Guest column: Reawaken your courage

President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion, anti-immigrant, and transphobic agenda is reopening wounds in workplaces that some leaders are knowingly or unknowingly worsening. Fear is high and palpable. A pattern of silence is aggravating wounds, concerning employees and clients that previous commitments were a mirage. Given the administration’s tactics and viral news reports making it seem like everyone’s dropping commitments, it may feel like hitting the delete button will keep you safe. Leaders have important decisions to make and communicate about their values, financial, and operational viability. There are risks to be weighed, and retreat may feel like the risk-free choice. The instinct I’m seeing most is a focus on the risk of not following these often vague and constitutionally-questionable orders. But consider the risk of hitting delete. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (the work) is how good leaders recruit and retain an amazing workforce and build a culture in which all employees thrive because they feel respected and engaged. It’s how companies build customer loyalty. It’s how products are marketed responsibly, disrespect-free. It’s how excellent health care is provided. The work done right isn’t illegal: It’s all about fairness and merit. Worcester, we must reawaken the traits of good leaders born during COVID. Employees and clients are feeling betrayed by organizations taking back commitments. Reawaken your courage, curiosity, commitment, conscientiousness, and empathy. Deleting may feel like the rational business decision, but it’s not good leadership. With five generations now in the workplace and a region vibrant with diversity, inclusive leadership is the way forward. Our children, your future clients and employees, will choose to buy from and work in places that lead inclusively. Gen Z workers already demand it. And yes, some in your organizations may want you to hit delete. Consumers are finding their power. If you want them to choose you, like they’re choosing Costco and rejecting Target, hitting delete is the bigger risk. Before the work got underway, workplaces were not merit-filled zones for everyone. The work isn’t about eliminating white men from workplaces or leadership. I want my kind and brilliant white husband to access leadership opportunities as much as I want them to exist for people like me. If a workplace only hired or promoted immigrant Mexican women like me, they’d be in the wrong. It’s as wrong as only hiring white men. Deleting won’t bring back merit-based systems. They’re still a work in progress. Local, national, and international data confirms the need for them. Return to merit is a false narrative. Read McKinsey’s 2024 report on Women in The Workplace. McKinsey’s report shows gender parity is 22 years away for white women and 48 years away for women of color. In 2024, promotion rates for Latina women regressed 10 points to where rates were in 2019, and Black women returned to 2020 rates. Many companies haven’t moved the needle as far as necessary, because insufficient investments were made, resistors put up roadblocks, and some strategies take time to yield results. It’s true some of the work has failed just like Six Sigma projects experience failure. Your employees, clients, and our community need your good leadership. Take an Equity Pause before lightly suggesting or making what is going to feel to many like a gut punch. Many in our community have real fears of job loss, being or having a loved one deported, profiling, homophobia, and transphobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism. You have the power to create a workplace where everyone feels safe. We should protect our employees as much as we can. Cultivate the leadership competencies to lead everyone. Here’s how: Commitment: Breathe and state your values. Let them guide you. Empathy: Acknowledge your employees’ humanity. Communicate with them, and if they aren’t treating each other with respect, help them be accountable. Courage and curiosity: Assess your situation, weigh the risks, and build a strategy for your unique situation. Have the courage to live your values. Conscientiousness: Make careful, values-led, and legal decisions. Don’t give up when you don’t have to and focus on creating fair systems. Embrace levelling, as suggested by the NYU Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Check out its legal risk tracker. Pause to do the work well, and don’t delete because trust will evaporate before you can hit undelete. Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham is owner of Worcester consulting firm Promoting Good.