Take Your Seat: Courageous Boardroom Transformation
Sometimes you are made to feel out of place, even when you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. For example, walking into some situations (boardrooms) as the only woman.
What you actually walked into are assumptions that you don’t belong, biases that unconsciously and quietly filter you out, unwritten rules that don’t consider your uniqueness, and a predetermined network.
If you feel out of place, it’s not your mind playing tricks.
It’s the reality – and much more. It’s also an opportunity to make an impact by transforming the situation.
You must boldly take the seat you deserve rather than the one other people think is sufficient for you. Reframe the conversation and transform the game.
Leaders Who Transformed Their Boardroom
Many leaders have taken their rightful seat, regardless of the circumstances and predetermined assumptions against them. Here are a few of those I admire.
- Katherine Johnson was a brilliant African-American mathematician who worked for NASA in the early, racially charged 1950’s. She was referred to as a human computer. Her calculations of orbital mechanics were critical to the success of the first and future US manned spaceflights.
- Ursula Burns came into Xerox as a summer intern. After overcoming many headwinds, she rose to become the first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company (2009 to 2016). Unfortunately, the current rate of rise of women to the head of corporate tables moves as fast as cold molasses.
- Booker T. Washington was born into slavery, but overcame all odds to become a prominent educator, author, and speaker. In 1881, he was named the first leader of my alma mater, Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. He became, in 1895, the first black speaker at the Atlanta Exposition.
- Nelson Mandela fought against the apartheid system of racial discrimination in South Africa. He overcame a tremendous number of life-threatening challenges, including 27 years in prison, to become the country’s first black president.
- Sheryl Sandberg became the first woman to be elected to Facebook’s board of directors and the first female COO of Facebook (2008 to 2022). Sheryl’s book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will, and the “Lean In Circles” (small women peer groups) that she inspired created a blueprint for other women to gain access to the boardroom.
- Nichelle Nichols broke all kinds of barriers and paradigms against African-American actresses when she portrayed Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek. Her role as a bridge officer was unprecedented. Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space in 1992, recognized Nichelle as her inspiration.
These trailblazers and many others like them all demonstrated that even though they walked into a room not designed for them, they transformed the room and also created space for others to follow.
Boardroom Transformation Defined
Transformation is more than just a shift.
It’s the complete change of the essence of something, including its form, nature, and appearance, in a way that the old form is eradicated. The leaders mentioned above all transformed where they were into something that was undeniably a step change, different, and progressive.
Similarly, we may have to overcome barriers to our progress. Some of them are erected by others whose biases cloud their judgements, leading them to think we do not fit.
Like many of you, I personally experienced this on multiple occasions. Overcoming those barriers usually made me “the first” or “the only one” to accomplish something or a goal.
There were a couple of times I even had to overcome “imposter syndrome,” the feeling that I did not deserve the achievement. However, that was a lie the establishment wanted me to believe.
You, also, can overcome and succeed in the face of situations where you are unfairly judged and deemed unfit or incapable.
These biases can be disguised as a positive, only to add undue expectations of you.
In my book, Bending Around Unwritten Rules: Navigation Tactics for Women and Underrepresented Professionals, I discussed how some generally assume that if you are of Asian descent, then you must be technically smart. That may seem like a compliment, but it becomes an overwhelming burden when unfairly high expectations are placed on the person to outperform everyone else. In my book, I share tactics to overcome that bias.
Steps to Courageous Boardroom Transformation
How can you transform a situation where you are made to feel out of your rightful place?
- Identify the issue at hand. It’s a blind spot. It’s not obvious to the rest of the room. This is the opportunity for you to add value by reframing the issue as an opportunity and helping bring improvement.
- Let your competence and capability do the talking. Maintain self-awareness, strengthen your emotional intelligence, and don’t make it personal. Show up with excellence and preparation. Competence is the quietest form of disruption.
- Boldly take your rightful seat in the boardroom. Instead of sitting at the back, in a corner, or close to the exit, sit next to the decision-maker – at the table. For one thing, it will be difficult to ignore your input.
- Speak with confidence. Use power language. For example, instead of “I think…,” say “I recommend…” Instead of saying “I’m not sure…,” say “I have low confidence…”
- Leverage your point of difference. It’s the unique trait that makes you special. It’s an asset that sets you apart from everyone else. Don’t try to be or know everything. Become the go-to person in your area of expertise.
- Drive your success by bending around the unwritten rules. For example, an unwritten rule for leaders is to be assertive. However, a woman asserting herself can be unfairly labeled as emotional or militant. One approach to bend around (not break) that rule is by leveraging soft assertiveness: the ability to assert yourself without force or aggression.
- Leave the door wider than you found it. Boardroom transformation is not only about you. This is a twofold approach: transform the environment to enable others to follow, and reach back by creating opportunities to pull up those who are unfairly being held down.
Transformation begins with preparation, courage to drive change, and self-confidence to open doors for those behind.
Being insecure, timid, and passive not only maintains the status quo, but it also reinforces and emboldens toxic behaviors towards you. Courageous leadership, on the other hand, will transform the room and make it yours.
Empowered Leadership Reflection
What tactic have you successfully used to transform an environment where you were made to feel undeserving?
If this resonates with you, please share your thoughts below, and forward to someone you know could benefit from it.
