Still A Target, Still A Leader: Creating Space For Humans

In July 2016, I wrote a piece, “Company Talk about Police Shootings, as Target and CEO”. The core was a letter to my company Truss, acknowledging my own painful emotions after the killings of Philando Castile and Alton Stewart, and hoping to create space for our employees, Trussels, to feel theirs. In the last two days, I feel the same emotional-distancing, exhausted haze from the footage of the murder of George Floyd. I’m still a target, and I’m still a leader.

We are a different company now, five times larger across 30 states, maintaining ~45% women, and over 30% Black, Latino/a/x, Asian, MENA, non-binary folks among the identities of 100 designers, engineers, product, delivery, security and operations professionals. We’ve navigated the challenges of scaling a distributed company, while staying connected through crises like #metoo, detention centers, and now coronavirus. I remain impressed that most of our fundamental distributed connection practices were conceived, designed and executed by Trussels, whether individually or in affinity groups and facilitation guilds.

Despite this, I’ve learned how hard it is for employees to claim time to be human, especially in the last few months. We’ve been programmed with so many powerful messages that “good employees are quiet employees”, that it takes repeated, insistent communication before people will admit the emotional turmoil and burnout underneath. Only then will they respond to the nudge to take a 5 minute meditation, a 20 minute walk, a 50 minute virtual therapy or an 8 hour PTO day.

There’s a lot of overdue talk about “taking care of your people”, sparked by how to keep employees connected during the pandemic. The idea that we are human seems to be intruding into our work consciousness. There’s greater awareness and access to mental health resources as well as the recognition that psychological safety is a fundamental premise for great performance. The leaders I admire are addressing the new reality with new tools, whether it’s communicating a layoff or helping people adjust to working from home. It’s hard, emotional, necessary work for leaders.

And then there are days when it’s harder.

Remembering July 2016 was my nudge to write this article — returning to words I didn’t want to ever write again.

“We can’t have the benefits of a diverse and vibrant company without acknowledging when it gets hard. Today is one of those days for me, and “as an employer” it feels awkward, challenging — and necessary — to address it. Personally, I’m exhausted, so I’m not up for engaging in conversation. But I can create a tone and a space where [we] can engage without fear of reprisal, toxicity, or indifference. Let it be so.”

Make it so, leaders. Make it so that your modeling, messaging, policies, and practices create space for the people in your company. Use what we’ve learned responding to COVID to be intentional about fostering connections between those who might need it — and give them a gentle nudge. And today, whether you are a target or an ally, make space for the African-Americans in your company and community. Folks will remember those leaders who created psychological safety precisely when it is the hardest.

Text from my article, Company Talk about Police Shootings, as Target and CEO, July 7, 2016

I was reading Ellen McGirt’s post in Fortune, Why Employers Need to talk about Shootings of Black People, buoyed after 24 hours of drifting in waves of despair about the murders of Alton Stewart and Philandro Castile. And then I realized — “I’m the employer”.

As CEO of Truss, with 50% women engineers and a diverse workforce along multiple dimensions, my cofounders and I have worked hard to make our company inclusive, using “radical candor” to address issues that many companies avoid. But this required more of me, because while I am feeling unmoored, part of a CEO’s job is to set the tone. Unfortunately, there isn’t a playbook of great crisis speeches when the CEO is also the target, so it feels like very new ground.

So, I’m publishing what I wrote this afternoon to the Trussels, our employees. I offer it in transparency, with the hope that it moves you to write your own message to your team, your pair programmer, your client or your company. Real or perceived indifference is one of the enemies, so as we say in our values, Show Up and Step Up, and Act Without Fear.

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‘Many of my friends are “calling in black today”. Much respect. For those who can’t or who choose not to, it’s a hard hard day to grapple with two police murders of black men while still maintaining our professional demeanor and standards of excellence (note: We do that every day. Today is harder)

If you have a work colleague that is black, or who is connected deeply to these shootings, please read this article. We’re all “whole people” and understanding how trauma affects work can make a better company for everyone.’

We can’t have the benefits of a diverse and vibrant company without acknowledging when it gets hard. Today is one of those days for me, and “as an employer” it feels awkward, challenging — and necessary — to address it. Personally, I’m exhausted, so I’m not up for engaging in conversation. But I *can* create a tone and a space where Trussels can engage without fear of reprisal, toxicity, or indifference. Let it be so. However you choose to engage, at minimum read Ellen’s article and take a moment to reflect, and take care of each other.