Culture

A Gemisode® Series – Part I If you’ve been keeping up with the headlines, you may have noticed that leadership is undergoing a profound transformation, specifically what is expected of those in leadership positions.  Gone are the days when leadership was solely about authority and profit margins; instead, authenticity and social consciousness have emerged as […]

Pride Month, celebrated annually in June in the United States, holds deep historical significance for the LGBTQ+ community and community allies. Its roots trace back to the Stonewall uprisings that took place in New York City in June 1969, which ignited a transformative movement for equality and liberation. Beyond parades and festivities, Pride serves as […]

“Ma’am, this is your time, take it, you don’t have to rush” …. the words said to me by the check-out associate as the pressured feeling to pack my groceries quickly set in after glancing at the line behind me. As I left the store those 12 words began replaying in my mind and forced […]

In part 1, we discussed the leadership failure issues associated with the statement, “I’m disappointed but firing them is not an option.” This statement was made by a c-suite executive to an employee who had worked up the courage to report the prejudiced and bias-based behaviors of another leader. As is true of every statement […]

“I’m disappointed but firing them is not an option.” We’re back with another publication of Leadership Fail Statements, a gemisode series dedicated to examining the impact and harm of the actual statements made by organizational leaders in response to issue(s) that were brought to their attention. If you missed parts 1 and 2 of the […]

For failure to demonstrate consistency in its application and create sustained change. FOMO, the other ‘f’ and once the primary concern amongst netizens, has been replaced by the fear of being “cancelled”. If recent headlines about artists changing song lyrics, celebrities, politicians, countries, brands, and everyday people being publicly shamed are any indication, this trend […]

A Gemisode™ Series – Part II Systems, policies, and people eventually fall short of their intentions and as such “all paths to progress begin with acknowledgement”. Whether harm is experienced due to race, gender, ethnicity, religious identity, ability status, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, body shape and/or size, or any other intersectional identity used to judge […]

A Gemisode™ Series – Part I You’re overwhelmed, perhaps exhausted, and juggling more thoughts and responsibilities than you can fathom, yet the ever-pressing demand surrounding you is, ‘be resilient, be, be resilient’!  The American Psychological Association offers that “resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through […]

A Gemisode™ Series – Part II Dr. Sarah Webb, in a 2017 essay explained that internalized oppression was “the belief among historically oppressed people that negative stereotypes about themselves and positive stereotypes about a dominant group are, in fact true.” Delving deeper into the dangers of internalized oppression, the 2022 Forbes article by Janice Gassam […]

A Gemisode™ Series – Part I “The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom.”― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed If guaranteed allies were freely handed out, who wouldn’t line up? Receiving support when experiencing difficulty can have a positive impact on our mental and emotional state, yet, […]