Tracey Elizabeth Webb Associates

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Professional Failure: Coping With the Fear

Professional Failure: Coping With the Fear

©Tracey Webb, Tracey Elizabeth Webb Associates 2025

Failure has been demonized in American culture in so many ways.  Stigma is attached to failed businesses or individuals who allegedly “couldn’t cut the mustard”.  But what is failure, really?  Does it have to be a permanent fall from grace for either an organization or an individual?

Point of View:  The boom and busts in American industrial history teach us a valuable lesson—failure is the greatest instructor of them all.  American culture deifies success to the point of abstraction.  We take the win, break out the champagne, and we are on to the next mountain to climb.  But the learning comes from the postmortem done after our failures, if we can walk through our individual and collective organizational fear.  That retrospective and detailed walk through troubling outcomes (failures) can lead us to lasting and usable insights.

Yes, some failures are truly catastrophic.  Product failures that result in death or injury, losing large sums of capital streams or credit access, and loss of confidence in a senior leader’s ability to effectively guide an organization—all of these can have huge impacts on both the organization and its individual leaders.  But most professional failures do not fall into the seriously catastrophic category.  If they do, there are experts that can help.  All is rarely lost.

Three Key Points:

 Embrace the Specific Failure.   Use analytical precision to name the failure—how can you correctly capture the failure in one short sentence?  Don’t add descriptors (which often wander off into emotions), simply agree on a short, pithy descriptor that captures the core of the problem.  For example, “We failed to execute against these three strategic initiatives”.  Next, review the actual current and projected impacts of the failure.  Don’t embellish—just the real and likely implications of the failure.  Time-band the real and likely implications (when are they likely to be realized?).  Next, begin gaming out counter strategies to correct the course.  If drastic measures are needed, plan to bring in expert advice to shore up your counter strategies. 

Don’t ‘Catastrophize’.  One of my advisors coined the phrase, ‘catastrophize’.  It means that we become concerned about the absolute worst that can happen.  Often, the human brain goes into flight or fight mode when there is failure.  We see only a dark horizon.  We are better served by acknowledging that storm clouds are present, while simultaneously delving behind those clouds to find solutions to counter the failure.  Somethings can’t be fixed and constitute irretrievable losses, but most things in life and in business can be fixed with time, intellectual grit, and collective genius. 

 Use the SARAH Model Frequently.   The SARAH model was developed by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross as a means of helping dying patients cope with a terminal diagnosis.  These are the stages that we cycle through on an iterative basis when we are given traumatic and disruptive feedback.  Professional failure is highly traumatic, and it can be extremely disruptive to our careers.  Knowing where we are in the SARAH cycle can help us navigate our emotions, so that we don’t move into the dark and murky waters of ‘catastrophizing’ and become intellectually paralyzed or emotionally bereft.

                                The mnemonic stands for:

                                S  Shock

                                A  Anger

                                R  Rejection

                                A  Acceptance

                                H  Help

Name the Fear.  There are real consequences to failure, as we all know.  But if we can identify where we are in the SARAH cycle at any given moment, we can better access resources and individuals that can help us either rectify the failure or chart a path forward to success in the future.  Naming our fears is not something that we have to do publicly, but it is critical that we understand what we are most afraid of (professional reputation, organizational impacts, fear that we have let ourselves or our team down).  Then we can use the help of experts to help us navigate our way back to solid ground.

Most failures are not catastrophic.  Time, keen analysis, expert assistance, and letting the mud settle from the chaotic waters—often lead to clarity and success in future attempts.  Again, all is rarely lost.  Failure should be embraced as our best teacher.

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What is the Role of Front-Line Managers and Supervisors: Clarity, Connection, and Execution

©Tracey Webb, Tracey Elizabeth Webb Associates 2025

Management literature is replete with advice for senior executives about their role in providing goal clarity, connecting the dots between the various organizational divisions, and in executing against the strategic plan. 

Point of View: The academic and popular press do not give enough credit and advice for those who are tasked with executing strategy and tactics on a daily basis. 

Front-line managers and supervisors are challenged with both the internal and exogenous stressors that confront organizations in today’s intense climate.  Employees are stressed, as is the organization.  Funding has become an issue for many non-profits and governmental entities.  For profit organizations are also watching the volatility of their stock price, the impact of actual or threatened tariffs, and the interest rate debate between the executive branch and The Federal Reserve. 

Yes, the executive team and the board hold strategic planning retreats and work with consultants to devise the path forward, with necessary adjustments as their organizations navigate the chaos of the last 6 months.  But who are the soldiers that carry the torch every day and work hard to realize the goals of these strategic plans?  The front-line workers and their immediate leaders. 

Three Key Points:

 Clarity connotes the ability to understand and to make the connection between the organization’s strategic goals, tactical plans, morays, and culture.  Front-line managers and supervisors have to be able to work with their direct leaders to be able to adequately and effectively translate somewhat lofty goals to tangible practices that can be readily executed by their staff.

Connection is the skill of putting the puzzle pieces together for their direct reports.  Is it prudent to reach out to other teams or divisions at any given time to facilitate execution or completion of a task?  Would it help the organization if your team were to collaborate with another team or share their experience?  This is where front-line supervisors and managers are invaluable.

Execution requires both clarity and connection.  Clarity about the organization’s mission and goals.  Connection about how all the pieces that the manager touches can or should be related.  This requires critical thinking and a curious mindset.  The organization’s culture should encourage curiosity and inquisitiveness.

When front-line managers and supervisors can successfully juggle these three competencies, staff performance increases because there is clarity and connection to the collective effort.  Union grievances are likely to decrease, and employee satisfaction improves.  Organizational culture and performance against strategic goals improve in tandem.

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Front Line Management of Difficult Discussions

Accountability: How can First Line Managers and Supervisors Demonstrate and Encourage Accountability During Times of Extreme Organizational Stress?

©Tracey Webb, Tracey Elizabeth Webb Associates 2025

I work with my executive clients on what I consider to be the three pillars of strategic senior leadership: Vision, Planning, Problem Solving.  Lately, I have received an increased number of requests for assistance helping first line supervisors and managers navigate difficult discussions.  Why?  Because our current stressful environment impacts every person in the organization and first line management is often hit hardest and first with these challenges.

More organizations are struggling with external and internal stress.  The current geopolitical climate, a stressful economy, and rapidly changing workforce expectations are causing public agencies, non-profits, and private firms to reel from constantly changing and escalating stimuli.  First-line supervisors and managers are finding that they are confronted with increasingly vocal and stressed employees, changing organizational requirements, and their own increased stress from juggling all these heightened stimuli.

Point of View:

I define accountability as taking responsibility for one’s actions and decisions within the context of organizational life.  This requires cultivating a clear understanding of the organization’s goals, rules, and morays.

These three key actions can lead to an increase in an organizational culture that promotes individual and collective accountability:

 Learn to think critically about the impact of your actions on the organization.

 Develop the “active listening muscle” to better hear the concerns of your direct reports.

Engage in skillful difficult discussions with direct reports and develop the skill to gracefully exit conversations when they become toxic.

Clients are reporting an increase in organizational strife, pressure, and toxicity.  We resort to our “shadow side” (Carl Jung) when under stress.  The shadow refers to the latent behavior that is triggered when adrenaline increases.  The amygdala, the part of the brain that runs on emotion, becomes activated and we can dispense with logical or critical thinking.  The neocortex (the thinking part of the brain) becomes subverted by emotions and we react from our deepest personality instincts.

Strategic communication tools can assist all of us as we navigate our highly charged environment in these turbulent times.  First-line supervisors and managers can benefit from critical thinking training, dedicated exercises to learn the tools of active listening, and gracious but clear exit strategy from difficult conversations that could ensnare them in prohibited union territory, human resources peril or add to complaints of disgruntled direct reports.

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Accountability: The Bane of Organizational Life

Accountability: The Bane of Current Organizational Life

3.5.25

I have been approached by a myriad of clients asking for help instilling accountability in their organizations.  Often, this is initially described to me as the failure of a particular individual or team to carry their share of the organizational burden.  The lack of accountability is frequently described as an absence of innovation, initiative, and follow-through. 

Having spent the better part of the last year pondering the increase in queries around accountability, two factors emerged as most prevalent.  The pandemic being the first element that served as a catalyst for this purported malaise.  The second factor, differing workplace expectations, only seemed to fuel the angst that my clients have been experiencing.

This surge in organizational behavior caused me to wonder whether the COVID pandemic was the catalyst for another industrial revolution.  Arguably, the advent of widespread computational power in the 70’s onward, coupled with the proliferation and expansion of the internet, was the most recent quasi-industrial upheaval prior to AI.  But COVID changed the expectations of workers, and those continue to manifest themselves in the post-pandemic workplace.

Many clients have expressed a struggle with Return to Work (now a common acronym, RTW) policies, as well as contending with a workforce that has vastly different work-life balance expectations after the pandemic.  My clients have rightly found that mandating changes is certainly one strategy, but holding employees accountable for the new policies is more difficult than expected.  Positional authority remains what it has always been: a useful tool in an emergency.  However, authority is being questioned by employees as much as it was during the Gilded Age that inspired the formation of unions and the push for workplace hygiene and workers’ rights.

So where does accountability fit into the new organizational landscape?  It is more important than ever.  But what does organizational accountability amount to at the end of the workday?  Who is accountable to whom and for what?

Organizational charts can delineate reporting relationships.  OKR’s (Objectives and Key Results) and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) can help manage performance expectations and measures, but these tools do not necessarily create a culture of accountability in an organization.  This frustrates my executive clients to no end.

What is a culture of accountability and how do we build an organizational climate that supports the concept?  How do we define accountability?

Definition of Organizational Accountability: 

Accountability is the act of taking responsibility for organizational outcomes that are under the control of or that can be impacted directly by an individual or a team.  Taking responsibility equates to demonstrating intellectual curiosity about the task(s) at hand, devising innovative ways to approach the task or problem, and readily accepting responsibility for the success and/or failure of the outcome. 

How we Build a Culture of Organizational Accountability

Three steps help us work together to create a culture that expects and empowers accountability:

 Know the true organizational climate, including the shadow side (the underbelly—that part of the culture that we’d rather not show in the light, e.g. hyper-competitive, cutthroat, favoritism, lack of transparency, etc.).  This can be accomplished through organizational climate surveys and well-crafted interview protocol in which the researchers dive deep into the morays and attributes of the culture by interviewing a well-selected sample.

Identify those individuals or segments of the organization where accountability is embraced and expected.  Deconstruct what is working in those pods or with those individuals, celebrate these segments publicly, and work directly with them to codify and spread their methodology.

Define what accountability “looks like” in real terms—not in corporate speak.  Create stories and narratives that demonstrate organizational accountability in action.  Better yet, create focus groups of your employees to help create these narratives.  Essentially, you are working together as a team to create a definition of accountability that accurately reflects your culture and organizational needs.

Organizational accountability is not an ethereal concept that is somehow unattainable for most organizations and only achievable in some mythical structure.  Instead, it is borne of internal analysis and a collective determination to reach strategic goals together. 

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The Intersectionality of Unconconscious Bias, Empathy, and Advocacy

The Intersectionality of Unconscious bias, Empathy, and Advocacy

Prepared by Tracey Webb, Tracey Elizabeth Webb Associates

February 28, 2025

We must learn to embrace empathy and recognize unconscious bias to serve as credible and effective allies in the fight for a just society.  Tracey Webb

We are navigating extremely challenging times, as we contend with forces designed to disaggregate collective justice and aggregate power among a few.  We are pitted against one another, dealing with an extreme sense of chaos, and fed conflicting and often unverified information.  The world’s collective head is on a swivel—as we all attempt to navigate this rocky and treacherous terrain.  DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has become the target of intense vitriol and unprecedented dismantling of decades-old principles of fairness and equity.

What are the tools that supporters of DEI can use as guideposts as they navigate incoming attacks against the very principles that they have been appointed to uphold and promote?  Three foundational tools have become necessary arrows in the quiver of those who search for fairness and inclusion:

Understanding and deconstructing unconscious bias;

Defining and cultivating empathy;

Defining and practicing effective advocacy and allyship.

We will explore these three topics in detail, with suggested queries to deepen our thinking and our discourse.

The Depths and Dangers of Unconscious Bias

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS

Definition: Unrecognized or unacknowledged prejudicial beliefs or stereotypes

Questions to consider:

1:  How can we work together to help each other discover and mitigate our unconscious biases?

2.  Why are unconscious biases so harmful to others and to those demonstrating the bias?    

Unconscious bias is one of the most pernicious elements of societal decline.  It is one of the core constructs of diversity work, because we cannot address that which we do not recognize.  Each member of society has a duty to explore their own biases, through self-education, civil discussion, and use of various tools developed by reputable sources.  Implicit.Harvard.Edu is a website with free and confidential bias tests that offer illuminating glances into our individual biases.  Commission members would be well-served to take as many of these tests as possible as they begin to serve Martinez on the Diversity and Cultural Commission.  We must know our own limitations and seek help to address them to effectively serve the community. 

We develop biases based upon our family of origin, our life experiences, and often—misunderstandings and incorrect perceptions or beliefs about others.  Unconscious bias can be particularly treacherous because we do not recognize that certain beliefs impact our thinking and our decisions. 

Dialogue is one of the key elements in deconstructing bias.  Unconscious bias is best explored in a didactic relationship, in which there is back and forth between individuals in conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion.  We can learn and grow when we commit to having difficult discussions.   Consider using our protocol from Mastering DIFFICULT DISCUSSIONS™:

MASTERING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS™

Content Outline

Step 1:  Individual Preparation:

                -Know your triggers—what anxiety/concerns do you bring to the conversation?

                -Stories:  What stories /narrative are you telling yourself about the other party or the topic?

                -‘Catastrophizing’—What is the worst that can happen as a result of the conversation?

                -Mitigating—How can you mitigate the potential catastrophic consequences?

Step 2:  Pre- and Post- Discussion Analysis

DIFFICULT Acronym

-D/  Define the relationship between the parties/ look for lines of authority, history between the parties, and the organizational culture that could impact the situation

-I/ Identify the potential issues of contention, the need behind the need (is there a message behind the words?)

-F/ Future setting—what future are both parties working toward?

-F/ Foundation— What is the mutual common ground?

-I/ Intentionality—What is the intention of both parties for the discussion?

-C/ Clash—Conflict isn’t inherently bad—it is the degree of authenticity and civility that matters; Each party explains their concerns using “I feel” statements where appropriate—not stating absolutes.

-U/ Unity--Where is there mutual understanding?

-L/ Lead—Lead the discussion with the common ground in mind, even if that space is sparse (find the commonality—it exists, even if minimal); consider how we build upon the common ground to enhance individual and mutual goals

-T/Trust—yourself to be appropriately vulnerable and authentic; demonstrate trust for the other party by actively listening to the other party; listen to understand—not to respond or to debate/refute; try and understand the other party’s pain and concerns

Step 3:  Execution

MOVE IN by TURNING TOWARD

Process:

Party 1:  States their concern

Party 2:  States their concern

Party 1:  Responds to party two

Party 2:  Responds to party one

Outcome of this round: 

                Common ground:

                Disconnects remaining:

Repeat for three rounds.  Compare the results between rounds 1-3. 

Use the DIFFICULT acronym for post-discussion analysis (particularly for complex or critical issues)

-Use “I feel” statements, vs. stating absolutes

STOP Acronym for Managing Tension

-S/ Sense and acknowledge any tension between the parties

-T/ Talk about the tension calmly

-O/ Opportunity:  Take the opportunity to understand the party’s concerns and re-set the conversation by acknowledging hearing concerns (you don’t have to agree)

-P/ Proceed forward with care, informed by an understanding of the underlying tension

Why Empathy Differs from Sympathy

EMPATHY

Definition: Empathy (in the context of diversity work) is the ability to understand (or attempt to understand), in various degrees, the struggle and experience of marginalized people.

Question 1: Why is empathy one of the most important skills to develop to create a more equitable society?

Question 2:  How can you increase or develop your empathy “muscle”?

Empathy is one of the most important skills that we can develop as we attempt to understand the lived experience of others.  We needn’t experience what someone or a group endures to develop empathy for them.  But we do need to attempt to see and feel their experience from their perspective.  Once again, dialogue and effective listening is the best way to glean a meaningful understanding of another person’s experience.  Suspend judgment, do not listen to respond.  Rather, sit with their statements.  Look them in the eye.  Try and feel what they are feeling. 

Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone, feeling bad for them.  This is a noble emotion, but it is inappropriate in the context of diversity work.  Sympathy can be viewed as a pejorative or negative emotion when working within the constructs of DEI, because it can be seen as though somehow the victim of discrimination is “less than”.  Sympathy can become a toxic emotion in this context because it can be seen as “looking down” upon an individual or a group, particularly if one stops at sympathy and doesn’t try and find a constructive way of being part of the solution to the root cause of the problem.

Empathy is an action—it requires effort to figuratively place ourselves as closely as possible in someone else’s shoes.  The goal is to try and feel what the other party or other group is feeling, while suspending our lived experiences as much as possible.  We are not trying to become the other person—we are trying to really see them and to feel their experience.

 Effective Allyship and Advocacy

ALLYSHIP, ADVOCACY, AND ACCOMPLICES

Definition:  Allies and accomplices work against hate to support and protect marginalized people.

Question 1:  How can allies and accomplices work to best support marginalized people?

Question 2:  How can allies or accomplices cross the line from helpful to harmful?

What is the difference between allyship, advocacy, and accomplices?  Allyship involves standing by those who are harmed by lack of diversity and inclusion.  Unfortunately, the term has become somewhat performative in the last few years, particularly with organizations issuing DEI proclamations as readily as a new advertising slogan.  But advocacy is a verb that requires action—doing something with meaning to redress inequities. Shining a light on the beauty and nuance of other cultures. 

One of my clients noted that accomplices are far more useful than allies.  The former will climb into the trenches with you and fight the fight.  Effective diversity work requires allyship, bolstered by advocacy, and carried out with accomplices.

Policy Considerations

Those committed to using DEI tools to create a more just society might employ the following list of questions as a sieve when considering possible policy choices:

 What are the possible unintended consequences of the recommendation?

Who might suffer harm because of this recommendation?

Have we effectively gleaned sufficient and balanced community input from a diverse sample of the population?

 Is our analysis of the data that we gathered unbiased? 

How can we test our individual biases as we process the data that we have gathered?

 How can we present the data in a manner that upholds the dignity, privacy, and humanity of the subject?

The Importance of the Intersectionality of Unconscious Bias, Empathy, and Allyship

The three concepts that we discussed are critical important as standalone pillars, but even more powerful when we examine the intersection of the three concepts.  A Vin diagram is one that shows the intersection of multiple concepts:

The dark purple is the core of the diagram.  With diversity work, effective action is the core of the work.  When we tackle our unconscious bias, develop empathy for others, and practice allyship and advocacy, we hit the sweet spot of positive societal impact. 

The questions that supporters of DEI might ask ourselves are:

-What is the highest and best impact that they want to have on the organization or society at large?  What are the constructs of that vision? 

We must go beyond the term, “inclusion”, and really spend time defining what that means for any particular entity that we are serving:

-What other adjectives would you use to amplify and to describe an inclusive feeling in the organization that you are serving? 

-How do historically marginalized members of the organization define “inclusive”? 

As we continue to work to embrace and enhance diversity, we would be well served to remember the following core principles:

-Diversity is a good business practice that produces greater innovation, creativity, and camaraderie.

-Disagreements are fine and to be expected when tackling challenging DEI issues—they key is to have DIFFICULT DISCUSSIONS in a civil manner that produces deeper and more meaningful engagement and exploration of the topics / challenges at hand.

-Remember that diversity comes in all forms-- race, ethnicity, age, lived experience, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, etc.  Strive to see all the diversity present when considering an issue.  Recognizing and embracing these different “threads” allow us to weave a stronger social fabric.

-Keep the “I don’t know” mindset in the forefront.  It is critically important to realize that creating a more diverse and inclusive environment requires almost a childlike curiosity about the experiences of others. 

As We Continue on This Journey Toward Justice…

DEI is under direct attack.  Supporters of DEI must engage in strong self-care to protect their mental health, that of their families, and the general well-being of those whom they impact.  The adage, “put on your own oxygen mask first” is appropriate in this context.  One cannot do this work if there is not time for recharging one’s spirit.

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Finding the Music in the Chaos

Organizational life can feel like an exercise in managing chaos, with competing priorities, opinions, differing approaches, and the constant cacophony of expert advice.  So how do we sort through this and thrive as we work with others?  We find the music in the chaos.

I am a huge fan of opera and symphonic music.  I love both art forms because of their complexity--the successful melding of many elements.  I was recently in the San Francisco Opera house waiting for the performance to begin.  I looked up at the incredibly beautiful ceiling, the beautiful draping of the stage curtains, the Tragedy and Comedy reliefs on either side of the stage, and the comings and goings of the audience, as it was not yet time for the performance to begin.  I was overwhelmed by the pull on all of my senses.

I began to think about how we can experience a sense of constant overload and over stimulation in organizational life.  There is always something that needs to be done right now.  There are colleagues to persuade.  There are direct reports to manage.  And of course, we all have to manage up---even if we are the CEO.  How do we effectly navigate the chaos? We find the music in swirling priorities and demands.

The first step is to embrace the chaos; it is a fact of organizational life.  The second step is to remember who we are and what we stand for, as the chaotic energy swirls around us.  I always advise clients that their job is to move the organization forward and through chaos, as long as they are not being asked to do anything unethical, immoral, or illegal.  Additionally, we must be in constant contact with our North Star--who we are at our most authentic core.  Once we reconnect with who we are and how we need to show up in the world, we can better navigate through organizational chaos because our North Star, our authentic self, provides guidance.

The following steps provide a summary of the process of finding the music in the chaos:

1.  Embrace the chaos--it is a fact of organizational life.

2.  Journal, work with a coach, and remind yourself of your Authentic Self--who you truly are.  Know what motivates and drives you.  Know your guideposts and values.  

3.  Engage in authentic dialogue with your colleagues in order to understand their point of view, their priorities, and their challenges.  Listen first, and then share your considered and authentic point of view.

4.  Look for common patterns in the dialogue--this is how you find the music in the chaos.  What are your common goals/objectives?  What is the need behind the need--that your colleague(s) might not be sharing directly?  How do your needs behind the need correspond with your colleagues’ wants?  Whether we are talking about bio pharma, teaching students, or writing financial deals--we all have deeply held values and objectives that guide our work--whether or not we are conscious of these factors.  

5.  Finding the Music in the Chaos is really about having authentic and sometimes difficult dialogue that helps colleagues align around critical paths forward.  The process helps identify how we can best marshall our collective drive, motivation, and perspectives to find the best answers in the chaotic cacophony of organizational life.

There is music in the chaos; we have to look for it by bringing authentic dialogue to the fore.  The musical notes are swirling about in the chaos--our goal should be to hear them and work together to create a score that delivers against the organization’s goals.

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DEI and Privilege: The Caustic Intersection

Early in the pandemic I began consulting with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) clients on the topic of privilege.  Specifically, we explored “white privilege” and what that means to historically marginalized groups.  

The rancor and vitriol generated by the topic was overwhelming but not expected.  Many found the term offensive, while others were happy to finally talk about how privilege has directly impacted them and those that they cherish.

I define privilege as:  Having an unearned and unfair advantage over marginalized people solely based on race, sexual orientation, or gender.  We heard all manner of protest against the concept that some hold privilege over others.  We then started telling stories of how this privilege impacts marginalized people, and in many cases tears were flowing.  Both the listeners and the story tellers were moved by accounts of the caustic nature of weaponized advantage.

Privilege is often at the root of both outright discriminatory acts and statements.  Unrecognized or unacknowledged privilege can be just as caustic as blatant discrimination.  If one doesn’t do the work to examine their privilege, then bias and hate can spew about--even unintentionally.  But the harm can be done and impact means more than intent.

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Unconscious Bias:  Danger and Tragedy

We define unconscious bias as:  Unrecognized or unacknowledged prejudicial beliefs or stereotypes.  These “hidden” biases are dangerous because they can literally and figuratively become weaponized and result in irreperable damage. b

How many women, people of color, differently abled folk, non-binary, gay, or trans people have felt the sting of bias?  I venture that every member of one of these marginalized groups has experienced the pain of an attack upon them due to bias.  

Willful hatred is one thing--the person is completely conscious and aware of their beliefs and utter them with the intention of harming someone or disparaging an entire group of people. Unconscious bias is often the product of our upbringing or socialization.  We are taught to harbor false beliefs based on either outright fabrication or based upon ignorance.  We all harbor unconscious bias, but some to a greater and more dangerous extent than others. 

When internal bias goes unacknowledged, it often comes out in very harmful ways that result in real damage being done to careers, lives, and the psyche of those at whom it is directed.  Even if the bias shows up in the form of a seemingly small slight, the damage is real and it is cumulative.  As one client says,”it is like a thousand paper cuts.”  

But there are times when unconscious bias costs lives.  The recently publicized murders or attacks on so many people of color at the hands of citizens or law enforcement is prima facie evidence of hate.  However, consider that there is a seemingly less innocuous pre-cursor to hate:  Not acknowldeging your very false perceptions about another group.  If you don’t do the work to uncover and to work through your biases, you will harm many people.  It is inevitable.

For example, there are so many stories of people of color being targeted for being in a particular neighborhood, because “how could they possibly belong here”.  Or being told, as my stepfather was at one point, that “You are very different kinds of Blacks.”  Our neighbor, a very prominent white psychologist, could not fathom how a Black family could live in the Berkeley Hills (California) and thrive.  He chose to “other” us--to somehow make us the exception.  I have never forgotten that moment.  It still hurts.  This is bias.  It was racist.  But knowing our neighbor, he most likely meant no harm, in fact he probably thought his statement to be a compliment.  But intent doesn’t matter.  The impact counts.

Our neighbor needed to do the work to check his own bias.  He had no right and no privilege to say those words to my stepfather.  If he had chosen to examine his beliefs, he would have understood that he had very negative perceptions of Black folk.  Maybe he knew what he was doing and he was deliberately trying to be exclusive.  But what he was really saying was that you have to be more like me, more white in affect, in order to fit in here without question.  That is bias, unconscious or not.

So how do we confront our unconscious bias?  We make the effort to seek out and take validated tests which measure bias (see implicit.harvard.edu).  We read about unconscious bias.  We journal about our true beliefs about other groups and we question the foundation of those precepts.  We have critical and guided conversations with others as we educate ourselves to do better and to be better.

Unconscious bias is not innocuous.  It can snuff out the light and creativity in a person’s soul and it can literally kill.

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A Child Took me by the Hand...

I stopped in to visit a potential business connection last weekend.  The most remarkable thing happened.  He has a magical daughter, perhaps about five years old.  Her spirit shone through like a laser lighting up the night sky.  She immediately drew in both myself and my significant other, who had accompanied me to the meeting.

As I engaged in discussion with the child’s father, I noted that she had taken my significant other’s hand and offered to show him her “five rooms”.  I was engaged in conversation with my colleague, but I remember registering a thought--that the house did not seem big enough for her to have five playrooms.

What ensued was a lesson for me in perspective and vision, because soon thereafter, this wonderful child took my hand and offered to lead me on the same journey of discovery.  The rooms were:  The sunroom, the garage, her bedroom, her parent’s bedroom, and the backyard.  All of these were ordinary rooms, but to this magical child, they were “her playrooms”.  It didn’t matter if she had anything of hers in the rooms, or if they were sparesley populated by her belongings--such as only her bike being in the large garage.  She had claimed them as her own, she could see beyond the four walls, and she metaphorically filled them with her joy.

What a lesson for all of us!  It is always about perspective.  It is always about how we choose to see things.  The notion that we can infuse beauty and joy into the most plain of places, or strip down grandeur to find a spot in it that truly resonates for us.  

It isn’t about our surroundings or circumstances; it is how we see them.  Remember that the next time that you cannot solve a problem.  Reframe and ‘recontextualize’ your thinking, expand your vision about what is right in front of you.  Bring joy in to even the most barren physical and mental spaces, and watch your perspective change.  Watch solutions appear that you hadn’t previously considered because now, you have switched your perspective.

Metaphorically take a child’s hand and transform your thinking.

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Every now and then, we need to consciously change...

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Why Your Authentic Self Matters in Organizational Life...

The stress that has pained most of the world for the past two years has been immense and immeasureable.  We have no meters or metrics to gauge the toll of the pandemic on our psyche, our work life, and our personal relationships.

The world was dealt an incredibly difficult challenge in Dec. of 2019 when COVID began appearing.  I remember asking my significant other if he thought that we might die.  Now given that he is a mere mortal, with no true ability to accurately see into the futrue, the question was largely rhetorical.  I was really asking myself if I believed that my death was imminent.  Fear was rampant, as was a reprioritization of all of my familiar sign posts.

Over the next two and one-half years, my life changed immensely.  I did allow the prospect of death from COVID to linger in the back of my mind.  I knew that my congenital heart condition put me at a much higher risk for complications, so I was careful.  I received the vaccine as soon as I was able.  I will obtain my second booster this week.

Gradually, I moved back into the world.  I rejoined the activities that bring me so much joy.  The San Francisco Symphony and Opera fell back into my regular rotation.  I returned to SF Jazz.  I began visiting with dear friends again.  I even took an airplane trip to New Orleans.  

The stress was ever present.  No matter what activities I resumed, i could not stop that soft voice that ocassionally wondered if I would succumb to this strange pandemic.  But one day, on one of my walks up here where I live in the hills, I realized that my fear was not about dying.  It was about not living my true life.  To paraphrase Thoreau from Walden, I wanted to “live deliberately” and I felt that I had not quite achieved that goal.

As much work as I do with clients on finding their authentic self and the accompanying voice, I realized that I was living a script.  I was running my practice and working with clients, albeit mainly virtually, but I wasn’t fully actualized.  

I was living and working based upon an overly encumbered schedule.  Every minute of every day was dedicated to something external.  I was not devoting enough time to learning what I needed in any given moment.  I was not operting at my fullest capacity.  I had not embraced my authentic self.

That core part of my being, my essence, was not being tended to on a regular basis.  I suspect that happened to most of us as we collectively went in to some degree of survival mode in 2020 and beyond.  This was beyond mediation and exercise.  This was a decision that I had to make:  If I were to die soon, what is that part of me that I want to leave behind?  This is akin to legacy, but it is far deeper.  The question really goes to the spiritual and intangible essence that composes who we really are.

I set about defining my authentic self.  I asked myself three questions:

1.  What concerns keep me up at night?

2.  What causes me intense anger?

3.  What brings me the most joy?

Without devulging all of the answers to the three questions, let me state that through the journaling process I was able to identify and distill my responses.  Fear is the greatest thing that keeps me up at night.  Disingenuous and hurtful people anger me greatly.  Helping others and being of service brings me immense joy.

It became clear to me that I needed to incorporate this newly refined self-knowledge into my client work.  I needed to bring more of my authentic self to the fore.  I decided to restructure my consulting practice so that I removed some of the burden of the work from myself by relying more upon the consultants that I bring into the firm to deliver some of the work.  I purged disingenuous folk from my orbit.  I decided to build in a “personal joy meter” into my work.  I ask myself everytime I work with a client if the work, on balance, is giving me joy.  The work that we do is not gleeful.  Organizational change, execuitve coaching, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work is very stressful and trying work for the practioner and for the client.  Change is always hard. 

I redefined “joy” in this context to mean a deep sense of satisfaction.  I need to feel that the work that my firm is doing is helping the client move the needle toward their goals.  I need to know that at least one client every day has an “ah ha”--they see things differently or their perspective is shifted.  That resonates with me because the desire to see meaningful change and growth is tied to my desire to  have my firm be of true service.  

Facing my mortality, or at least contemplating the same--helped me reconnect with what matters to me.  That is how I reconnected with my authentic self.  It matters because we cannot do our best work, and contribute at our highest levels, when we are alienated from our true motivations.  The authentic self is the emodiment of our professional and personal North Star.  I am glad that I regained the courage to work through the fear and to continuously search for my guide post, my essence, my true self.

[traceyelizabethwebbassociates]

From Guns to Handmaidens June 2022

This country is on a trajectory toward conflict that will determine the structure of our society for decades to come. Tension must be released, otherwise unmitigated conflict will threaten this republic in ways unseen since The Civil War. There may not be physical war, but the toll of feeling psychologically unsafe will eat away at the core of our nation.  So how do we release this tension? We stand for what is right; we position ourselves on the proper side of history.

The 18 years that I have run my organizational and executive development firm have taught me one indelible lesson: Leadership is based upon vision, planning, and problem solving. We have shied away from working hard to create a unified vision for this country that is built upon our core value of equal justice for all. Lady Liberty has been hijacked and hog-tied over the last 10 years.

Without a unifying and inclusive vision, how can we plan to harness the collective brilliance of our nation? How can we plan to build a nation that is welcoming of all voices when we have allowed such a fractious, but vocal group of arch conservatives to hijack our core values? This isn’t about political ideology. It is about creating a righteous society that embraces people of all colors, all religions and atheists, and all sexual orientations.

We are now at the problem solving phase, ignited by recent decisions of The Supreme Court that threaten to shred The Fourteenth Amendment. Certain core values, core human rights, are being shredded even as I pen this piece.

What can be done? We come together and we talk with each other. We come together, subsumed under an umbrella of true patriotism, and we create a vision for what this country should be. Then we use our collective brilliance to plan how we wrestle away the reigns of power from those who would drive us into a state ruled by guns lorded over handmaidens. In short, we fight our way to a real United States of America.

[traceyelizabethwebbassociates]

My latest artwork: Black Lives Matter

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Controlling Chaos is a Bad Idea

Controlling Chaos is a Bad Idea

Clients call my firm when there is a problem.  As an executive coaching and organizational alignment firm, we are not needed when everything is swimming along.  But the strange thing about organizational life?  The ground beneath our feet is often giving away under the soil—and we don’t recognize it.  Human nature tries to organize chaos or discord and “solve it” somehow.  We hire consultants to “fix” the organization when, more often than not, letting the chaos run amuck to a point, is a very viable strategy.  

The fact is—human beings are constantly changing and morphing, second to second.  Naturally, the work alliances and relationships that we form are also in a constant state of flux.  After over 30 years working with organizations in their journeys toward mission fulfillment—the one thing that I know for sure is that they are never static.  Sometimes we are tuned out from the subtle changes, we choose not to see them, or we are so busy with our organizational task at hand (our immediate job or project), that we become distanced from the true pulse of the very group of colleagues that we work with on a day-to-day basis.

We start from a point of positive inquiry (also known as Appreciative Inquiry from David Cooperrider).   We often find that things aren’t as broken as the client may have felt when they first called us in.  My Grandmother from Louisiana always admonished me, “Things are never as bad as they seem.”  She was right.

I have learned that we miss the opportunity for optimal individual, team, and organizational performance when we try to corral chaos.  Human intelligence tries to make patterns and direction from seemingly disparate and colliding information.  This very admirable trait is one of the hallmarks of human existence:  we create brilliance/we innovate from what seems like chaos.  We see things differently—we create something new.

The key to personal and organizational growth is to look for the patterns in the seeming chaos—look for the road maps to innovation.  One of my high school calculus teachers told me that the sign of superior intelligence is to be able to sit with confusion.  In other words—sit with the chaos and let it “speak” to you.  

Five Tips for Using Chaos for Growth:

Sit quietly, free of distractions.  One a piece of paper—write     one sentence that describes the chaotic or troubling situation that you     are trying to solve (e.g. 1:  We need the sales force to bring in 20% net new top line sales growth in the next 12 months;  e.g. 2:  I need to become less hijacked by my frustration in my team interactions)

  Just below that sentence on the same piece of paper—depict the chaos that you perceive in the problem by  drawing a series of asteroids swirling in the air—and name each asteroid  (e.g., “Sheryl’s short temper”, “weekly team goals”, “lack of team direction”, “Sam’s ego”, “lack of sales support”, etc.).  Go to a bigger piece of paper if needed to exhaust all of the chaos elements that you perceive are part of the problem.

Now take a red pen and write down three to five elements that you determine to be a common theme running through all of the chaos asteroids (e.g., team attitudes, personality attributes, lack of structural and financial support, etc.).

  Next, take a green pen and write down three positive aspects under each of the three to five elements that you compiled in step 3.  

Finally, review your work in step 4 and determine how you can harness the positive aspects of the     chaos elements to re-frame the problem and come up with a new innovative     path.  You are re-framing how you see    chaos and using it help your brain think differently.  This is when innovation happens.

  A Sample Chaos Element Narrative

I need the team to perform at higher levels and deliver 20% net higher sales next month.

Chaos depiction (these would each be illustrated as a separate “asteroid”):  Mary’s short temper; “lack of sales back room assistance”; “marketing deficiency”; “lack of sales skill”; “short staffed”; “low pipeline”.

Red pen work (common elements):  

A)    Personality based conflict on team

B)    Lack of corporate resources

C)    Sales skill deficiency

Green pen work (positive aspects of items in #3—working with 3A by example)

3 (A):  -Personality conflict indicates passion about the work—a charged environment; strong drive to get things done against the deadlines; opportunity for some on the team to lead and mentor others in the group.

Review of my analysis in step four and the resulting narrative:     The team is highly motivated to perform, however there are those on     the team who don’t seem to be able to deliver against their individual key     performance indicators.  This, in turn, frustrates the high performers who feel that they are carrying the team.  We can set up mentoring alliances between the high performers and those in need of assistance, so that the team takes ownership for its performance as a whole.  We can also gather the team together for a facilitated session to determine the increased resources or resourcefulness that we need from the organization to meet the heightened goal.  Then we can determine how we can strategically garner the resources or find a work-around that will produce similar results.  

  This was a fairly simple example of how to reframe chaos to view “the problem” in a light more suitable to positive resolution.  This methodology works for infinitely complex problems by expanding the “asteroid field drawing” and following the same synthesis for each “asteroid” (chaos element). Themes will emerge.

This process is based loosely on concepts of neural plasticity (re-wiring the brain to think differently), re-framing, and positive inquiry to set the mind on the path toward new possibilities.  Chaos provides the opportunity to harness new and divergent energy when viewed as a positive force seeking to reveal new paths toward innovation and creativity.

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My radio interview in June 2020 on Race, Retail, and Righting Wrongs...on WPFW in Washington, DC

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Three Things: June 30, 2020