Tech has a homogeneity problem. Karla Monterroso — a longtime leadership coach, racial equity advocate and the founder of Brava Leaders — jumped on Equity last week to talk about how that issue was complicated by a bull cycle that saw power in visionary pitches — something now tested by a bear market in which talent is constantly turning over and founders have to make critical decisions with second- and third-order effects.
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Monterroso argued that a diverse workforce needs more than well-intentioned leaders to function properly. The skillset of a founder in 2022 comes with emotional intelligence on how to handle conflict, a mature understanding of power and the ability to offer context around decisions in a way that empowers their staff.
“We’re going to need leadership that is actually much more comfortable with complexity.” Karla Monterroso
To me, the takeaway from this episode is just how big the startup founder’s job is today, regardless of stage or scale.
My entire conversation with Monterroso lives now wherever you find podcasts, so take a listen if you haven’t yet. Below, we extracted a few key takeaways from the interview, from tech’s allergy to conflict to the consequences of widespread layoffs.
What do you commonly see needing to change within organizations seeking to create a more diverse workforce beyond hiring? How do you begin to fine-tune your culture so your diverse workforce is taken care of?
You have to create context. What was the context in which the decision was made? Where were the impacts that were considered? What are the trade-offs that we believe are necessary? What were the beliefs behind this? And then you roll that context out. People understanding that context are actually much better able to execute any kind of plan; they also can help you understand the impacts you did not foresee.
I’ve been talking to a lot of leaders about how part of having power right now means balancing trade-offs between impact, financial sustainability and culture. Multicultural institutions actually demand much more of their leaders in understanding those trade-offs being impacted by the things that they have. And I think handling trade-offs and conflict are fundamental skills for multicultural institution-building.
Talking about trade-offs and how we make hard decisions and how we execute on them. Talking about conflict and what we learn from the fissures that are there when people don’t agree on a decision. And the way that anti-Blackness impacts all of our decision-making.
People have made trade-offs off of Black lives and the lives of people of color for a very long time. And so it seems natural in a lot of ways. And that comfort means people are making comfortable choices instead of strategic choices. And I think that all of those things, along with a clarity of beliefs and a true understanding of power, are going to be fundamental skills for running multicultural institutions in a way that was not required, really, of leaders and homogeneous institutions.
I want to get your thoughts on all the executive turnover that is happening and how that plays into the diversification of workforces.
We are at the beginning of creating what multicultural institutions look like and how they will operate. I do think a lot of the turnovers that we’re seeing, whether it is the layoffs or the new management, means that people are coming in to create homogeneity in their companies yet again.
So, they do a layoff, and they take all the complexity out. They slice off the parts of the organization that created friction. And that friction is essentially what makes multicultural institutions more effective because they’re asking different kinds of questions. But a lot of the leaders that are coming in do not have the range to manage a multicultural organization or company. And because they don’t have the range for it, they just cut it out. Then that creates homogeneity because that is what makes a band of leaders comfortable right now. And we’re going to need leadership that is actually much more comfortable with complexity.
Speaking of layoffs, let’s talk about Elon Musk and his move to fire 50% of Twitter staff. Is there any silver lining in this moment in his leadership style? In a prior episode, a guest mentioned that Musk may inspire other founders to act more decisively.
I do think he’s showing in a very public way how cruel turnovers look. When what you’re trying to do is create a homogeneous workforce again, I think most of that happens behind closed doors, and people kind of pretend to be civil in public. And the folks who experience the violence of re-homogenization and resegregation in their workforce are often left on an island to observe that cruelty. But we’d like to know what it looks like.
Off mic
Monterroso’s commentary underscored the pressure that startup leaders face today. While I don’t entirely agree with the idea that layoffs always target the more diverse people within an organization, I do think it is one of the unspoken consequences of such widespread workforce reductions. I also think the differing opinions about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter are interesting: Some say it’s following the classic corporate takeover playbook, while others, like Monterroso, say the way it’s being done is unprecedented.
In a world where diverse workforces are now becoming more and more of a reality (and priority), there is a new set of rules to consider. And while words like “transparency” and “collaboration” sound great, actually making those principles of an organization requires comfort with conflict.