madamenoire.com
Happy Thursday!
In life as in work, attitude is everything! A good one can take you far, and a bad one, well, can take you further..in the opposite direction, that is! But how about the stereotypical negative attitude that is so often (and so often mistakenly) attributed to Black and minority women, without them even being allowed to participate in this perceptions game that so unfairly labels them?
As Black and minority women in the corporate world, our stereotypical, media-induced, and culturally inaccurate reputation very often precedes us. And more often than not, it includes the word “attitude” in its most derogatory form. “She has way too much attitude!” “Black woman at work? Watch the attitude!”
You’d think all Black and minority women are enlisted in some form of finger-wagging, neck-twisting and eye rolling contest 24/7!
Truth is, many a times, it’s this same negative attitude we are expected to have, that pushes us to put our guards up and be on the defensive on an almost permanent basis. And many a times, when others expect you to behave badly, you end up feeling cornered and like a wounded beast, you just react instead of acting!
I remember my first job out of college in Big Corporate, and struggling to hide under my fear to be seen as the stereotypical, attitude-filled Black woman. Instead of being assertive and defending my otherwise hard work and brilliant ideas, I hid behind excessive compliance. For fear of being judged as being too aggressive, I kept silent and let others lay claim to my work and ideas. Instead of defending myself against faulty allegations, I walked away. And while I succeeded at not being perceived as having too much attitude, I failed at living up to my own potential.
Fast-forward a few years, and I’m still struggling with the power of perceptions in the workplace. Yet I’ve come to understand (and pay the price for understanding this ) that the problem is not being perceived as having too much attitude, but lacking the right attitude to succeed in the workplace. And that the right attitude is not to react out of fear of being misjudged (even if the fear is legitimate and the misjudging real), but rather to act out of a calm, cool and collected place of confidence and assertiveness.
Your thoughts?
The Corporate Sister
