DISCRIMINATION vs POWER
I've worked with countless CEOs, senior execs & professionals across industries like finance, tech, consumer goods. I've hired, employed & promoted dozens from every background.
This is the relationship between discrimination & power I've observed.
1/8
Undoubtedly racism, sexism & other biases still exist. I've heard some crazy stories from female & black colleagues. However, their incidence is fading. I'm profoundly optimistic about our trajectory for one simple reason: SURVIVAL.
2/8
We talk about tolerance. In business, one thing that's rarely tolerated (for long) is failure.
EVERYONE wants to do a good job, get promoted, get a raise, look good in front of peers & bosses.
THAT impulse is the single most powerful anti-racist tool we have.
3/8
No professional I know would consciously choose a lesser performer/candidate because their bigotry trumps their will to succeed. It's career suicide.
That doesn't mean people don't have unconscious biases. We all do.
But who's qualified to litigate another's subconscience?
4/8
I'm not sure who runs the US Narratives Department, but our system punishes failure & choices that precipitate it.
Discrimination is failure.
And the dwindling few who still practice it, are BLEEDING POWER. They can never complete in a world calibrated for achievement.
5/8
This is why the idea of recalibrating the world around anything but achievement, isn't just faulty, it guarantees discrimination & loss of the one power everyone can seize: excellence.
If you wield excellence, even a greedy bigot must take your call.
6/8
IdeaFaktory.com/success
Business & corporate aren't the only realms where discrimination lingers & they are not perfect meritocracies. (I've experienced that firsthand.) But just this once, the amorality of profit keeps us on a trajectory towards a more equitable society.
7/8
I'm afraid we're fueling sectarianism & not fixing cronyism, education, a growing underclass & moral decay.
We proved how quickly we can act w/the Covid vaccine. These demand similar urgency.
I'll explore further in The McFuture newsletter. Join me: TheMcFuture.com/newsletter
8/8
Do kids of politicians & celebs automatically get media jobs & blue checkmarks? Or, do they need a photo?
The US remains one of very few nations where excellence trumps privilege & lineage. There'll still be nepotism/favoritism, but the force needed to abolish them is far worse.
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