On the twenty-seventh entry of The Link Up with Latesha, our incredible host Latesha Byrd, founder of Byrd Career Consulting, provides some guidance on how you can really navigate the workplace politics and the antics and the performative allyship right now. Check the show notes to put your name on the waiting list for Latesha's Career Chasers Members Club, and don't forget to read her piece on Medium.

Interested in Latesha's Career Chasers Members Club? Click here for all the information. Membership will be reopening very soon, so join the waiting list!

Check out Latesha's Medium article titled "Working While Black In the Midst of Crisis & Injustice."

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TRANSCRIPT

Latesha: Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Link Up with Latesha. Y'all... why is it still 2020? I mean, we aren't even halfway through the year, but it feels like 2025. I feel like I've aged, you know, quite a few years within the last month. On today's episode, I wanted to provide and offer just some guidance on how you can really navigate the workplace politics and the antics and the performative allyship right now. This is an emotional time, I think, for many of us. 2020 has been a wild ride, y'all, and if you've been listening to, you know, The Link Up for a while, then you know that I'm a career coach, and so a part of my work is every day to have these conversations around what my clients are experiencing in the workplace, and when I tell you that these folks have lost their minds... [laughs] Like, people are really losing it out here. I think it's a combination of, you know, folks just kind of going crazy from staying at home and not traveling and not really having a life anymore to just being downright crazy, and as you all know, we are dealing with a lot of racism. Racism is not a new thing, right? It's been around for hundreds, hundreds of years, but it's definitely amplified just a lot more in terms of the conversations that are being brought up in the workplace now just due to all of the police brutality that has been on display for the world to see. I'm seeing a lot of content, I'm seeing a lot of messaging, for companies, leaders, for allies, on what they can do to kind of support the cause right now, but you know where I think we're really missing the mark? I don't see any content for us. Now, when I say us, I mean Black people, the ones that are really hurting right now and that are getting the short end of the stick. We don't have seats at the table to lead discussions and to talk about really dismantling the changes that need to take place within companies. We're not the ones. No, [but] we are being asked though to talk about "What does it feel like to be Black in America," you know? Like, "What? Why? Why would I want to talk about that with y'all?" You know? Like, that's the first thing that comes to mind when my clients are telling me that. They don't give us a seat at the table. I mean, we can't even see the table, you know? And I think about the glass ceiling, right, and how this term called "glass ceiling" means that, you know, women really aren't able to, you know, advance into leadership. I honestly think that, for Black women, I don't even know if there's a glass ceiling. I feel like we can't even see through the ceiling, you know what I'm saying? I don't know what that type of ceiling is, but listen, I don't think it's a glass ceiling. [laughs] And it's to the point where I think our emotions are at an all-time high, and yet we are still expected to show up and do our job and, you know, talk about what it's like being Black in America and to be that Black spokesperson for the Black delegates all over the world. Like, there is so much pressure on us, and it's frustrating for me, it's angering for me as a career coach, because I see and I hear what my clients are going through and all of the people that have reached out to me over the last week or so about, you know, really how to have these conversations and, you know, the fear of, "Well, if I don't have this conversation, you know, my employer is going to, you know, basically put a mark on my record or think that I am being difficult because I don't want to talk or I'm, you know, being aggressive if I speak up." You know? It's like we can't win. So I'm frustrated, y'all. I love us. I love being Black. I love that we are so talented and ambitious and strong, but we are tired of being strong. Like, for real, for real. So I have some tips for you. I'm gonna go ahead and get into it. Before I do that, just a couple of announcements I want to share - and I have not shared this publicly just yet, but I have a membership club called Career Chasers Member's Club. It is for Black women that are really seeking community, guidance and support as we are on this path of career greatness, chasing career greatness. Get it? [laughs] Yeah? No? Okay. Career Chasers, that's the name. Career Chasers Member's Club. So if you are looking for that community of like-minded ambitious women that are typically, you know, super smart but have lost, you know, confidence along the way, and if you're ready to invest in yourself and take control over your career, I want to welcome you to be a part of this community. We're 100 members strong, and my goal is to grow and grow and grow this thing. Excited to share that one of our members, Elise, just landed a role at Netflix in their aero-engineering team. So really excited for her. A lot of our members are getting interviews. They are really putting themselves out there with networking, because listen, y'all. These goals don't stop, and I'm gonna get off my soapbox in a minute, but these goals don't stop, you know, despite what's going on, and just remember that you being able to really step into your most highest and truest and best self professionally, that is resistance, because you are building and creating a path for someone else, right? Someone else is going to be able to look at you and say, "You know what? If she can do it, I can do it too." So more details to come on that. I'll drop the link in the show notes if you want to be on the wait list so you'll be the first to know when membership is opening up. So let's go ahead and get into what I want to talk about today. Here's the thing: I don't think that we should continue to sit in spaces that discount our experiences without letting our voices be heard. I am tired, and I think we are all tired, and I just tweeted this earlier, but I said "Companies, your Black employees are ready to throw in the tile." The TILE. [laughs] Y'all know what I'm talking about if you watch The Verses and Tyrese. Y'all know he can't spell, so he said he's ready to throw in the tile. Anyways, we are tired, but listen, here's a positive thing I think that's going on is that more ears are now open to the conversation about systemic oppression and racism, but I think that there is still a lot--and I mean, y'all know that there is a lot of work that we have to do, but I don't think we should have to censor our identities anymore. I think that now the conversation and the eyes are on us, so you can use that to your advantage, but I also don't want you all to feel pressured if you don't feel like your company has provided a safe space for you to be fully transparent about how you are feeling. Like, let me just say that, but what I do want to say is that, you know, I do think there is some genuine care and concern right now. So I do encourage you to express, like, how you're feeling about everything that's going on. It is not going to be an easy conversation. And what I'm realizing is that it seems like a lot of our white colleagues are making it harder, you know, I think in terms of race and racism. This is something that we typically talk about with each other all of the time, you know? But I'm seeing that our white colleagues are really struggling with even how to have the conversation. Like, they don't even want to say the word race or racism, you know? Or police brutality. You know, years ago Black Lives Matter was very controversial. So saying all that to say I want you to trust your intuition and do what you think you need to do to really just kind of make it through this time. If you need to take some time off, like, please do that. Like, step away from the work, because the work will always be there, you know? I'm hoping that you don't have to take PTO. Maybe your company offers wellness days or you can take a sick day, because honestly when you think about health, it's not just physical health. It's mental health too. Like, take some time and step away if you feel overwhelmed right now--and I know [for] me personally it's been an emotional rollercoaster. I have been feeling overwhelmed. I can't imagine having to go into a 9-to-5 every day and still perform and be expected to, like I said, be a speaker for the Black delegation, so if you need to, take some time away. I want you to do that, y'all. Just start taking a Monday here, a Friday here. Take a whole week if you can. Like, really step away, because you probably aren't as productive as you maybe once were before. So let me go ahead and get into some more of these tips. So like I said, be open to having the conversation when the topic does come up. Don't say--you know, if they ask, like, how you're feeling, don't say, "Oh, I'm good. What are you talking about? Everything is great." Like, you know, you don't have to do that. You don't even have to say, "You kn