As a Black Man, living in a White World, I am getting tired of how
we focus on not being represented enough. It is blinding our ability to
recognise where we have made progress, and while that pace may not be as quick
as we would like it to be, we would be stronger if we focused on where we are
winning rather than stuck like a scratched record. This behaviour also comes
across when I see how women approach the gender inequality issue. This is not a
South African phenomenon, it is a global problem. We need to build from our
wins, not complain without taking action.
The recent filing for the facebook IPO came with a nasty surprise
for Mark Zuckerberg I am sure, given the uproar about the Board Of Directors of
facebook lacking diversity. Not even the mighty Sheryl Sandberg, who
has been COO since 2008 cracked the nod! This is America, the land of the free!
The irony is that in 2010, Sheryl Sandberg gave a powerful TED Talk,
highlighting the problem that women are not making it to
the top of any profession anywhere in the world!
More close to home, I was at the Lion Of Africa Budget Breakfast
where our Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan had centre stage a day after
delivering his budget speech to the nation. The breakfast was being broadcast
live, and Vuyo Mbuli, asked The Minister of Women, Youth, Children and People
With Disabilities (yes there is such a portfolio in our Cabinet) for her
opinion on what was presented through the budget speech, and she expressed
dissatisfaction that the budget did not allocate spend strictly for the
empowerment of women. This I did not see coming considering the budget speech
was well received across the country and considering the tough economic times
globally, it really displays a bold balancing act.
We live in a world where there is gender inequality. We live in a
world where there is race inequality. We need to stop looking to the Pale White
Male to liberate us as it is not up to him to empower us with gender equality
or race equality. We need to stop focusing on begging to be empowered and start
focusing on the actions we take to empower ourselves that are effective,
creating equal opportunities going forward. We can’t all own the economy, but
we can all take ownership of our economy. We don’t need the White male to tell
us that we are worth something, so stop seeking his approval!
For me, what you focus on expands, and I have chosen to focus on
the improvements I am seeing. What are you doing to help yourself up in order
to succeed in your career, and what are you doing to give a hand up to Women
and Black people that are within your reach? This is work in progress, and you
are responsible for creating the world you want, so stop asking for permission
to get it!
It is idealistic to look to be equal to White males in status
today! You would literally need a magic wand that will erase the past, strip
every one of their material gains and redistribute those material gains equally
across the board. We will only be equal, when we believe we have just as good a
chance to achieve our desires, regardless of your gender or colour. So what do
you believe about this world you live in? What do you believe you can create?
What are you willing to pay to get it? Don’t sit there and be a victim who will
always talk about what could have been, stand up and back yourself to achieve
what you can be!
The image in this post was borrowed from http://www.ghanapaper.com/
Related Posts:
Follow Find Inspired Talent on
LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/company/find-inspired-talent! We offer Career Advisory Services for people that are intent on
learning and building their career.
You can follow us on twitter, http://twitter.com/1fitrecruitment
No comments:
Post a Comment