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Better Allies
Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces
Karen Catlin • Karen Catlin © 2021 • 282 pages

Human Resources / Diversity & Inclusion

Take-Aways
• Diverse workplaces are happier and more innovative.
• Foster thriving, diverse workspaces through effective “allyship.”
• Allies must understand and harness their own privilege to assist people with fewer advantages.
• From advocacy to scholarship, allyship takes many forms.
• Don’t play savior.
• Stay open to feedback during difficult conversations.
• Don’t just talk about injustice. Take action to stop it.
• Build a diverse professional network and make inclusive hires.
• Stamp out microaggressions. Give underrepresented groups a metaphorical – and literal – seat at the
table.

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 Recommendation
Are you looking for tangible ways to counteract prejudice at work? Entrepreneur Karen Catlin sheds
light on how to become a workplace ally to underrepresented and marginalized employees. Her guide to
inclusivity will help you identify and call out acts of microaggression, exclusion, racism and hostility. Catlin’s
advice is primarily geared toward white men, but anyone in a position of power can learn from her clear-
eyed, wide-ranging counsel.

Summary

Diverse workplaces are happier and more innovative.

Workplace diversity isn’t just an ethical imperative – it’s good for business. Diverse companies are more
creative and cutting-edge and their employees more content. Inclusive businesses, however, are not always
easy to cultivate. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people, those with disabilities and other groups still face
oppression. The hurdles they face range from harassment and reduced promotional opportunities to hiring
discrimination. From Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s suggestion that women shouldn’t request raises to
Google’s anti-diversity manifesto, examples of ignorance and gaffes abound.

Foster thriving, diverse workspaces through effective “allyship.”

People in positions of organizational power can do a lot to cultivate workplace diversity by being allies to
underrepresented employees. Allies work to include everyone in meetings and workplace events. They build
a diverse professional network and workforce. They shut down showboaters and idea hijackers and amplify
underrepresented voices. For example, women can adopt a strategy of “amplification” during staff meetings.
When one female staffer makes a valuable contribution, other women can repeat it and credit the author.
This forces others in the meeting to recognize the input – and rebuffs their ability to claim the idea as their
own.

Genuine allies can make legitimate improvements over time and with consistent effort. You must be an
open-minded, continuous learner, who can digest constructive criticism. It requires patience, not perfection,
and an ongoing effort to learn from your mistakes. Small, good deeds make a difference. The simple act of
speaking up in a meeting can have a ripple effect.

Allies must understand and harness their own privilege to assist people with fewer
advantages.

Every discussion of allyship begins with a conversation about privilege. Privilege comprises any benefit
conferred to a social group based on characteristics other than merit. Privilege can be attached to race, class,
gender, ability, sexual orientation, age, education, language, location and religious affiliation, to name a few.

“It’s up to people who hold positions of privilege to be active allies to those with less
access, and take responsibility for making changes that will help others be successful.”

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 These categories often overlap in complex – or “intersectional” – ways. People may marginalize others in
multiple categories. The less privileged are more likely to experience prejudice and violence.

The term privileged is not an intentional insult designed to belittle people’s experiences, or to suggest
they have not worked hard. It’s a method of discussing how society perceives and treats people with
certain characteristics and how those perceptions might impact outcomes, personal confidence levels,
and the ability to help others. The term should not be used to single out white men; it can offer an analytic
framework applicable to nearly everyone.

With great privilege comes great responsibility. To promote equality and diversity, people who hold privilege
can and should be allies to those who are disadvantaged.

From advocacy to scholarship, allyship takes many forms.

Successful allies promote underrepresented groups in numerous ways. Frameworks for allyship include:

• The sponsor – This ally promotes the talents and knowledge of those in underrepresented groups and
recommends them for roles that provide learning opportunities and exposure to a wider network.
• The champion – This ally directs employees from underrepresented groups to the right people
with relevant expertise. Champions step aside to let other qualified people vocally advocate for more
representation.
• The amplifier – This ally repeats and endorses great ideas and creates a code of conduct to promote
equitable communication. Amplifiers invite underrepresented individuals to engage in activities that
make them more visible, for example, speaking at meetings or writing newsletters.
• The advocate – This ally ensures underrepresented employees are invited to events, introduced within
a network and given ample opportunities to collaborate.
• The scholar – These allies educate themselves through information gathering, like listening
to podcasts, and reading articles or other media. Scholars solicit feedback from underrepresented groups
and listen attentively. They research their challenges without burdening them to explain themselves.
• The upstander – This ally speaks up about injustices, redirects provocative, inappropriate questions
and interrupts ongoing harassment.
• The confidant – This ally believes in people, invites them into conversations and maintains an open-
door policy.

Don’t play savior.

An ally is never a savior or knight in shining armor in any of these scenarios. Consider the example of a
prospective hire, where the hiring committee uses subjective, inconsistent criteria to evaluate a candidate
from an underrepresented community. The committee cannot fully articulate why it regards the candidate
as a poor fit. A knight would leap to this candidate’s defense and insist the company hire him or her. An ally
would instead examine the systemic issue – the criteria the company uses to evaluate candidates – and ask
the committee to develop standardized, objective benchmarks connected to the job’s required skill set.

“I don’t want to view anyone who is underrepresented as a virtual damsel in distress.”

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 To avoid the knight trap, ask: How many people will my initiative help? What is its goal? How will it change
the company in the short and long term? Will it enhance equality or equity? Your goal is to create equity by
allocating resources fairly, as opposed to indiscriminately applying the same solution across the board. Do
what is right, not what is simplest or most convenient.

“Doing what’s right instead of what’s easy will lead to a more inclusive workplace
where everyone can thrive – and that will result in more innovation, better solutions for
customers and better business results.”

The best allies aim to help as many people as possible through systemic change. Seek out broader
problems that might underlie individual ones. Suggest processes to foster a more inclusive culture. Ensure
actions produce tangible good, not merely window dressings that allow managers to pat themselves on the
back.

Stay open to feedback during difficult conversations.

Conversations about privilege and discrimination can be difficult. The topic is intensely personal and
sensitive. However, open dialogue helps companies and employees learn and improve. Conversations about
difficulties underrepresented groups encounter, and ideas about how to fix them, are essential to progress.
Silence will only produce more problems in the long run. Navigate fraught interactions by staying respectful
to all parties.

Even acknowledging that a topic is difficult to discuss, or that participants may feel uncomfortable,
helps. Avoid getting defensive or insisting on positivity. When you make a mistake, don’t brush it aside
– apologize genuinely.You must be able to receive feedback. The history of privileged people reacting poorly
to constructive criticism can discourage people from sharing altogether.

“In order to be an ally, instead of getting defensive I have to graciously accept that I
have privilege, receive feedback about my shortcomings, and work to assimilate the
suggestions I’m given.”

To avoid defensive responses, become more aware of your inherent biases – everyone, and every workplace,
suffers from them. Knowing this can make you more receptive to feedback.

Raise your awareness about common misconceptions of sensitive topics. For example, many people
incorrectly believe that claiming discrimination is cynically “playing the race card.” Avoid going
into a conversation intending to argue – and win – a point. Listen and let others share. Leverage
responses into action and improvement rather than dwelling on the mistake itself. Don’t assume every
incident of discrimination is a well-intentioned error. Many people do not deliberately try to stoke
conflict. However, employees from marginalized groups should not be forced to assume “good intentions”
when they are upset by a fellow employee’s behavior.

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 Don’t just talk about injustice. Take action to stop it.

Dialogue is important, but allyship consists of much more. Workers should be upstanders rather than
bystanders – people who act to stop injustice. For example, rather than not participating in an office meeting
at a strip club, allies should vocalize why the location is not inclusive or appropriate.

To make action more likely and effective, managers should visualize scenarios to prepare for them; verbalize
when inappropriate behavior occurs; and set clear boundaries. Avoid ad hominem attacks, which can
escalate conflict. Rather than calling a co-worker racist, for instance, tell him or her to stop making racist
jokes.

Build a diverse professional network and make inclusive hires.

Allyship also applies to building a diverse network. Homogeneity often happens in network building; people
look for others with similar skills, interests and experiences. Sticking to the familiar feels safer. But building
a diverse professional and educational network makes it stronger and more vibrant. Volunteer outside your
professional area of expertise, follow diverse outlets on social media, and reach out to people different from
you.

Avoid discrimination in the hiring stage. Companies can maximize their chances of attracting a diverse
applicant pool by designing promotional materials and web pages that showcase images of diverse people,
highlight the company’s commitment to equity and use inclusive language. Job listings should avoid
exclusionary language or rigid criteria that might discourage nontraditional applicants. Interviews should
use standardized, work-related questions and objective, skills-based assessments. Pay parity should be a
priority; skills, performance and experience should determine promotional paths.

Stamp out microaggressions. Give underrepresented groups a metaphorical – and

literal – seat at the table.

Be on the lookout for microaggressions. This word – which, despite its apparent novelty, has been around
since the 1970s – refers to quotidian slights: verbal, nonverbal or structural disparagement that, whether
intentional or not, contributes to a hostile environment.

Microaggressions tend to be more subtle than overt racism, and sometimes the speaker intends them as
compliments, but they can be as harmful as overt racism, particularly over time. For example, telling a Black
or brown person that they’re “so articulate” might come across as an expression of surprise, suggesting the
speaker does not think or expect racial minorities to be eloquent.

Acknowledging that microaggressions are real is the first step. Other steps to avoid microaggressions and
build an inclusive culture include the following:

• Evenly distribute grunt work, office chores and other undesirable tasks.
• Make events affordable and physically accessible to all attendees.
• Redirect questions that assume a privileged person has more expertise than a marginalized one.
• Shut down bad-faith attempts to show off or belittle others.

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 • Give credit to workers who come up with ideas or take the initiative on a task.
• Arrange meetings so underrepresented workers literally have a seat at the table.

About the Author

Karen Catlin is an American entrepreneur, public speaker and former vice president at Adobe Systems.

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