Breaking down the glass cliff
“Break down the “glass cliff.” In one of our recent Highland events, Highland Leader and founder of Beloved Community Rhonda Broussard shared the challenges of the “glass cliff”—when leaders, namely Black women, are moved into roles in times of chaos or crisis, and not equipped with adequate resources, staff, training, or support—and it’s at the cost of our mental and physical well-being. In fact, recent reports show that Black women are experiencing significant levels of burnout. Co-powering with Black women isn’t about tapping us to show representation across issues or extracting knowledge from us; there must be a willingness to set us up for success.”
Calls for racial justice have prompted companies to hire more Black women into leadership positions in an attempt to diversify programs and reach marginalized communities. When they step into these roles, they are often met with discrimination and pressure to assimilate, as well as expectations that they will perform additional (and/or invisible) labor without recognition or compensation.
Consider the following from McKinsey’s and LeanIn.org’s 2022 Women In the Workplace Report:
"Black women leaders are more ambitious than other women at their level: 64% of black women in the United States agree their goal is to make it to the top of their profession; nearly double the percentage of non-Hispanic white women with the same goal. 59% of Black women leaders want to be top executives, compared to 49% percent of women leaders overall."
And yet, these same Black women are "less likely to have bosses who promote their work contributions to others, help them navigate organizational politics, or socialize with them outside of work."
We believe the onus should be on companies to create solutions for building inclusive, equity-centered, and supportive workplaces. Co-powering with Black women isn’t about tapping us to show representation across issues or extracting knowledge from us; there must be a willingness to set us up for success.
Read what Gabrielle Wyatt, founder of the Highland Project, and our very own Rhonda J. Broussard have to say about how companies can prioritize women who have been intentionally marginalized by institutions and systems.
