episode packed with a ton of gems, so get your notepads ready as we dive deep and “Discuss the Dimensions of Diversity”.
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Transcript
00:00:03
Speaker
you
Introduction to the 3D Podcast
00:00:10
Speaker
Hey, I'm Cedric Chambers, and I would like to welcome you to another episode of the 3D Podcast, a masterclass where we share with you everything you need to know about how to transform diversity and inclusion in your organization as well as in your community. We're on a mission to amplify the voices of leaders that are making an impact in the world today so that we can have a better tomorrow.
00:00:34
Speaker
Our goal every episode is to keep it simple, honest, and transparent with you by uncovering the truths in diversity and inclusion with the hope of creating behavioral change all while presenting it from a unique perspective. So look, if you're ready, get your notepad out, pour you a drink, and let's dive deep as we discuss the dimensions of diversity.
00:01:03
Speaker
Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of the 3D Podcast where we speak to real practitioners that are making real change in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space.
Darryl Adams' Role and Vision for Diversity
00:01:11
Speaker
I'm excited for our show today as we're speaking to Darryl Adams. Darryl is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Healing Notes and Strategies, an international public relations company.
00:01:21
Speaker
Darrell strives daily to create a culture where teammates are able to leverage their abilities, perspectives, styles, and ideas while understanding and maximizing on differences. It is his goal to continuously foster environments where teammates can be engaged in the work they do and able to be their authentic selves and organically innovate. Look, I'm excited. I hope you're excited. So without further ado, let's get to it.
00:01:44
Speaker
Hey there, how you doing today? I'm great. How are you? Man, I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I'm blessed, highly favorite sitting on the right hand, all that good stuff.
00:02:00
Speaker
There you go. There you go. No, I'm excited to get started here. So, you know, look, the way we like to approach these interviews to kind of kick it off is I really want to get some understanding and let the audience get some more instead of your background, your journey to getting into kind of this space, right? You know, when we think about
00:02:17
Speaker
you know, D D and I, and we think about a lot of people have different paths, different journeys to get into this space. And so we're really one like to know more about your journey, your career, and then to add a little bit on to it. What are some of those things that as you've gone through your career, that's really helped you navigate really helped you catapult your career to the love that it is today.
00:02:39
Speaker
So I think for me, it actually started maybe pre-career. I've come from a family of people who are always fighting for equity and for equity of other people. My grandmother has participated in different like boards within the city like
00:02:57
Speaker
the housing authority and different things like that and through that she really really pushed for equity black women and black people and then even like the experience of affirmative action allowed her to be one of the first black women to break a barrier in the city that we came from and
00:03:14
Speaker
work at a place that there were no black people working before she started working in the front office. So like I come from that kind of background of determination.
Journey from Teaching to Corporate HR
00:03:24
Speaker
And so as I started my career, like I went to school to be a teacher, realized very quickly after being in school was a lot longer, that there's a lot more politics than you do behind the scenes in the world of teaching. And for me, it was really more so about the impact of making a difference in students' lives.
00:03:41
Speaker
And so that said, all right, we got to figure out another way to do this. So I went into the corporate world with that background. And since then, I started a career in human resources. I found that humanity, people, they are my care for them and my care to create spaces of equity has always existed. And I found out in the organization,
00:04:04
Speaker
human resources deals with human capital. So that allowed me the opportunity. So I started off as a generalist. I spent like 60% of my time dealing with L&D work, so learning and development. And then the other 40% of my time as a journalist, I was doing like business partner work dealing with employee relations and employees.
00:04:22
Speaker
That was a pivotal piece to how I catapulted my career into the DNI space because in that role, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about individual contributors and what they deal with frontline employees, the people who make the least amount of money in the organization.
Creating a D&I Role and Utilizing HR Insights
00:04:38
Speaker
and what are they dealing with, what do they experience, and what do they need to continue to be successful, and for us to retain that talent, the talent that we really want to keep. And from there, I had a great journey and moved into a lot more of the L&D leadership development and org development work.
00:04:57
Speaker
In that space, I built relationships with leaders from frontline supervisors, team leads, managers, all the way up to senior vice presidents and executives in the organization because I had some type of touch point with them, whether it was facilitating pieces of the leadership development training or
00:05:14
Speaker
was whether it was supporting my leader at the time who led those efforts. And so that gave me another piece to catapult, because now I know what people are experiencing in their everyday that are individual contributors, entry-level employees. Now I know what leaders at all levels deal with experience, who really is making decisions, who's really in change management processes. Sometimes you think, oh, my director is in the room.
00:05:40
Speaker
They're not, they're getting information disseminated to them as well. Sometimes the decision was made in the room with the executives, the board, and some senior vice presidents, not even your VP was there. He's learning and having to figure out how to do that process. That was something I didn't know prior to, and that really helped because when we did have a really unique opportunity to go into the world of DNI in our organization, it was a blank sheet of paper. It wasn't, it didn't exist. The organization was about 20 years old,
00:06:10
Speaker
well, 18 years old at the time. And many people in leadership have been there since prior to it being the company that I became a part of. So prior to that, it was another company that merged with another company. So they were their pre merger. So they were there while the company was 18 years old, they were 25 years in. So those people had never heard of DNI and the experience. So we had a blank sheet of paper and
00:06:37
Speaker
That, along with me being able to understand human capital statistics and engagement survey results, feedback is a gift. I've always been told that. That's something my mother taught me. As long as they're telling you the truth and they're not lying on you when they give you your feedback, it's a gift in there somewhere. It may not be something you want to hear at the moment, but it'll pop up when you go down that road again.
00:07:02
Speaker
We were doing an engagement survey year over year that gave us amazing feedback from the organization. We just weren't using all of it. And so I began to splice it down here. What do white women under 30 have to say about how they're being managed, how they are getting opportunities, confidence in leadership, pay, benefits? What are black women over 50 in the organization saying? What are millennials saying? What are
00:07:24
Speaker
I got to splice that down because that engagement survey has so much info in it. And through that, along with the other pieces of my journey, I was able to really catapult into the world of DNI because I was able to map out what the real return on investment of our organization going down.
00:07:41
Speaker
that road and that journey outside of just the things you see when you do the research. It's six times more likely to be innovative, two times more likely to exceed or meet targets. All of that stuff, bottom line business, but then there's another piece to the legacy of what it means to have an organization that people find to be a great place to work, and that ties into that. Yeah. Long story short, that's a hot guy here.
00:08:05
Speaker
No, I love it. I love it. I think, you know, one, you know your story. I'm going to tell you that right there. But just to kind of walk through and kind of see how you got to this point is always interesting. And that's one of the things that I did earlier in my career was I used to always ask people that question.
00:08:20
Speaker
Tell me about your career. Tell me kind of your journey, your path. Because I just always felt that there were things in everyone's journey that you could use, learnings that they figured out that you can use in your journey to be able to help you navigate through yours. And so as people listen to this, please, please, please listen to Darryl's journey and understand what could you use? What can you start thinking about differently? What are those things that can really help you as you navigate through yours?
00:08:46
Speaker
And so today, I'm excited for our conversation. I'm just going to be honest because I feel like there's some realness that's about to be displayed here today. But today, we're talking about authenticity and more authenticity at work or even in life and in some cases.
Defining Authenticity in the Workplace
00:09:02
Speaker
And so really kind of where I want to start is I want to get a foundation, get some understanding of from your perspective, kind of your definition, what does being authentic mean to you?
00:09:14
Speaker
For me, being authentic is being very checked in and tapped into your spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional of yourself. Understanding how you process those things and then how do you then take the wholeness of you and display that to the world in a way that makes you feel
00:09:37
Speaker
comfortable in you and comfortable and confident in you. I think many times people express themselves authentically and then they begin to think like, am I making other people uncomfortable?
00:09:51
Speaker
Well, that's not really your thing to worry about. That's their thing to determine based on who you are authentically, if they can partake and participate. But what you should be really focusing on is, are you comfortable being you and confident in exuding that in all spaces?
00:10:11
Speaker
There are parameters because there are rules, regulations, and processes that may say like, hey, I'm not going to be a cursing Christian in some environments. But over here where I don't have those parameters and rules, I'm going to be the fullness of who I am because there are no repercussions behind it.
00:10:30
Speaker
That's really how I define it. I love that definition. Let me ask you this. I guess this is the piece too. When we think about being our authentic selves and really thinking about that confidence to be who you are, really understanding that piece of it. An interesting question I really have is, do you feel that
00:10:50
Speaker
people want to be authentic at work. And I'm asking this because in some cases, right, we kind of know the environment in which we're in sometimes, especially on the corporate side to where it's almost like if I be too authentic who I am, then there might be consequences, right? They come from this, right? People might not view me the same way. You know, image might be a big thing to me.
00:11:14
Speaker
And so I'm curious, as people thinking through these things, it's almost like I want to be myself, but then there could be consequences, so then I probably shouldn't be myself at work. Or I might need to send my representative to work, as I might say. How do you feel that people are thinking through that as they're going into these various different corporate environments?
Authenticity Challenges for Black and Hispanic Employees
00:11:34
Speaker
Do you think people really want to be themselves? And if so, what are those things that we think that are stopping them from doing that?
00:11:41
Speaker
Okay, so you said we were going to get real, right? You think you said, like, hey, I feel like it's going to be some real things. So, and I shifted in my seat, which says a lot too. It means I really like tapping in. Let's go for it. Let's go. So the first thing I want to do is I want to ask you, define people. Are we talking about everyone in the corporate environment? No, are we talking about?
00:12:05
Speaker
We're talking about blacks, we're talking about Hispanics, we're talking about the people that are really trying to make their spaces in a place to where it's not many of us, right? And so we're talking about that group. Okay. Because I was going to say, people-wise, there's a whole group of people who show up authentically as themselves and they have nothing to worry about because the system is theirs to determine and to bring.
00:12:31
Speaker
But then there, I think, to answer your question, in the spaces that I've been in, especially with being considered unofficial HR, they come to me to ask me questions to figure out, should I push it? Do I have safety? That type of thing. I think that people who like or love what they're doing, and the people that they do it with, want to show up to work authentically.
00:12:58
Speaker
I think that people who are just getting a paycheck or just doing a job and they know that this isn't something they're going to do long term. They want to do long term. I'm just here to be here, but I'm black and I'm here and I need you to respect me. I'm Hispanic and I'm here and I'm in this job because you play bilinguals really well. Like those are real things and people aren't necessarily in their career or in their
00:13:21
Speaker
those people don't care about being authentic. What they want is what a company's promise, benefits and pay. But those people who have said, like, I went to school to be an accountant, I'm in finance and treasury, and I like or love the work that I'm doing.
00:13:38
Speaker
Yes, those people want to also not have to worry about adding another job. Like you talked about a representative and you know, I know people who actually get paid for, you know, these same people who get paid to be representatives, Angela Bassett, Tyrese, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, they're actors.
00:13:57
Speaker
they get paid top dollar to read, study up on being a specific role or image for a part in order for it to be likable and work for the wholeness of the movie and for us to put our finances and time into watching. We don't get that kind of money when we show up to corporate America. First of all, there are inequities in our pay. Like we are not making the same pay that our white counterparts are.
00:14:26
Speaker
One, and then two, I think that, you know, there's definitely nothing added in of saying, like, you're being the Black person we want you to be, so we're giving you an extra 10%. Now there are maybe some corporate things that may happen where they're like, yeah, I like this kid, and they're snazzy. Like, that's different, but there's nothing in your pay that's for you code switching or showing up as your representative. So,
00:14:52
Speaker
I think that people don't want to have to do that, but I think that in some spaces it's necessary.
00:15:03
Speaker
And so I love how you differentiated between people who are just getting the check, you know, that's probably not so, but when you love your job and you have a passion around that, you want to show up. And so this kind of also brings to this point of if I love my job, right? If I'm an employee, I love my job, I love what I do and I have that passion, but then I feel like that environment does not allow me to be myself, who I am. And then I start to participate in what we will call covering or passing. My question is,
00:15:33
Speaker
as an employee, and this is just to help leaders understand this, how does that then hurt my productivity and what I'm trying to do, the work that I'm trying to do? I think that it hurts it because you're not as engaged or enabled in the work that you're doing. Because when people are authentically themselves, there is no... Typically,
00:15:59
Speaker
no cap on potential and opportunity and creativity. But if people are stifling themselves or they're doing certain things to appease the people who make decisions or those leaders or what they think may appease those leaders, because sometimes I found out that people are doing it and that leader is just as cool and down as I'll get out. They just needed to encounter someone who's not afraid to do them in front of them.
00:16:24
Speaker
And that's a whole other thing, but I do believe that in many cases that that's the thing is like, if I'm in this role and I love what I do, I'm doing well at it, I could actually be doing a whole lot more and a whole lot better if I felt as though you valued me, you respected me, you supported me, and I had a sense of belonging here and I could just be myself. I would feel more engaged to show up. I would feel more enabled to do the work and I would feel more included
00:16:54
Speaker
in the process so that I feel like when people feel like they can see their impact in the whole picture or in the bottom line because that's what the companies are worried about. They get a whole different kind of motivation and drive because they see the piece to the puzzle that they are and that comes from leaders. That's who I'm speaking to right now. Those of you guys who are listening that are leaders.
00:17:15
Speaker
That comes from you understanding what inclusive leadership behaviors are, what they're like, and moving past your apprehension to risks, to differences. And leaning in, don't always look for a similarity in someone that's reporting to you. Look at the differences that you have and learn about that and understand because sometimes when people have cognitive differences, how they approach problem solving and work could be the thing that was missing from doing something you guys were trying to do five years ago.
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
Impacts of Covering Identity at Work
00:17:46
Speaker
So understanding the productivity side of that, I'm also interested when it comes to kind of the psychological health of the employee, right? The person, right? Because when you think about this, I mean, when you're not yourself, there's so many things that you're probably trying to cover. There's so many things that you're probably thinking about inside your head that you either don't want to do, or you don't want to, you know, be to this, to that. And when these things come up, right, that can distract you. But ultimately, at the end of the day, you know,
00:18:14
Speaker
What kind of toll is it take on the psychological health? Does that put you down on yourself? Do you start to get into it? I could defeat this mode? What have you seen or how do you think that affects from that perspective?
00:18:29
Speaker
huge emotional impact. So huge that the Harvard Business Review did an entire article around the cost of code switching. So for leaders out there who are trying to understand and do more, that is a resource you can go read. I think it tells a lot. A lot of times when Harvard Business Journal actually does surveys and review, you know, Harvard speaks to black, white, Hispanic, Asian. Like when you see Harvard, they want to know your opinion, you probably give it some good stats there.
00:18:59
Speaker
But it talks about just that there are downsides to the emotional and mental health impact of people having to continuously all day long worry about and filter through who they truly are and how they truly want to experience things like
00:19:17
Speaker
I think about Black women and the fact that their passion is typically termed as aggression. There's the stereotype of the angry Black woman, and the biggest people who can break that are white men and women.
00:19:39
Speaker
But I think that you have to think about if some Black women may have a situation where they are working on a project and their entire team is looking at something one way and they're looking at it a different way and they know they're right. They know they're going to save costs. They know they're going to innovate the opportunity and simplify the process.
00:19:59
Speaker
Everybody, every leader wants to see that kind of thing happen. No matter what part of the business you're in, simplify the process, innovate the experience, cut costs. They know they're doing all those things, and if they don't
00:20:14
Speaker
carefully approach and talk through how that ROI is going to benefit and be best for the organization. It won't go anywhere because if that passion takes hold and it's too big many times in many rooms in many situations,
00:20:33
Speaker
that passion is not looked at as passion, it's looked at as aggression and as that black woman trying to force them into doing it her way. That's not even the case because she gets from the very beginning, this is a long stretch in this room at times. I think that there are those type of impacts that come up where they really have to carefully step through how they do just the smallest of things, just the smallest of things.
00:21:04
Speaker
That's a lot on people each day. And then you want exemplary work. You want everyone in a ranking rating. I hate ranking rating leaders out there. I hate that. But in a ranking rating world, you want fours and fives, but you want them to do multiple things and one not be themselves is that. Yeah. You made me think about something, right? And you said a word and it just immediately snapped me back. And so, look, I'm country and I
00:21:32
Speaker
Look, it is what it is, right? I'm from Georgia and I'm not from Atlanta. I'm from South Carolina. I'm from the South, South, South. And so, you know, it is when I was growing up and I moved to Ohio for my first role at the undergrad. And when I got to Ohio, I used to, I said this word, I didn't really make no means of it. And I used to always say the word thing. And they always asked me, are you saying thing? And in my head, I'm like,
00:22:02
Speaker
I said a thing, you know what I just said, you understood what I just said, if you could repeat it and you can correct me. But it was like, oh, you have that Southern draw or, you know, this can, this is the, you know, the words that you're saying, how you say you have to talk slower, you have to pronunciate. And it was all these various different things, right? That you started to, I started to get when I was coming to that corporate world. And then, you know, I could see in some cases to where I could have somebody, let's just say from overseas to where
00:22:30
Speaker
It can be just as tough to hear, understand, and I don't see those conversations happening at all around why they should change the way they talk, if they need to pronunciate their words and these things. And so now it had me to where I was coming into meetings and to where I'm coming in about content, but then I'm focusing so much on what I'm saying, how I'm saying it, and having to really, you know, go through kind of quote unquote what they used to call, or what they still probably call executive presence.
00:22:56
Speaker
which I think is a whole other thing. But to work through all of those things, it's almost like I'm focusing on what to say that I can't even say the information that I need to say and that I'm trying to get out through this process. And then that spirals, because then you feel you just don't, you're not successful, you weren't successful at that particular presentation, all this other stuff kind of snowballs from there.
00:23:20
Speaker
It just made me think about that as you was going through that process and answering that question. And so my next question is as we kind of move through.
00:23:28
Speaker
If a leader in their organization is starting to see or they've done some assessments, you understand that authenticity may be a huge portion or a huge thing in their organization that they need to address, right? It is something that's really holding them back from reaching that place that they want to get to as far as an inclusive culture. What do leaders need to do
00:23:52
Speaker
in order to help those employees who don't feel they can be authentic get to that place? And then what do they need to do to shift the culture so that we can achieve this?
Leaders' Role in Fostering Authenticity
00:24:02
Speaker
So I think first, I always think in these situations when you're trying to be more inclusive, change the environment, or even try to shift the mindset of employees is they need to assess themselves first.
00:24:18
Speaker
You know, self-assessment, understanding where you are. Are you conscious and aware of your bias? Are you just walking around with a lot of unconscious bias? That's not the start. People like to do that and say, I mean, that's not the start and finish. Unconscious bias is not because outside of just bias are stereotypes. There are real stereotypes out here in the world that we have mental shortcuts and put things through. Like I just had to catch myself
00:24:44
Speaker
the other day and we're being authentic like I'm there things about me in this role I'm still growing in in working through my own stereotypes and bias so I live very close to a gas station and I you know stop in to grab like a soda or grab things
00:25:02
Speaker
And all the time I see the same people outside who are going to hit me up for a little change. And I was in the car on the phone with some people. And I was just like, I'm going to a different one. I'm going to go down the street. I'll drive a little bit further. I'm just sick of them asking me for money. And I'm like, they see me. I see them as the same people. We the same people. And I thought about it. It might be hot at that gas station. They might make
00:25:26
Speaker
I thought about maybe they don't move from their gas station because they make the most money. They're like, I'm not knocking their hustle. Then I was like, okay, be quiet. I would go by DJ for short because I'm a junior. And I was like, okay, be quiet, DJ. Check your privilege. You've never been in the experience of having to be out in front and ask people for money. And if you were in that, you wouldn't be above needing to ask for a handout.
00:25:49
Speaker
And so I think that's a self-reflection thing. So leaders need to go through some self-reflection. Then they need to really engage the employees. That could be through employee resource groups, through focus groups, or through just asking and surveying of understanding. And figure out what are the right questions to ask to understand if people are being authentic, if they feel they can be authentic, and if they feel like the environment is inclusive enough for them to do so.
00:26:15
Speaker
Once you've done that, if you're looking to make a change, you have to present those findings and the impact of those findings. I know from my organization, we kept saying innovation. We wanted to organically innovate and we kept asking questions. Why weren't we? And some of that had to do with people weren't engaged and enabled and they didn't feel like they could show up and be as creative and throw creative things that we've never done before on the table because they felt like
00:26:41
Speaker
it would get shut down or they weren't coming to the table to give the idea. It was the same people that were at the table six years ago when the idea came up. And those things happens in organizations where leaders stay in roles and positions over a long time and then they don't invite others to the table. So I think those are things you can do. And then it's up to
00:27:02
Speaker
And those leaders to then sustain those behaviors. Like they need to create heightened awareness. They need to call out the behaviors that they're doing successfully and call out the ones that are not successful and then shift and change, but then sustain because why ask and you engage the employees if you're not going to do.
00:27:21
Speaker
People know it's a thing now. They're not so far removed. Organizations really need to know. They're not so far removed. And as much as social media may be a place organizations may not want or understand, it's a growing space that is being utilized like never before.
00:27:40
Speaker
people see what other companies are doing and they're going to come back and say, why are we not doing this? Why are my peers in this business or in this market or my friends out here waking up and their companies are checking all the boxes and I can't even get a box to check. As you think through the answers and I'm listening to you, I'm just like in my head,
00:28:03
Speaker
So many leaders, so many things just kind of popped through my head. I'm just like going through these situations and I'm like, this was wrong. I said, this should have got fixed there. They didn't do this, right? All these things that are happening. Let me ask you this and understanding now, okay, leaders, this is the focus that we need to have.
Building Networks for Cultural Influence
00:28:20
Speaker
So now we know that that focus is there. What is that? What is it? Is it different when I know that as a leader, but then,
00:28:32
Speaker
I'm dealing with it myself at the leadership level as it relates to having to cover, having to deal with this passing, right? Because I'm the only one sitting at the table. I know what should happen, but then I'm not saying those things. I'm not really speaking up, right? I could see the organization. What does that mean for leaders who know the right thing to do based off of what you say, hey, these are the steps, they have that down, but then
00:28:59
Speaker
The environments that they're in is just so stringent. It's tough to really get things moving forward. My question is, how do leaders work through those situations at the leadership level to really influence and impact the organization so that even if it is tough, even if people don't see things the way they see other leaders, let's say CEO doesn't see it the way you see it.
00:29:23
Speaker
And you're trying to help the leader understand that in order for us to move to this direction, this is what we need to do. How do you go have that conversation with that CEO to help them understand this is the direction we need to move?
00:29:34
Speaker
and this is what we need to do to move there because a lot of D&L leaders can say, hey, I know that, but now I'm bumping my head against a leader where I feel I don't have any power, where I feel I don't have any influence. How would you help them that are bumping against that wall break through? I would suggest to any leader of color,
00:29:54
Speaker
Two things, somewhere along your leadership journey, you need to find a very senior white man and allow him to mentor you. Okay, we should get real. We're about to get real now. I would say that to anyone who's trying to do, white men can make one phone call to a company, another company who's looking for a role.
00:30:19
Speaker
they're looking for a role a white man who is your who is very connected or very senior than a company can call someone who someone else appear who's very senior very connected at a company and say hey i know dale he was a talent here he's not here anymore but he's been doing this y'all need to get y'all need to meet with him
00:30:41
Speaker
That then, with that connection, sometimes you don't have to do an interview. That recruiter don't call. That leader may pick up the phone and say, hey, Kurt or Kevin or Sarah or someone gave me a call and said, I should talk to you about this role I have.
00:31:00
Speaker
That comes out of that power of building that kind of relationship and never burning that kind of bridge. I don't burn bridges with white men that are connected. I find a way to build some type of thing to get us across that bridge. It may be a car, a horse, a buggy. I don't know what it's going to be. I might be having to pull you in a wagon.
00:31:22
Speaker
But I'm not gonna burn that bridge. You're connected and there's, I know the power of a white man being a senior white man in organizations in the corporate world making a phone call. That's one thing too. As people of color move up the business world, the biggest thing they can do for themselves is build relationships internally and externally.
00:31:42
Speaker
build a network, make it important, because you need to be able to go to people and ask what are their companies doing and be able to take that info. Because it's shareable and bring it back in your study. But then you also need to build the relationships in-house because when I did encounter moments of kickback or of maybe not necessarily getting the talk space I wanted or needing to really get something through to leaders,
00:32:08
Speaker
What I had to do and what I approached was, there are a few leaders that report directly to the CEO, even if it's not my leader.
00:32:17
Speaker
But there are other leaders that feel me. They understand, they know the impact, they get it, and they want the same thing. So then I've built the relationships where I don't have a barrier to saying to either them or their EA, like, hey, I need 15 to 20 minutes on such and such as calendar. I get in front of them. I say, hey, I want to present this. I have presented this. I got kicked back. These are the optics. This is the ROI. If we don't do this, we will be responding.
00:32:43
Speaker
Like when you know you're writing something, you got to just put the story together the way you've learned or know that top leader, that top leader understands, and then their strength in numbers. Find allies in that work or allies in what you're trying to get accomplished, read them in, give them an active participation in it so that they can have buy-in, and then represent it. The last thing I'll say is, depending on where you are in your career as a person of color,
00:33:13
Speaker
you may have to, because if you are in a DE&I role, I will say you are a corporate activist. And sometimes activists have to take it for the team. We have to push it for the team. We have to speak up for the team, even though we know we literally may offend the CEO, the CPO, the CFO. We may have to update our LinkedIn and resume afterwards. But if we are a talent, if we are a talent,
00:33:42
Speaker
There are moments where I knew like, hey, but what I did know is I'm talented. I have references and people that can speak about my talent and not just at this company, but outside in the work that I do in the community. And lastly, God's got me.
00:33:58
Speaker
like you talked about being on the right hand side, I know that as well. So there have been moments where I know no one else that looks like me at this organization has this seat, this moment, this opportunity, and what you are talking about, the decision we're looking to make will impact everybody else at this organization that looks like me and others. So I gotta speak up, I gotta talk, I gotta say, this isn't gonna work. I have to say like, hey, we're doing the wrong thing. And
00:34:25
Speaker
There are people who are at that place in their career where they could walk out of a one role and like within a month or two be just as good. They have equity like those people of color who sit in those seats who know they'll be good if they push the envelope and something comes out. That's not what they were looking for. Like they have to be willing to push it. Listen to me right now. Hey, to everybody who's watching this, listening to this, whatever reading this, y'all have to cash out Darryl in a second because
00:34:57
Speaker
He out here dropped the gyms. Look, when you started that off, I was like, oh, I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't expecting that one, no. Like I said, I built my network and some of the biggest connections I have with some of the biggest companies out here who do surveys, reports, and stories on the DNI world. And so Deloitte is one of them.
00:35:19
Speaker
like very periodic conversations with their North Texas inclusion office, like the persons over all of that for North Texas. And what I found out from them is that they're moving to like diversity and inclusion task force that are predominantly made up of white males who are allies and advocates and they're changing the narrative because they're the ones in charge. And that is the important piece to it. And that's why I say like,
00:35:48
Speaker
As much as we may, like, well, why would I need, I want to know how black people make it. I want to, like, you can get black mentors as well throughout your career. I'm not stifling that, but what I am saying is necessary as a person of color, if you're moving up and you're moving through, is you need to
00:36:05
Speaker
Have that because one, you can make a difference in that person's life and they're a senior leader somewhere and they could shift for other people who look like you. You'll never meet just through that mentorship. But two, you're going to be able to really learn a few things and how to approach things because I approach my mentorship like I'm not changing who I am. I just want to learn how to approach these things as who I am.
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah, I love it. I love it. Mentorship, sponsorship, get you somebody who can be in the room talking on your behalf, all of that. I love it. I love it. Look, this is the part I don't like. We're getting towards the end of this. I think to really cap this off, because I love the way that you're going here, is let's imagine right now we're in a room and you have some black and brown
00:36:50
Speaker
talented individuals and they are just starting out their career and you've already seen what they're going to be against as it relates to companies and cultures and things like this. They may be in great situations. They may not be in great situations. What are you telling this room right now as it relates to being themselves as they navigate through their career? Give me that speech. That speech is know who you are.
00:37:17
Speaker
be comfortable in it, be confident in it, be involved in it and find a way to put it into the work. Like that would be something I would tell someone like authentically, no, not everyone, not everyone can handle me when I come in the room.
00:37:35
Speaker
It's okay. Like I used to do onboarding for all of our domestic for an entire, the entire
Advice for Young Professionals on Authenticity
00:37:42
Speaker
domestic process. So I met every single person in the US that started the company. And I know sometimes I would yell like in the lobby in the morning, it's like, good morning. What's up?
00:37:52
Speaker
Y'all like, come on. That's all thanks to me. In the morning, you can't see me going out there. I'm in the library like, hey, what's up? It's good to see you. Y'all on the cross. People coming in, I'm speaking. I know you. You know me. Employees are my, those are my customers. So I'm going to have those relationships with them.
00:38:10
Speaker
I'm not afraid to do that. And I know some of those groups that I brought in that room and moments, I have stopped to say, I know you're trying to figure out if I'm really crazy or if you just really like the way this is going. It's okay. You'll figure it out. One thing I'm not going to do is just change.
00:38:27
Speaker
People won't always be able to swallow or handle who you are because you are all things amazing. And on top of that, you have these labels that society or stereotypes or bias may have said you're less than amazing. So they're going to be one enamored, two surprised, and three, they're going to process it.
00:38:47
Speaker
it's okay you don't have to change who you are you just need to be confident in it and understand how to use that in that world in the parameters of the rules regulations and processes because i like to wear short shorts and have my legs out in the summertime and i'm not going to be able to hold around certain things but that is what i can do is
00:39:09
Speaker
I show up very fashionably as me in the world of work. So there are things that you do in those parameters, but don't compromise or take back who you are. It's not necessary. Wellness is something that we should be looking and thinking about as a global population in a whole different way after what we've been through. And not being authentically you, not being tapped into you and checking into you, and this is outside of just the corporate
00:39:33
Speaker
world. If I'm leaving words with a group of black and brown people, I'm going to talk about like you as a person, like your wellbeing is important. So tap into you, check into you, understand what's going on with you and process that. And if you do that, then showing up authentically in the work world and within those parameters, it won't be as hard as you think, but we need more people to say like, I'm not compromising who I am for this role. So you got me.
00:40:01
Speaker
Now, period, big period. Oh, we done, we done. Look, if you're not ready after that conversation, right, we need to check your posts, right? We need to make sure you still with us here. I just want to also say thank you to you and like the 3D podcast. I wish that this was
00:40:21
Speaker
happening as I started out in this realm. I'm so big on not holding anything to myself. There's so much room for everyone. So I appreciate that you are perpetuating the narrative that there is space and room for everyone to learn, understand, and do this work together. So who knows to you all for all you're doing.
00:40:41
Speaker
I'm just trying to document. Thanks very much. I'm just trying to document. So look, this has been an amazing conversation. Before we go, do you have any shout outs, any parting words? Where can people find you? Where can they hear more about you, your ideas, your thoughts on this topic? All right. You guys can find me on LinkedIn as Darrell Adams Jr. If you find Darrell Adams and he works at BMW, that's my daddy. I mean, he might need a few more people in his network, but I think he's always ways of retirement.
00:41:12
Speaker
Out!
00:41:13
Speaker
Outside of just the corporate world, uniquely enough, you all came my way, Cedric, and I'm a podcaster. So I will give you guys a heads up. I have a podcast around society and culture. I talk a lot about what I do in the work world, because I believe in equity in the real world, but then also just about like the mental health and the experience of checking in with you. So like, come on that journey with me. Hey, Mr. DJ podcast. You can find it anywhere that you stream podcasts. Like just know I'm a cursed Christian. So, but my mama listens, so she knows.
00:41:42
Speaker
No, that's awesome. No worry. Look, we're going to link the social media, all that stuff at the bottom, as well as we're going to link the podcast in the description. So if y'all want to go and check out, go check out there, go check out that podcast, give them five stars, give them some ratings, some comments, make sure that you go out and support in every way possible. Well, awesome. That does it for us. I'm excited. Look, this has been a great conversation. Thanks everyone for listening. This has been another episode of 3D Podcast. This is Cedric. You've been listening to Darryl Adams.
00:42:10
Speaker
Diversity, inclusion, extraordinaire. We out. Awesome. Well, that does it for us. Thank you for joining us on another episode of The 3D Podcast. If you would like to connect on social media, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook at Cedric and Powers. And if you have any questions you'd like me to read or answer on the show, or just want to know more about my thoughts around diversity and inclusion, entrepreneurship, or just overall business, you can text. Yes, I said text.
00:42:40
Speaker
at 770-285-0404. You'll receive content straight to your phone on a regular basis, and you can message back and forth, not a file or an assistant. All responses come directly from you. But look, this has been a great episode. Until next week, this has been Cedric Chambers, and you have been listening to the 3D Pie.