Omar L. Harris's Blog, page 3

Leadership Lessons from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Please note: this article contains spoilers.

Marvel's recent output in its phase IV post The Infinity Saga has been hit and miss. From Black Widow to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - the films and TV series dealing with the fallout from the Avenger's defeating Thanos and losing Iron Man and Captain America in the aftermath have had the challenging task of filling in loose ends, introducing new characters, and advancing the narrative, all while preparing the audience for The Multiverse Saga of phases 5 and 6. The stakes have been more personal and less exponential except for Loki and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It is in this context that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever launches across multiplexes worldwide.

The synopsis of the film goes: Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with Nakia and Everett Ross to forge a new path for their beloved kingdom.

Like its predecessor, this movie operates on many levels. Through the lens of leadership, Wakanda Forever might be about recovering from the loss of a charismatic and beloved leader. But this movie is also very much about defending your core values despite the allure of the ego. In the words of our dearly departed Chadwick Boseman:

You have to cherish things in a different way when you know the clock is ticking, you are under pressure.

With this thought in mind, allow me to present five leadership lessons gleaned from this exceptional film.

Traditions matter: At the beginning of the film Princess Shuri is unable to cure her brother - King T'challa of a mysterious illness which leads to his death. In the aftermath of his burial ceremony, one year later, Shuri and her mother Queen Ramonda go to perform a traditional ceremony of burning their funeral garments to end the mourning period. Shuri's scientific beliefs contrast with the long-standing beliefs of her people and she refuses to participate - breaking the chain of established traditions. Leadership Lesson: There is a saying that culture eats strategy for breakfast. The reason this is true is because culture is the foundation upon which leadership is built. What we value, our collective ceremonies and traditions, and our shared values and beliefs are what bond groups together and what enable achievement beyond the sum of the parts involved. Productive paranoia is necessary: During a convocation of the United Nations, French and American leaders implore Queen Ramonda to share Wakanda's precious vibranium with the rest of the world. At the same time, they are attacking Wakandan outposts in search of the powerful material. But the Wakandans are ready for this gambit and drag the marauders before the world in a show of preparation and continued strength despite the demise of their leader and protector. Leadership Lesson: It is incumbent on leaders to prepare for events that could severely disrupt ongoing operations. This type of preparation is known as productive paranoia and involves creating contingency and continuity plans as well as playing out known and even extreme scenarios. As the saying goes - stay ready so you don't have to get ready. Evaluate alliances carefully: After finding the vibranium detector and assaulting the ship and crew responsible for identifying their secret supply - the Talokanils led by Namor go to Wakanda to seek an alliance to leverage their combined might to subjugate the world. The terms of this allegiance include the killing of the scientist who developed the technology who turns out to be Riri Williams - a young black scientist attending MIT. Convening the ruling council of Wakanda, it is decided to go extract Riri and protect her from capture and death at the hands of Namor. Leadership Lesson: Collaboration can be powerful if two parties possess shared values. When values are not consistent, however, no promise of success can be sufficient to pursue the partnership. Effective leaders use their values to guide them in gray areas where the perceived benefits can override good sense. Maintain a fallback position: After Nakia rescues Shuri and Riri from the Talokan people - Namor promises Queen Ramonda that he will kill her. In the ensuing battle on Wakandan territory, the city center is flooded, and the Queen perishes while saving Riri's life. Now in charge, Princess Shuri relocates the rest of her people to the Jabari stronghold in the mountains and finally recreates a synthetic version of the heart shaped herb that manifests the power of the black panther. She also assesses Namor's strengths and produces a plan to defeat him. Leadership Lesson: Sometimes, no amount of forward thinking and planning can prepare for the actuality of certain events. Therefore, business continuity planning is essential for leaders at all levels. In chess this is known as winning from a position of perceived weakness, and the best leaders know how to get the most out of what is left to effectively rebuild and recover from losses. Eliminate the ego: All film long, Shuri's self-image is under assault. From her inability to save her brother and mother's lives, to getting captured by the Talokanils, to being forced to relocate her people, she is in an extremely vulnerable state that manifests in her summoning Killmonger on the ancestral plane once she consumes the synthetic heart shaped herb. Her slain cousin, the antagonist of the previous film wonders if she will be noble like T'Challa or if she will do what is necessary to protect Wakanda like himself. Upon awakening, she allows her rage to consume her and directs her people into war with Namor and the Talokanils. Having the opportunity to take her revenge after a brutal battle, she chooses peace instead and rejects her ego in favor of leadership. And not even knowing it, she sets the stage for a new generation of Wakandan leadership to step up. Leadership Lesson: Leaders must assess their why for seeking positions of authority and power. Is it to gain self-esteem or is it to serve and support others? Ego-driven leaders often leave a trail of toxicity in their wake. Ego-less leaders build enduring organizations that outlive them.

Overall, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has redeemed Marvel's phase 4 and with its deep themes of tribalism, imperialism, and its unique and thoughtful approach to grieving one of our generations most promising actors and leaders was extremely resonant and well done (5 out of 5 stars).

What other leadership lessons did you glean from the film? Let us know in the comments below. And please give the article a comment and share with your network if you enjoyed and got anything out of it.

Forget Active Listening. Try Invested Listening.

As we learn and grow and time passes, it is important to revisit well-established concepts and update them for the current moment. In today's always on environment of constant distraction leaders must focus more than ever on the fundamentals. This series aims to do just that, starting with active listening.

Effective communication is a core leadership concept. From compelling storytelling to interacting and collaborating with others, there are several key skillsets to master - not the least of which is listening. Reviewing the literature on this topic, we can see that the consensus has landed on the concept of active listening which ,means: "the practice of preparing to listen, observing what verbal and non-verbal messages are being sent, and then providing appropriate feedback for the sake of showing attentiveness to the message being presented. This form of listening conveys a mutual understanding between speaker and listener."

From this definition we can unpack the following needed skills:

Preparation: Having appropriate time and space for the conversation and considering any resources to enhance understanding such as visual aids, etc. Observation: The ability to read and react to what is being said both verbally and non-verbally. Replay: Demonstrating understanding by repeating the salient points communicated. Feedback: Providing your thoughts related to what's been said.

Active listening sounds like this - "Hi Lena, I'm looking forward to this dialogue with you. My calendar is cleared, and I'm prepared to give you my total focus and attention. I can hear from your tone of voice and see from your body language that talking about this is important to you. What I've heard so far is that you feel...I agree with many of the points you've made..."

As you can see, this form of listening is surely superior to listening to respond or merely pretending to listen, but it doesn't go far enough. When we communicate, we also need acknowledgement, alignment, and validation. We need to know that our listeners are more than active, they are fully engaged in what we have to say. Which is why it's time to embrace another form of listening - invested listening.

Invested listening is listening with the intent to agree, validate, align, collaborate, and support. It elevates the core skills of active listening and aims them at a goal to help and bolster the communicator.

Invested listening therefore requires these skills:

Intention: Going beyond preparation and articulating that you intend to remain supportive regardless of what is communicated. Validation: Affirming that the thoughts being articulated not only make sense but are fully valid. Agreement: Actively seeking areas of commonality and agreement to reinforce throughout the dialogue. Collaboration: Enhancing communication by leveraging your strengths, skills, and knowledge in support of their needs. Support: Being specific about how you will act in service of the communicators needs moving forward from the conversation.

Invested listening sounds like this - "Hi Lena, you have my full attention but more than that my full and unwavering assistance. What I'm hearing from you is X,Y,Z and these points make total sense - thank you for sharing. Not only do I agree with the following points (replay them), but I can empathize with why you are bringing them up. Based on that, I believe that a potential way for us to collaborate on this would be...(what do you think)? And you can count on me for my continued support in the following ways moving forward..."

When you leverage invested listening as a leader your people will leave the interaction with the knowledge that you not only understood them, but validated them, and added your support. Taking action from conversation is the hallmark of invested listening. And it is this action that transforms listening into a key aspect of your leadership toolbox.

Death of a Jeen-Yuhs: The Desolation of Kanye West

Arthur Miller's seminal play Death of a Salesman addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change within himself and society. We are watching this happen in real time with the troubling and dangerous radicalization of the artist formerly known as Kanye West. Over the past month, West has centered a fashion show on white supremacist rhetoric by wearing a White Lives Matter sweatshirt, unleashed a series of anti-Semitic tweets, Instagram posts, and conducted a myriad of disjointed often rambling and incoherent interviews positing his empathy for straight white men, doubling down on hateful rhetoric, and positioning himself as a future presidential candidate (again). This article will attempt to reconcile the various iterations of a man who no longer represents anything but his own ego, insecurity, and pain.

Through the Wire

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. After having grinded his way from his mother's home, relocated to Newark, NJ, and infiltrated Rocafella Records as a principle hit maker for their most valuable artist - JAY Z, he should have been on the fast track to super stardom as an artist in his own right. Falling asleep at the wheel and ,crashing into another vehicle after a late-night recording session for his debut album, The College Dropout, nearly ended his dreams of super stardom before they ever got started. His jaw was shattered in three places and had to be wired shut. And it is from this most humbling of scenarios that the legend of Kanye West begins.

He famously decided to write and record a song, "Through the Wire", literally rapping with his jaw wired shut. And this song, plus the accompanying visuals became a viral sensation that lifted him from relative obscurity to well-deserved notoriety. Having toiled behind the scenes as "just" a producer, finally he was being seen for the limitless talent he believed himself to be. He had transformed his pain into art and using this conduit was able to elevate both himself and his talent into the mainstream consciousness. But it wouldn't be the only time.

Just as his sympatico amigo Donald J. Trump has spun a decades long-tale of being smarter than all his contemporaries and the most talented businessperson walking the earth - so has Kanye West continued to leverage his pain into a prophesy of being the next anointed creative genius crafted in the same mold as Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. It's unsurprising in this light to understand why Kanye's original signature brand of production centered on sped up (chipmunk sounding) soul samples. He has continued to recycle old hits as new, as he first sought to invent himself and then reinvent himself after painful incidents. For someone claiming to be the ultimate "free-thinker", his rhetoric over the years has been dramatically devoid of innovation - with a few notable exceptions.

Touching the Sky

In terms of musical output and cultural impact, Mr. West's dramatic rise, precipitous fall, and subsequent rebirth during the 2000's was an amalgamation of the fables of Icarus and the mystical Phoenix. His star quickly rose on the back of a trilogy of albums (The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation) which conquered the zeitgeist while he continued to produce hit songs for the top stars in pop, R&B, and hip-hop. After his mother, Donda West passed away in 2007 due to complications from cosmetic surgery, Kanye once again recycled pain into art with the melancholy 808's and Heartbreak. From being a perpetual bug in the bonnet of industry awards planners and making other broad-based public declarations - no one had to debate in which esteem Mr. West held himself - and most of his legion of fans agreed.

Never one to shy away from freedom of speech, two such events during the touch the sky years are now emblazoned into the public's psyche - the first his blunt declaration in 2005 that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" in reference to the terrible tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the second his drunken hijacking of the MTV Music Awards with his infamous and cruel “I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time!” indicating that Taylor Swift had been wrongly awarded the Best Female Video award over Beyonce's Single Ladies. These outbursts were seen as emblematic of an individual whose self-regard and apparent narcissism would be his downfall - capped off with Barack Obama famously calling him a jackass.

He still had people in his corner trying to save him from himself, though. A roster of fellow superstars joined him for his Good Friday's mixtape and his magnum opus album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His "big brother" JAY Z took the allegiance a step further and recorded a collaborative album, Watch the Throne with him in 2011. Still, a series of choices linked to his need for greater notoriety than being one of the most famous and beloved musical artists on earth would take him face to face with his self-proclaimed superpower - bipolar disorder and the related emotional fallout.

I am a God

"No one man should have so much power," Kanye West raps on the song Power from MBDTF. This statement has proven prophetic as leading to the eventual desolation of the person who wrote and rapped the line. Having survived the Taylor Swift debacle and conducted one of the most lucrative world tours in music history with Watch the Throne - he had superseded the previous dizzying heights of his early-stage career. And once he cemented his newfound fame by marrying into the Kardashian empire, an era of unchecked ego, hubris, and mental illness commenced.

Having dominated music for over a decade, he was ready to indulge his other artistic endeavors - principally fashion. He felt that his hard-won experience from conquering the music industry would inform his takeover of apparel as well. But this was far from the case. The powers that controlled this (new-to-him) industry were not just going to open their coffers and write him a blank check as a cultural curator.

Having to fight for respect once again in a new domain damaged Mr. West's delicate ego and put him on tilt. His outbursts (rants) made famous during his tours and awards shows became fodder for Youtube and even the evening news. He humbled himself and interned with Fendi in Italy with Virgil Abloh to demonstrate how serious he was about this new passion. Sensing that the industry gatekeepers had no intention of letting him in - Kanye did what Kanye does best - be a disruptor willing to say anything to anyone until he got his way.

He sought the answers to creating in his own image and demanded the keys to this new kingdom all the while suffering from continued bouts of depression, self-doubt, and bipolar episodes. One of which led to him going on TMZ and declaring that "slavery was a choice". Soon after, he was hospitalized for a psychiatric emergency.

Eventually though, his efforts would manifest brand Yeezy and high-profile collaborations (and dissolutions) with Nike, gap, and Adidas. While he was establishing his unique fashion persona, the music did not stop, even though the accolades certainly did. Yeezus and The Life of Pablo underwhelmed mostly due to the sharpened edge of the artist's narcissism and ubiquity due to his ultra-famous coupling. And his greatest creations during this period - his four children have had to suffer from their father's extended absences, sojourns, and creative distractions.

His ego pain of having to continuously fight to maintain and augment his name and fame during this period has manifested in the beginnings of his radicalization by Trump and the alt-right. At some point, Mr. West figured that if the people who should be listening to him were tuning out - he would turn to an audience dying to hear platitudes from someone of his stature and race. In a single stroke he donned a red Make America Great Again hat and erased two decades of good will, excuse making, and fan ship in the process.

I Miss the Old Kanye

In Death of Salesman, Willy Lomack - the central figure - is not an invincible father or a loyal husband or even a super successful salesman like he desires everyone to believe. He is egocentric. He does not properly value his family. And he cannot acknowledge the fact that he is only marginally successful. Hence, Willy fantasizes about lost opportunities for wealth, fame, and notoriety until his eventual suicide.

Kanye West's pursuit of notoriety, fame, and status cost him his reputation as a bold brash, intelligent, innovative individual who loves his people and is a positive beacon for others to follow. It cost him his wife. It cost him agency with his children. Ultimately, it may cost him what he prizes most - his legacy as one of the greatest creatives of his generation.

His music, once the thing fans could depend on about him, has morphed into a hodgepodge of mixed messages mingling talk of Jesus Love with murdering his exe's new suitors. His 4-album run from Ye to Donda 2 has overpromised and underwhelmed. He has signed lucrative deals but been unable to deliver. And he has issued rhetoric siding with white supremacist doctrine and anti-Semitism. It's time we face the fact that Kanye West - the musical prodigy and all-time entertainer, no longer exists.

Much like his mentor, Donald J. Trump, the sooner we stop caring about what he says and (in the case of West alone) hoping he will turn the corner back to his former self, the sooner we can appropriately deal with this latest incarnation of Kanye, Yeezus, Ye, Yeezy - and call him by the only labels that matter - billionaire and bigot.

Dahmer: A gruesome tale of systemic racism and white privilege

America is currently revisiting its fascination with one of the sickest modern serial killers of all time - and it's important to remember what this story is really all about - continued profiting off the systemic and calculated dismemberment and desecration of black and brown bodies - and the willful ignorance of those with the power to effect change.

The Birth of the Monster

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born a child of the 1960's - the age of free love and civil strife. His mother Joyce (depicted as a depressed and attention-deprived hypochondriac) was being treated according to the Arthur Sackler manual of chemical imbalance and overprescribed a variety of Equanil, laxatives, and sleeping pills to fix her "condition". Meanwhile, his father Lionel (an agitated, unhappy man) was in and out of his life during his prepubescent and adolescent years. This left young Jeffrey abandoned and isolated with his own troubled thoughts for much of his young life.

Much has been made of his youthful fascination with dead animals as a child and his father's role in teaching him how to dismember, dissect, and later dispose of these doomed animals with chemicals. Was this the birth of the monster who would later confess to doing the same to a litany of (mostly black and brown) gay men (in addition to drugging, necrophilia, cannibalization, and corporal preservation)? Did he subconsciously associate black and brown people with animals and treat them accordingly, or was his preferred prey merely a preference or just a coincidence?

A social outcast who realized early on that he was gay, he started getting into trouble with authority figures as a troubled youth. An alcoholic by age 14, he defied disciplinary measures. And in a pattern that would repeat over and again, he would be given a mild reprimand and set free. After his parent's divorce coincided with his high school graduation, both his mother and father abandoned him to his own devices at their family home and the young man took to selling his blood to get enough money to keep him in alcohol. Around this time his fantasies of immobilizing and controlling partners for his own sexual gratification merged with his fascination for dissection.

It was in this state - as a suddenly abandoned, continuously inebriated, repressed, and sexually frustrated 18-year-old; that he committed his first murder - that of hitchhiker Steven Hix - one of only two white victims in his oeuvre. But most of the hallmarks of his compulsions were already present in this first victim - leading one to imagine that he had already put a lot of thought and consideration into his craft.

The Age of Willful Ignorance

Dahmer would go on to be expelled from college, discharged from the army, fired from a litany of jobs, arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, and moved from place to place as he tried to control his compulsions and live a normal (albeit alcohol soaked) life. After being forced to move in with his grandmother, things only got worse. He stole a mannequin from a department store planning to use it for sexual gratification (but his grandmother found and discarded it), and he was arrested for indecent exposure at a county fair.

Still, he continued finding employment and getting chance after chance to turn his life around. Instead, he delved into Milwaukee's gay bars and bathhouses to explore his sexuality. Frustrated with his partners' animation during intimate moments, he procured a seemingly endless supply of powerful sedatives by lying to doctors about a sleeping condition and realizing that he needed to see these men as sex objects and not people, began drugging them before indulging in his compulsions. He was kicked out of the bathhouses shortly thereafter, when one of his sexual subjects overdosed. But he just turned to using hotels for his needs.

It was in this moment - where he was not yet killing his sexual conquests, that he entertained digging up a corpse and bringing it home, and subsequently was charged for lewd and lascivious behavior for exposing himself before a pair of 12-year-old boys. But the charge was later changed to disorderly conduct for which he received one year of probation, with additional instructions to undergo counseling.

Drunk and disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, illegal drug procurement used in drugging men, lewd and lascivious behavior in front of minors. Judges, business proprietors, doctors, teachers, military officials, and police had all crossed paths with Dahmer by this point. And all of them ignored an emerging pattern that would soon once again turn deadly.

The Big Red Flags

Dahmer's alcoholism and general sloppiness led to more than a few mishaps on his journey to full serial killer mode. His second murder victim (Steven Tuomi) was someone he confessed to having no recollection of killing due to being black-out drunk. He later brought a man to his grandmother's home from a club, but his grandmother woke up, so he took the man to County General Hospital instead of killing him. His grandmother eventually kicked him out for drinking, bringing strange men home, and an unending stench he attributed to his taxidermy hobby. Three days after moving into an apartment, he was arrested for drugging and sexually fondling a 13-year-old boy whom he had lured to his home on the pretext of posing nude for photographs.

Dahmer pleaded guilty to the charges of second-degree sexual assault and of enticing a child for immoral purposes. Between the guilty plea and being sentenced to five years' probation and one year in the House of Correction, he murdered his 5th victim (Anthony Sears) while temporarily living back at his grandmother's house. The details of his sentencing allowed him to keep his job and he later received early parole. He had to register as a sex offender upon discharge from the work camp.

But being on probation and registered as a sex offender did nothing to slow Dahmer down. Six corpses and a few years later, the damning incident of 14-year-old Lao teenager Konerak Sinthasomphone occurred (the brother of one of Dahmer's earlier victims), who was zombified by Dahmer and managed to escape naked, only to be escorted back into the monster's lair by two police officers. This is after a litany of complaints by neighbors to the landlord about the ungodly smell and sounds of torture and trauma emanating from Dahmer's apartment. He would kill Sinthasomphone and 4 more men before finally being captured, tried, sentenced, and finally imprisoned.

The Power of Privilege

After ingesting the story of Jeffrey Dahmer's horrific activities, one cannot help but to also reconcile with the conditions that allowed this predator to thrive. He preyed on a marginalized community in plain sight in defiance of the authorities. He was tagged by law enforcement several times and set loose repeatedly to wreak his unique brand of havoc. He was allowed to explain himself out of trouble in situations where a black or brown person would never have received the benefit of the doubt.

We cannot separate Dahmer's whiteness or maleness from this reckoning. Just as we cannot separate the white maleness of the police officers, teachers, judges, and doctors, who enabled him over the years. Much like when Jason Bateman of American Psycho attempts to confess to his lawyer about his murderous ways only to be dismissed, so did these biased authority figures grossly underestimate Dahmer's potential for harm even with a demonstrated pattern of chaos in his wake.

And once in prison for sixteen consecutive life sentences, his fame only grew. Not only did he indiscriminately murder but he also created an industry of morbidly fascinated fans desperate to get any piece they could of the monster. And who suffers repeatedly? The families of the victims. They don't participate in profit mongering, nor do they have any say over how their loved ones are centered or depicted. This latest Dahmer documentary is just the latest in a long line of toxic cash grabs based on our morbid fascination with mythologizing serial killers.

It's good to see that there is at least as much backlash as there is avid support for the show in this instance. But it's cheap information to the still and forever grieving, who are forever haunted by a living representation of the horrors of systemic racism we can never escape. Dahmer has never just been about a lone disturbed maniac. It is a powerful reminder that until we see privilege and systemic racism for what it is - a perpetually toxic force that strips dignity from marginalized people, just like Dahmer stripped his victims of their lives and flesh - our collective calls for justice and opportunity will never be answered.

Assignee, Successor, or Steward - What's Your Role and How to Succeed?

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in the news of late, it got me thinking about a key question that all new leaders must face. In addition to accurately assessing the business situation, new leaders also must figure out whether their role is to be assignees, stewards, or successors. Choosing incorrectly has significant impact in terms of how performance will be evaluated. This article will help new leaders identify which of these roles to lean into and how to achieve success depending on the role selected.

What is leadership succession?

Succession occurs when a prospective candidate is chosen and especially groomed for a role of increasing authority usually by the leader who is vacating the role. Successors enjoy in-depth knowledge about the business dynamics and usually have a leg up when it comes to understanding what's working well and what's not, as well as the acute and chronic issues that need to be addressed. Successors have the opportunity, therefore, to push innovation and performance further, faster, but also have high pressure to deliver on transformation initiatives.

The passing of the crown in a monarchy is a fitting example of leadership succession. King Charles III was groomed for decades to assume the throne. He knows the ins and outs of the role as well as the issues and opportunities that he will be tasked with addressing. Therefore, he can move swiftly and confidently in structuring his new regime and has a true advantage when it comes to advancing the reputation and prestige of the royal family.

The learning curve for successors is flattened which is why the growth expectation is usually much steeper. Successors also usually enjoy greater autonomy sooner, and as such can put their stamp on their new team and business in a more meaningful way. But beware, many companies call all new management hires - successors - whether they have prepared these incoming leaders for the success part of the work or not. We can call this false succession process "assignment" - as in being plucked from one area and dropped into unfamiliar territory with orders to lead.

What is leadership assignment?

Most times, companies don't especially groom and prepare new leaders for success. Instead, they opt for the far more perilous process of assigning individuals to leadership roles. To be assigned means being assessed via some sort of performance criteria and deemed to have the mandatory minimum capabilities to succeed in a higher leadership capacity. Assignees must prove their worth all while learning their business situation, people, and processes. These roles tend to be sink or swim opportunities where success can lead to great reward, but failure can end careers.

Assignment is attractive for companies operating in traditional management hierarchies. This is because they actively want to weed out leaders who cannot meet muster so that the future leadership hierarchy is clarified. Due to this desire, assignees are usually given less autonomy but significant pressure to perform. Without coaching or incremental support from the organization, many assignees are consigned to mediocrity or outright failure due to the lack of a firm foundation.

I was assigned to most of my leadership positions in my career. From being tasked with leading a regional Classic Brands marketing division in the Middle East to being selected as a General Manager in Indonesia and Brazil, I went into these roles with the odds of success stacked against me. What always makes a difference for leadership assignees is the quality of support they receive from their direct line managers. I was fortunate in most cases to have exceptional support which is why I was able to ultimately succeed. Where I experienced the most failure - it is no surprise that I also received the least consistency and continuity of management support.

What is leadership stewardship?

Leadership stewards are successors or assignees with a specific mandate not to change the status quo. Leaders are selected based on their measured approach, steadfastness, and political savvy. As the primary requirement for success for stewards is the degree to which they don't mess with success, they often experience the least pressure to continuously adapt and change with the times. Their role is business continuity, plain and simple.

Stewardship is often a requirement for slower moving businesses or more risk averse environments. Surprisingly, though, it also occurs frequently in the start-up space when founders are replaced by "steady hands" tasked with managing growth and enhancing rigor and structure. It's kind of an oxymoron when fast moving, rapidly growing businesses are headed by leaders who are averse to change - but it has happened repeatedly, such as when Steve Jobs was replaced in the late 1980's or when the leadership at Uber was sacked in 2015.

This is a highly circumstantial leadership post, most successful when companies need a cooling-off period. Leaders who accept the role of steward understand that maintaining reputation and minimizing business disruption are the primary goals. Multi-directional communication, discipline, and management rigor are the principal capabilities required for success. Interestingly, successors can often morph into stewards over time if left in a role for extended periods. They come in the door hot but entropy and organizational appetite for continuous change and adaptation falls out of favor, replaced by the need for greater stability.

How to know which role you are in and how to succeed?

Unfortunately, many companies are unclear about what they want and therefore utilize the wrong process for the wrong business situations, which forces the new leader to figure out their role on their own and then make the necessary adaptations. As such, here are some quick tips leaders can utilize to assess which role is required and how to proceed from there to make the most of your tenure.

Succession equals speed: When a leader comes into a role with a mandate to rapidly address the business situation, whether they were groomed for the role or not - they are in the position of successor. As such, the key relationship is with the predecessor. Engaging them and extracting as much knowledge as soon as possible is crucial to avoid missteps. If the prior leader is not accessible or lacks engagement, then it is incumbent on the successor to negotiate more time to gain greater business understanding prior to taking decisive action that could have dire future consequences. Assignment equals development: Leaders who enter a role with some but not all the capabilities needed for success need to understand that their development is the crucial step. Regardless of the business situation or expectation, they must take their time to deepen their toolbox and confidence. Empirical creativity is the crucial process here - not rushing to scale initiatives without straightforward evidence that the solution has a high probability of success. Their goal is to demonstrate continued improvement over the length of their assignment and not fall into the trap of overreacting to external pressures. They also must not be afraid to ask for help. Stewardship equals stability: Leaders who have never experienced the succession or assignment roles make for terrible stewards. They lack the experience that comes from developing on the job and moving fast and breaking things. This leads to insecurity, passiveness, and indecision in a business that requires resilience, assertiveness, and confidence. It takes a lot of gravitas to stand strong amid unending change. Stewards need to be known quantities who are unconcerned about their next position or upward mobility - they love what they do, do it well, and possess the hallmark of consistency which increases stability.

As previously mentioned, when leaders are mismatched for the business situation they are in or for the expectations placed on them, the result is often disastrous. Using these simple definitions can help leaders accurately assess their role and request the relevant support to thrive.

Are Your LGBTQ+ Employees "Proud" Enough of Your Culture?

How do prospective employees know that your enterprise truly accepts, embraces, serves, promotes, and protects ALL identities? How can you prove it?

In The Best Place to Work, author Ron Friedman states that "it's rare for organizations to give much thought to whether their employees are proud of their workplace, yet the implications are profound." He goes on to list the benefits of a truly "proud" workforce such as:

Greater employee loyalty Lower turnover Better word of mouth to friends and acquaintances Enhanced organizational reputation

Organizational pride is crucial under normal circumstances. Now imagine its' importance in attracting and retaining those from marginalized backgrounds.

Intersectional diversity and inclusion are not only sourcing, developing, and promoting greater gender and ethnic diversity, but also ensuring that intersectional identities are considered just as valuable as the "easy" numbers. Skin color, gender, disability, and sexual orientation all combine and impact intersectional individuals as a potential discrimination multiplier.

This is why both the "D" and the "I" matter as discrete pieces of work and should not be blended or confused as the same effort.

Employees who belong to multiple underrepresented categories experience oppression and lack of opportunity in a myriad of ways. From the HBR, "employees who identify in ways that do not conform to the norms used to define and categorize them at work are more likely to feel marginalized, and even threatened." For people of intersectional identities, self-identifying to help companies identify their specific brand of diversity is complex. This is why the movement to declare and own one's unique pronouns is not "woke" - it's profound and game-changing. From the moment an individual openly declares their "otherness" - they open themselves up to potential ridicule, shame, misunderstanding, judgement, and discrimination. But widespread pronoun use can also be a crucial sign-post to an organization's inclusiveness.

To what degree does your company:

Accept and embrace all identities Amplify voices and seek multiple perspectives Support different styles of living and being

How can you prove it?

In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement - many Blacks who had to traverse the country carried around a Green Book (aka The Negro Motorist Green Book) which provided them with advice on safe places to eat and sleep. This was an essential travel document that saved lives in a dangerous time for Blacks. What the authors of the Green Book understood was that 1) they could and would not live in fear and stay confined to their locales and 2) they would map out the safe places and build institutional knowledge that kept more of their people safe as they ventured out to where were the greatest opportunities.

Other than corporate websites and personal connections, there is no such resource for prospective intersectional employees to know which companies are go/no go in this era of performative allyship. Your employees are now the best "green book" to attract more intersectionality to your enterprises. But they will only do so if the company truly walks the talk. If your company doesn't do the J.E.D.I. work, then a room for rent sign post is not going to trick anyone into taking a chance on your company.

Friedman defines pride as, "the pleasurable feeling that we get when we reflect upon achieving a socially desirable outcome, one that elevates our standing within our group." Based on this definition, to be proud is quite a leap from being marginalized, repressed, or excluded. And therefore, to foster pride, an organization must take pains to truly uplift, highlight, and value different identities. Friedman found that there are four primary building blocks of organizational pride:

A grand narrative: This is from:to storytelling on a vast scale where the (hopefully) inspiring tale of where the company has been and where it is going is crystallized and cascaded to all. Group distinctiveness: This is what separates being a part of this organization from everyone else. It's the elevator speech your employees will talk about at dinner parties and while on vacation. A commitment to the greater good: When an organization does well and does good - this permeates positively the feeling of doing the work. The conviction that every member counts: This is why servant leadership principles are once again in vogue in businesses around the world. In the servant leadership style - it is the employee base who are the true value creators of an organization and are celebrated as such.

This #pridemonth - if your organization isn't intentionally building the blocks of pride for employees, it's time to get to work!

"There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment.” ~ The Negro Motorist Green Book

4 Arguments for J.E.D.I. Action (justice, equity, diversity, inclusion)

One of the biggest issues behind the lack of progress against accelerated corporate commitments to #diversity #equity and #inclusion initiatives made in the past 2 years has been the sustained will to truly do the necessary work to truly deliver needed change. The simple fact is that most companies are only invested in DEI as some sort of offshoot of their corporate social responsibility efforts versus a needed change initiative that will deliver the capabilities to drive performance. As the previous burning platforms from 2020 transform into ash and decay and day to day business pressures pull focus away from less acute issues - executives have excused themselves for taking their eye off the ball.

Unfortunately, if external issues are the change drivers, then there will never be enough inertia to commit to long-term long-lasting transformation. Executives need more reasons to keep their skin in this game. Initially, they wanted a business rationale for DEI - McKinsey, Deloitte, BlackRock, Harvard Business Review, and more commissioned the requisite analyses and proved the business case. Why didn't data points like the fact that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are delivering significantly higher returns than laggards move the needle?

Why are smart business people ignoring such relevant facts? Is it ignorance? The beliefs and biases of the leaders in question? Or even pure negligence? Or it could be a lack of compelling arguments for change that go beyond a business case and paint the complete picture of the necessity for J.E.D.I. action - eradicating injustices, eliminating inequities, expanding diversity, and enhancing inclusion.

After mining the best research on the topic, it is clear there are 4 primary arguments that need to be made in order for executives to truly invest in DEI to the degree that is required: moral, peer-pressure, innovation, and risk mitigation.

The Moral Argument (aka - changing because it's the right thing to do): This is what many people counted on during and after the summer of social justice protests in 2020. Companies began backing social movements and making major external financial commitments but found it easier to write checks, hire DEI leads, and conduct unconscious bias training than do the actual work of cleaning up their principles, processes, priorities, and practices. Still, the moral argument presents several compelling reasons for change:

Workforce composition and participation is at its most diverse in history. Yet senior management positions are overwhelmingly held by white cisgender males. Employees deserve to see representation at all levels of the organization. This creates the environment of psychological safety and support needed to fully engage these different types of employees.

The Peer Pressure Argument (aka - changing because everyone else is doing it): The companies that have proven the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion are leapfrogging those who have sat on the fence. Investor pressure has therefore come into play - forcing the hand of those companies for whom morality is not a business imperative. Organizations like ,Just Capital and ,PolicyLink are now holding companies accountable for progress against these initiatives and capital providers, institutional investors, and regulators are starting to pay attention. Because competition drives business decisions, the peer-pressure argument is a powerful card to play when convincing executives to shift priorities due to the potential consequences of inaction:

Competitors are more attractive to a more diverse group of talents. Companies that don’t follow the trend will fall behind in terms of public perception and reputation. But companies found guilty of merely “performative” DEI are the most negatively affected. Starting slow and building momentum (without big public statements) is the way to enter this space a la Good to Great versus merely following.

The Innovation Argument (aka - changing because it will enhance our competitiveness): This is the competitive advantage front running companies have already embraced and what everyone else now needs to address. And don't mistake innovation for technology (although many tech companies are making progress in this space such as Intel, SalesForce, and Alphabet). Now is the time to embrace virtual and hybrid working as the opportunities they truly are to impact employee make-up, well-being, engagement, and productivity. Every day that a company stubbornly holds on to past management paradigms is a day that company is losing the ability to manifest future performance because:

Diverse organizations have been proven to be more successful than non-diverse ones. Capitalizing on diversity requires efforts to enhance gender and ethnic representation. Teams able to maximize diversity of collective strengths are far more profitable and sustainable. Diverse teams increase understanding of a variety of markets and psychographics leading to potential competitive advantages

The Risk-Mitigation Argument (aka changing because there is significant reputational and financial risk to not doing so): Business executives are measured broadly across three axes - financial performance, proactive risk and reputation management, and business continuity preparations. Despite these relatively clear metrics - many in the C-suite have merely watched peer companies and companies in related industries take major stumbles due to ethical, discriminatory, and/or values violations that have cost them market capitalization, stock performance, credit rating, and license to operate and not taken appropriate action to ensure they are not next. With this in mind, even if the other arguments presented above are not captivating enough - the one where the very job security of those in charge is at stake should open eyes and ears to the need to move forward on DEI systematically. For good or bad, today's CEOs are a bad tweet away from ruin - and as such need to take proactive measures to ensure their houses are in order because:

Innovation risk leads to potential business stagnation and lack of competitiveness. Inaction against injustices can lead to financial risks (lawsuits, fines, etc). Unaddressed inequities leads to higher potential employee attrition rates. Reputational risk can lead to significant issues across stakeholders.

Whenever corporate leaders implement strategies with the wrong intentions, expect lukewarm traction. This is the case with DEI and why to be a DEI practitioner these days feels like pushing a boulder up a hill with an anchor tied around your waist. Importantly, this is not an issue of more training. Training is an important step but only once the deeper internal work has been accomplished, To unleash the power of these arguments, it's best to combine them into a single compelling reason to believe:

The leading companies (peer pressure) have embraced DEI as a compelling business success strategy (innovation). The data demonstrates that these leading companies (peer pressure) have a double-digit financial advantage (peer pressure/innovation/risk mitigation) over lagging companies, and they are achieving this by driving greater gender and ethnic diversity (moral/innovation) which are both required for a successful DEI approach. Leaning into DEI however requires thinking of this more as consistent with ESG, Compliance, and Ethics (risk mitigation) efforts than merely an HR led initiative or merely good PR (moral). Fully pursuing DEI will not only keep us in step with the times (moral) but will also make us a stronger employer and competitor and more attractive to investors and current and future customers.

What are your thoughts on the four arguments and their combination? Let's discuss in the comments - and remember - if you need support for your DEI initiatives, look no further than ,your friendly neighborhood J.E.D.I. Leader!

Omar L. Harris is a former pharmaceutical General Manager (GSK, Allergan), Intent Consulting founder, motivational speaker, and bestselling author, with over 20 years’ experience building high performance organizations on 4 continents. Having managed multibillion dollar brands and led extensive organizations while working in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the US, he innovated blueprints for J.E.D.I. Leadership (leading with justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) and servant leadership and 20 Team Performance Acceleration Principles (TPAPs) that can be applied by leaders at all levels of professional experience.

Leadership Lessons from Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness

Please note: this article contains spoilers.Marvel comes full circle with this latest film by enlisting director Sam Raimi (famous for the first Spider Man trilogy starring Tobey McGuire) to return to his super hero roots. Doctor Strange has been ubiquitous in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since debuting back in 2016, but this latest adventure opens up literally endless possibilities for both Strange and Marvel's multiverse. Having just erased the world's memory of Spider Man, Dr. Stephen Strange is back for a solo outing with long-lasting implications. Despite teasing that this chapter would be a direct link to the consequences of spell casting at the end of Spider Man: No Way Home, this entry goes in an entirely unexpected direction. The synopsis of the film goes: In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary."On one level, this film is about the consequences of pursuing one's chosen path. But this movie is also very much about the tenuous relationship between vocation and contentment. As someone wise once said,

"Happiness and suffering exist only in the mind."

With this thought in mind, allow me to present 5 key leadership lessons from this eventful movie:

Trust is essential: At the start of the movie, America Chavez (a new character who can jump between realities in the multiverse) is on the run from a multiverse monster and together with an alternate reality Doctor Strange are trying to recover a book that will allow them to defeat the beast. Strange instead turns on her and attempts to absorb her powers in order to keep them from the wrong hands. He ends up dead and America escapes to our reality where she continues to be pursued by another monster in this reality. This betrayal leads to America questioning our realities' Strange when she meets him after he vanquishes the monster with the help of Wong. She doesn't believe she can trust him and spends the majority of the movie resisting his help even though he does nothing but try to support her. Eventually he shows her how much he trusts her and empowers her to be the hero she has needed all along. Leadership Lesson: Trust is the currency of relationships and as such must be preserved at all cost. If you find yourself having difficulty convincing others, examine your degree of credibility, reliability, and professional intimacy and offset this by your own self-interest. The most effective leaders maximize the numerator in this trust equation and reduce their ego in order to facilitate more effective relationships with others. Be a part of the solution: Strange enlists the help of Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlet Witch to try to understand who or what is pursuing America. In the film's first twist, it turns out that Wanda is actually the main antagonist. As Wanda can only see one solution to her problem of reuniting with her children in another reality, she decides she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. She never considers asking America for her help, which shows how far gone she is at this point due to her interactions with the Dark Hold. Strange misses a major opportunity at this point to work with Wanda to find another way to achieve her goal and thus the events of the film ensue - beginning with the destruction of Kamar-Taj, continuing to the murder of another universe's Illuminati, and eventually trying to kill America. Leadership Lesson: Many times, leaders are asked to sacrifice things they value for the so-called greater good. The most effective leaders are able to turn zero-sum situations into trade-offs and paradoxical solutions. They do this by explaining what will be lost by sacrificing versus what could be gained by an and vs or approach to decision-making. Tunnel vision corrupts: Wanda only sees one way to reunite with her children. And she is blind to the consequences of this course of action (killing at least two people - America and the alternate reality version of herself). Because of her tunnel vision she goes from a hero to a terrible villain capable of tremendous destruction. Instead of seeking counsel or support, she doubles and triples down on her goal and almost destroys everything she once upheld to get what she wants. In the end, she has to bury herself as she finally realizes she is the only one who can stop herself. Leadership Lesson: The pressure to perform coupled with an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous external environment can make a leader take short cuts in terms of problem solving and decision making. Remember, that your credibility is based on your ability to take a step back from the heat of situations and create the space and time to make the best possible selection of available options. Especially when it seems that there are no good options - this is where a leader's value is truly demonstrated. There are always choices - your job is to work hard to bring them to light. Self-awareness is not optional: Another recurring theme in the movie is that Strange is a slave to his basic nature. Because he needs to be in control, he is willing to make unnecessary sacrifices (like taking America's power for himself) if he believes it is in service of some greater good. This is why the Illuminati call him the greatest threat to the multiverse - his combination of power and cold rationality could lead to Thanos' level of arrogance and destructive goal-setting. Leadership Lesson: It has been proven that the more self-aware is a leader and her/his team the more successful. Data suggests that the most damaging situations occur when teams are comprised of significant over-raters (i.e., individuals who think they are contributing more than their team members think they are). Just being surrounded by teammates with low self-awareness (or a bunch of over-raters) cuts the chances of team success in half. That's why it behooves leaders to be life-long learners and the most open and receptive to feedback in order to raise their awareness of any potential blind spots, hidden strengths, and other abilities or proclivities that only experience can highlight. Practice strategic selfishness: Early in the movie when Strange attends his ex-fiancé (Christine's) wedding, she asks him if he's happy - mentioning that his biggest issue is that as a surgeon he had to be the one holding the knife and as a hero he has to be the one to save the day - he doesn't trust anyone else as much as he trusts himself. This theme turns up time and again through the movie as Strange tries to balance heroics with ultimate self-interest. An interaction with an alternate reality version of Christine shows him that he might not have to fully sacrifice his own needs to be of service to others. Leadership Lesson: The most effective people focus on what they control and have the mindset, habits, and tracking to make sure they receive the right inputs to maximize their positive impact on others. They are invested in the five types of love - self, interest, purpose, team, and financial and ensure their cups remain as full as possible so they can show up as the best version of themselves.

Overall, Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness takes the MCU into an entirely different direction with literally endless possibilities across a multiverse of realities. I'm excited to see Strange's continued growth and arc and look forward to the next installment in this trilogy. It was epic to see the Illuminati and other shocks (like Zombie Strange) - I thoroughly enjoyed it (4.5 out of 5 stars from me). What other leadership lessons did you glean from the film? Let us know in the comments below. And please give the article a thumbs up and share with your network if you enjoyed and got anything out of it.

Performative Allyship is NOT Enough

In the wake of the social reckoning post George Floyd's murder, America’s 50 biggest public companies and their foundations committed at least $49.5 billion to address racial inequality. As of this writing, less than $2 billion (4%) has been dispersed and with the majority of commitments ($45.2 billion) made in the form of loans or investments they could stand to profit from.

During the recent senate confirmation hearings for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Senator Ted Cruz made it a point to grill her on Ibram X. Kendi's children's book Antiracist Baby. His inquiry mostly centered around the ludicrous idea that white babies are born racist and whether or not (soon to be confirmed) Justice Jackson agreed with this notion and her role in the inclusion of such books on the curriculum at Georgetown Day School where she was a board member. Watching this painful exchange, I was struck with how little people understand the difference between the concepts of anti vs. not and how the people attacking the teaching of race in schools self-identify in the not group.

To be anti-something is to be actively engaged in the fight against a force deemed to be dangerous, toxic, evil, or denigrating something else of importance (liberty, freedom, purpose, progress). To be not something is to make a declaration and distinction that you should not be seen or judged as part of an undesirable faction or group. To be a not requires no further action than self-identification. But to be anti requires principled action.

Someone who declares they are not sexist simply is stating that the outside world should take them at their word on the matter regardless of what their actions have shown. Plenty of men taken down during the #metoo movement consider themselves as not sexist despite considerable sexism in their past. Plenty of other people who defend the actions of individuals found guilty of deplorable acts of sexism like R. Kelly likewise defend themselves as not sexist even as they identify as pro-sexual assault offenders like the serial pedophile.

Ibram X. Kendi chose his words and concepts wisely in the books How to be An Antiracist and Antiracist Baby. He was declaring that it is woefully insufficient to identify as not something while either remaining oblivious, ignorant, or obstinate to the suffering of disenfranchised groups.

To be anti is to up the ante from self-identification and issue blindness to activation and advocacy in service of eliminating the source of negativity.

By this measure then - one becomes antiracist only by actively advocating against racism in all its forms, facets, and functions in our society. A baby who is not taught, shown, and continuously reinforced that racism is evil, vile, and deplorable can never become antiracist - no matter how much their parents claim to not be racists. A corporation that states it supports antiracism and allocates funding but does not disperse the funds in a meaningful and impactful way has not fully joined the fight and as such does not deserve the positive PR, customer patronage, and investor loyalty they sought to gain by making these sweeping declarations of support.

As the old adage goes, you must be for something or you will fall for anything.

Many companies declare that they are for equal opportunity, fairness, and progress but don't actively fight against the inequities, injustices, and stagnating policies, procedures, priorities, and practices within their own walls and far less within the communities and societies that sustain them. This is at the heart of performative allyship which is even worse than being not something. As stated in a recent Forbes article on the topic, "the problem with performative allyship, is that it maintains the status quo and renders illegitimate, any attempts to change processes that support structural racism, and other barriers."

Companies and leaders are declaring and then only taking minimal action towards their goals. For employees, customers, and stakeholders - this lack of accountability should be punished even more than companies that have taken no action at all. At least we know where those entities likely stand. But it is the company that spends a few hundred thousand on posters and performative positioning that are truly toxic. Because they have no true intention to actually commit to doing the necessary work to change their stripes.

Unfortunately, there is no single entity holding these companies accountable for following through on their external and internal pledges and commitments. And companies are continuously dodging transparency and reporting because there is no benefit to declaring progress only to get dinged and criticized every time the numbers are released. But until companies hold themselves accountable and make continual strides in the right direction, they cannot be counted as anti the forces that make working and living so torturous for so many - no matter how many posters, commercials, pledges, and other acts of performative allyship they make.

We can begin to hold our companies accountable by contributing to the EquityPulse database - the only anonymous platform for employees to rate their employers against a standard measure of J.E.D.I. progress. I created this platform to be the social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion doppelganger of sites like Glassdoor.com. Check it out and rate your employer today!

Overcoming the Impossible - From 14 Peaks to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Heroism: econsists of putting others first, even at your own peril. The noun heroism comes from the Greek hērōs, which referred to a demigod. As someone who shows great courage and valor is referred to as a hero, their actions are considered to be acts of heroism.

I recently watched the fantastic Netflix documentary - 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible which details a team of Nepalese high altitude mountaineers' quest to summit the tallest mountain peaks in the world in only 7 months. I was exceptionally inspired by the audacity of their mission as well as the fact that they had something significant to prove coming from a traditionally disenfranchised background. But led by a dynamic charismatic individual they made the impossible possible.

I couldn't help but compare their journey to those of us working in the corporate social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion business - we are each climbing peaks - theirs physical - ours conceptual and ethical. The metaphor of mountaineering has long been used to typify a significant goal or struggle - Martin Luther King Jr. used mountains in many of his most significant speeches. But seeing how this group of intrepid explorers achieved their goal was more the point I took away. They showed and proved. They didn't wait for permission. They leaned on their collective experience, capability, and enthusiasm for the task at hand. And most importantly, they never gave up.

To achieve the peaks of a corporate world where injustice is eradicated, inequity is eliminated, diversity is expanded, and inclusion is enhanced we will need to heed the example of this documentary. We need to do more together. We need to support each other. And we must never stop until the goal is achieved.

With that in mind, here is my unpacking of the experience of the documentary in the effort to pass on the inspiration I absorbed. This is filtered through the primary subject of the documentary, Nirmal Purja - a soldier, son, team leader, and death-zone seeker.

The Soldier

Nirmal Purja's (or Nims') father and older brothers were some of the few to call themselves members of the Brigade of Ghurkas - elite fighters from Nepal consigned to the British Army since the 1950's. Their respective military careers allowed their baby brother to attend English boarding school. This educational boost would come in handy as he also embarked on a career with the Ghurkas in 2003. His first seemingly impossible feat was becoming the first Ghurka accepted into the British Royal Navy's Special Boat Service (comparable to the US Navy's Seal Team Six) in 2009. The special unit is predominantly made up of Royal Marines Commandos, and specializes in classified undercover raids. Along with the SAS, the SBS is regarded as the most elite unit in the British military.

In order for him to climb this first career mountain - which is arguably as challenging as any of the above 8,000-meter behemoth's he would later ascend, Nims would need to lean on his unique spirit of resilience, persistence, and overwhelming optimism. This optimism is what strikes viewers introduced to Nims in the documentary. The documentary traces Nims and his team of Nepalese sherpas' quest to climb all 14 super 8,000-meter mountains in the world (Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, K2, Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and Shishapangma) in merely 7 months. For reference, the previous record holder took 7 years to successfully do so.

Nims relatively happy nature belies the steely will he possesses. Underneath all the smiles, dancing, and hugging is a person whose ability has been forged in the crucible of terrible conflict and struggle. He is a dreamer with the practicality of military tactician. While on assignment, he was nearly killed when a sniper's bullet (aimed for his head) collided with the butt of his rifle. As the breadwinner of his family, he had to learn to balance military duty, familial responsibility, and a burgeoning passion for high-altitude climbing.

While in the special unit, he developed his love of mountaineering, even specializing in cold weather warfare. While on leave in 2012, he learned how to climb and summited the 6,119-metre Lobuche East with his guide shortly after. Then he began tackling Everest in earnest. Summiting for the first time in 2014 and then leading an expedition of Ghurkas up to the peak a year later. His climbing confidence building as his military exploits wound down some, Nims began to dream even bigger.

The Death Zone

The first time Nims saved a fellow climber was during that initial ascent to Everest in 2014. This led him to the realization that not only was the job about ascending peaks, but also never leaving anyone behind. In the documentary, Nims and his crew embarked on two separate death-defying lifesaving missions while chasing their own objective of racing up perilous peaks. While most climbers were in it for individual glory, Nims knew that his new passion and vocation extended far beyond himself.

He became addicted to what climber's call "the death zone" - or altitudes above a certain point where the pressure of oxygen cannot sustain human life for a significant time span. This is why plane cabins are pressurized. According to Wikipedia, at or above the 8,000 meters above sea level altitude "additional red blood cells are manufactured; the heart beats faster; non-essential body functions are suppressed, food digestion efficiency declines (as the body suppresses the digestive system in favor of increasing its cardiopulmonary reserves);[9] and one breathes more deeply and more frequently. But acclimatization requires days or even weeks. Failure to acclimatize may result in altitude sickness, including high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or cerebral edema (HACE)."

During his mission, Nims was afflicted with high altitude cerebral edema, but still managed to save another climber also suffering the same symptoms. In a telling moment in the documentary, during his preparations for Project Possible - he was being tested in London at the Altitude Center. It was there that he gained confirmation that his fitness level for such high-altitude excursions was, in fact, above the curve. He possessed a natural physiological advantage – he could ascend and adjust to altitude faster than most mountaineers.

With his already burgeoning confidence reconfirmed by clear capability, he was ready to gain the approval of the only person that truly mattered, his mother.

The Son

Despite having naturalized to the UK, Nims has never forgotten where he came from. His mother was in declining health during the filming of the documentary and it was clear how important their relationship is. Nims was the servant leader of his family for some time, but knew he had to pursue his new calling. He went to his mother, seeking her understanding and approval. She co-signed the quest and urged him on at every step - even after nearly perishing due to a heart attack. She was the battery in his back energizing, focusing, and reminding him what he is doing all this for.

Still, Project Possible did lead to some estrangement with his brother, Kamal, who did not want Nims to give up his lucrative military pension to pursue what he considered a frivolous, selfish quest for glory. They did not speak for several months after Nims left the military. But their duty as sons brought them back together when their mother fell ill. Eventually, the entire family would come to embrace Nims' goals and to understand the broader importance of what he was trying to accomplish.

Nims is also the cherished son of his impoverished community. They cheered on his exploits and further accelerated his stamina and will for the task at hand. His quest changed things for his community forever - it put them on the map and will provide for them long after his legend has faded. This is why he was so passionate about pursuing this mission with an all-Nepalese team - to provide them with the exposure they would never receive as elite climbers otherwise.

But he couldn't just select any team - he needed the right combination of skills, attitude, fortitude, and experience.

The Team

If it weren't for Nepalese sherpas - no one would have ever scaled Mount Everest. They go up the mountain first, checking conditions, setting the ropes and ladders, placing oxygen at strategic points. They also lead the rescue missions when some wayward mountaineer loses their way. Because Everest is literally in their backyard, their expertise and labor is fundamental to success.

But there are very few Nepalese owned and run mountain guiding companies despite their knowledge, experience, and capability. Tourism is Nepal's second biggest export, and mountaineering accounts for a significant chunk of the sector, with a record 381 climbers in pre-pandemic 2019, according to Nepal's Department of Tourism. The mountain contributes about $13 million a year to tourism income, industry experts say - but the industry is dominated by Western enterprises who traditionally have been superior at recruiting high paying customers to the region and then leveraging local labor to get their customers to the summits.

Enter Nims and Project Possible which was about much more than setting a record - it was about shattering ceilings and opening a flood gate of new opportunities for a generation of Sherpas no longer content to play in the background. Which is why Nims was so precise in the selection of his team for the quest. He decided that a core team of five members would be the minimum crew needed. They would carry all their own kit - ropes, ladders, oxygen, tents, food, and water as they ascended. After careful consideration, Nims selected Mingma Gyabu “David” Sherpa: a Nepalese mountaineer and rescue climber who was the youngest person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, and held the Guinness World Record for "Fastest time to climb Everest and K2"; Lakpa Dendi (Zekson Son), Geljen Sherpa, and Tensi Kasang.

They divided the quest into three phases - Spring, Summer, and Fall and meticulously planned each trek. Their objective was speed and accuracy - they would climb as fast as humanly possible while remaining safe and they would celebrate every chance they got along the way. Despite significant odds - funding, governmental permission to climb, personal tragedy, near death experiences - they accomplished their goal with nearly a month to spare. And when they were done, Nims declared Mission Achieved and then began to dream about the next groundbreaking pursuit for him and his team.

The Takeaway for J.E.D.I. Practitioners

When I interact these days with those working in the J.E.D.I. space, I experience their fatigue, pessimism, and general discontent with the status quo. It seems like the quest we have chosen may be insurmountable and yet we must keep climbing because up is the only way to changing things in a sustainable fashion. Still, many of us are lacking what Nims possesses in spades - unbridled enthusiasm, passion, and the will to keep pushing forward day after day. We view J.E.D.I. work as a burden, not as a vocation and this mindset may be the biggest barrier to achieving our ultimate goals.

My takeaways from the documentary were quite straightforward and aligned with Nims' approach to high-altitude mountaineering.

We must gain enough experience and capability to have the confidence to chase these peaks of change as he did during his time as a soldier. We have to come alive in the spaces where most people quit - i.e. in the "death zones" of withering executive enthusiasm, political will, and apathy. We must balance the competing priorities of our jobs, families, and responsibilities and do whatever is necessary to keep our buckets full for the work ahead - just as Nims balanced his roles as husband, son, bread-winner, and dreamer. We must not climb alone - finding the right team of truly like-minded spirits is as fundamental to success as the quest itself - so pick the right people as Nims did.

I hope you watch this astounding documentary and are as inspired as I am. I am as committed as ever to the Project Possible quest of creating a corporate world where justice is secured, equity is the norm, diversity is the minimum, and inclusion is a given for all.