Square Wants to Fight Racism. First, It Should Examine Its Own Business Model
To effect social change, companies need to talk about money — how they make it and how it might reinforce racial disparities.
Suddenly, American business has never been more concerned about racism. While it’s heartening to see proclamations of support for groups and organizations like Black Lives Matter, statements of support are not enough. Businesses are ultimately economic engines, and when you strip away all of the well-meaning words, the language of American business has always been dollars and cents. To effect social change, companies need to talk about money — how they make it and how it might reinforce racial disparities.
As a former CEO [of Etsy], I’ve been thinking a lot about what companies can do to create the conditions for racial justice. In my executive coaching practice, I often work with leaders who are frustrated with an aspect of their company culture and feel powerless to change it. I usually ask a question that my coach and mentor Jerry Colonna taught me: “How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?” The goal is to draw out what the CEO might unintentionally be doing to keep practices in place that they claim to want to change. We call the difficult unwinding…
