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Founders: You need to be talking with your teams about Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Elijah McClain, and the ongoing problem of police murder of innocent black people in the USA. 1/
This thread is for white male founders who may now know what they need to be doing for their teams right now. Black & brown founders, and non-male founders, already know better than me. 2/
Your employees from underrepresented groups wake up every day in a world that is burning. To expect them to just log on and start submitting PRs and hitting quotas like nothing’s happening to them is, at best, gaslighting them. 3/
“Is a business really the right forum for these discussions?”
In American capitalism in 2020, our business leaders are often our community leaders. This may not be a good thing, but it is a real thing. It is expected of you. 4/
In American capitalism in 2020, our business leaders are often our community leaders. This may not be a good thing, but it is a real thing. It is expected of you. 4/
It is especially true in startups, where we bring so much of ourselves, and give so much of ourselves to these companies every day. 5/
Many (white male) founders are very scared they’ll get it wrong, or say the wrong thing.
Guess what? You will. Just like everything else you didn’t know when you started out, you will screw it up the first few times. You want to be the leader? Time to learn. 6/
Guess what? You will. Just like everything else you didn’t know when you started out, you will screw it up the first few times. You want to be the leader? Time to learn. 6/
The good news is, if you built and manage your team well, they trust you and they will forgive some missteps. 7/
What to say? First, do not try to be an expert. Acknowledge what you don’t know. Just be genuine, make sure they see your human reaction to the trauma, and make sure they know you see theirs. 8/
In a communication to everyone, connect it to the day-to-day. Talk about how hard it is to focus and work. Make sure folks who are hurting know they are not alone. Offer time off to grieve or to march. If you have resources like therapy or donation matching, offer those. 9/
In team meetings, open by saying you can’t start a meeting right now without at least addressing how fucked up things are. Offer as much time as people want to share experiences and feelings. If no one does, or as the discussion wraps up, ask permission to transition to work. 10/
