An active ally is someone who believes in and acts to advance equality. Someone who calls out discrimination and bias when they hear or see it.
The bad news is that while there has been so much positive progress to combat discrimination in all its forms, bias and discrimination still exist within workplaces and societies across the world.
The good news is that anyone can become an active ally, regardless of ethnic background, sexual orientation, disability, sex, or age. It requires no special skills, just the right attitude and a willingness to listen, learn and act.
Please Take Part!
What: #MTtalk
Where: Twitter
When: February 25 @ 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. GMT / 11:30 p.m. IST)
Topic: Are You an Active Ally?
Host: @Mind_Tools
In my experience, allyship needs to operate on both an individual and collective level for it to have deep impact. Organizationally, it’s about creating a workplace culture where people bring their whole selves to work. This has to be a good thing, not only for businesses but for society.
Workshops can be used to develop understanding, advocate more-inclusive behaviors, and highlight the benefits of a more-inclusive culture. And they give colleagues greater confidence to challenge negative behavior when they see it.
But creating an active allyship culture isn’t really about workshops, policies and initiatives. Sometimes it’s the simple things that make the biggest difference and allow people to feel comfortable and accepted as part of a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Active Ally Influencers
Using appropriate language and understanding terminologies all go a long way toward making people feel welcomed, and help to promote a sense of genuine belonging.
While it’s important for allies to exist throughout an organization, allyship can be particularly influential when it’s adopted by people at senior levels. This is about putting people at the heart of the business.
Without the right workplace culture, if people feel they can’t be themselves they’ll lack confidence and become less motivated. They may feel unable to do their best work, and be uneasy about using personal experiences to develop creative solutions.
How to Be an Active Ally
Mind Tools coach Mike Barzacchini believes allyship is an undervalued leadership skill. He said, “Being an ally as a leader creates confidence, builds trust, and helps your colleagues and your team create a more-human culture.”
On an individual level, being an active ally means demonstrating support when it’s needed in both formal and informal ways.
Listening to individuals’ day-to-day experiences of discrimination allows for better appreciation of the challenges and bias experienced. That can help you to relate with empathy, and allow those who’ve been discriminated against to feel seen and heard.
Microaggression, Massive Impact
Somewhat counterintuitively, perhaps, blatant discrimination can be relatively straightforward to deal with. We see it, others see it, and we can challenge it for what it is. On the other hand, so-called “microaggressions” can be much trickier to call out.
These are the intentional or unintentional commonplace behaviors and language that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes toward particular groups.
We may worry that if we call out such “microaggressions” we’ll be accused of being overly sensitive, or the comments will be passed off as a joke or banter.
We may be concerned that we’ll get into an argument, or that it will affect our relationships with colleagues, and this stops us speaking up. These are all natural concerns, so how do we overcome them?
Wrong Steps, Right Direction
Three important questions inform my allyship and help overcome any fears that may prevent me from actively speaking out:
- If I don’t call this out, will I regret it?
- If I don’t call this out, does this suggest I condone what’s being said or done?
- What specifically do I want to say, and how should I say it?
It’s helpful to remember that, as an active ally, we may not always get it right. We may not always say the right thing, in the right way, at the right time. But what we can do is be committed to continuously listening and learning.
We can be committed to remaining respectful, diplomatic, empathic, and assertive. And know that people are forgiving of our mistakes when they know we’re being genuinely supportive and authentic, and that we’ve “got their backs.”
So, if you want to be an active ally what should you do?
- Be an active and visible ally.
- Use your voice to actively promote equity for all.
- Never be a bystander to harassment or bullying, bias, or negative language.
- Challenge inappropriate behavior.
- Celebrate the uniqueness and diversity of your colleagues.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Maya Angelou, American poet, author, actor
Being an active ally could be the most important role you ever have.
About This Week’s “Active Ally” Chat
It’s easy to say, “I don’t want to get involved” and walk away, but that’s not helping anybody. During Friday’s #MTtalk Twitter chat, we’re going to discuss what it means to be an active ally and why it’s important.
In our Twitter poll this week, we wanted to know which characteristic you rate as most important if you want to be an active ally. Fifty-six percent of participants voted for “educating yourself,” while only 11 percent voted for “building trust.” To see all the options and results, please click here.
We’d love you to participate in the chat, and the following questions may spark some thoughts in preparation for it:
- What’s the difference between being an ally and being an active ally?
- When is it important to be an active ally?
- What fears may hold you back from speaking up?
- How has an active ally helped you during your career?
- What skills or attributes do you need to be an active ally?
- What should an active ally avoid doing?
- How can you be an active ally in the face of potential harm to your career or person?
Active Ally Resources
To help you prepare for the chat, we’ve compiled a list of resources for you to browse. (Please note that you will need to be a Mind Tools Club or Corporate member to see all of the resources in full.)
5 Ways to Support Your LGBTQ+ Colleagues
Achieving Personal Empowerment
How to Take Part in #MTtalk
Follow us on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action this Friday! We’ll be tweeting out 10 questions during our hour-long chat.
To participate in the chat, type #MTtalk in the Twitter search function. Then, click on “Latest” and you’ll be able to follow the live chat feed. You can join the chat by using the hashtag #MTtalk in your responses.
The post Are You an Active Ally? – Join Our #MTtalk appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
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