DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right

by Lily Zheng

Senior leaders have the most formal power in their organizations. They are able to formally drive change to structure, culture, and strategy from the top and coordinate the resources and political authority required to scale this change across the organization. Yet, they are the farthest away from the situation “on the ground” and require that their employees trust the organization enough to share their experiences. If senior leaders can build trust and gain the information they need, they can deploy the power they have at their disposal to change organization-wide strategies and direct those under them to build new systems or reform existing ones. In other words, skilled leaders holding the trust of their employees are most able to succeed within movements as strategists and backers empowering the builders and reformers under them to work.