Shownotes

Join Dr. Barbara Banda, author of 'The Model Black', on a transformative journey through our diverse world. The Model Black Podcast isn’t just dialogue about race and differences; it's a groundbreaking series dedicated to reshaping how we discuss and embrace diversity.

Each week Barbara brings to light the experiences and perspectives of leaders from every corner of the globe. Each episode is an understanding of how to create truly inclusive and equitable workplaces, designed to provoke thought and inspire action.

The Model Black Podcast is a powerful tool to inspire conversation to imagine a future where inclusivity and equity aren't just ideals, but realities within the workplace. Barbara believes this future is attainable, and it starts with us – having the courage to talk openly about our varied backgrounds.

Tune in, join the conversation, and be part of the change. 

You can find Barbara Banda here.

You buy The Model Black by Barbara Banda here.

Music by Maiwa Banda.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello, I'm Barbara Banda, and this is The Model Black, a podcast about equity at work. This podcast series aims to create a space where we can have open and positive conversations around race and difference in the world of work. My [00:00:20] ultimate goal is to create more inclusive and equitable workplaces, recognizing as we do, that achieving equity at work is a journey.

not a destination. During this podcast series, we will have conversations with experts and leaders from across the [00:00:40] globe, exploring what we can all do to make workplaces more equitable. A bit about me. I'm a black British woman of Jamaican heritage, educated and working out of the UK. For 13 years, I worked in international marketing in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.[00:01:00] 

And then for the last 22 years, I've worked as a professor of practice, a consultant, educator and executive coach, working with numerous organizations and leaders from across the globe. My work with leaders over the years has taught me so much about business, leadership [00:01:20] and organizational culture change.

The leaders I've worked with have shown dignity, strength, courage, openness, and vulnerability as they've sought to better themselves and their organizations. All of these leaders have had a deep desire to improve the culture of their organizations through gaining a [00:01:40] better understanding of themselves and through changing their own behavior.

But as I've worked with more and more leaders, I just couldn't help but notice that there just aren't many that look like me. And the reality is that of the thousands of leaders and managers that I've [00:02:00] interacted with, very few of them have been black, and even fewer of them have been black and British.

What's been really noticeable for me as I've worked with organizations is that I've always been able to put my hand on the right book, to find the right papers or [00:02:20] concepts, to find the language to guide them and open up. whatever conversation was necessary. But as I became increasingly involved in the area of inclusive leadership, I discovered that there were really no books that talked openly and candidly about the lived [00:02:40] experiences of Black leaders in British workplaces.

And it was this finding that led me to research and write the book, The Model Black. One of the other key aims of the book was to use the research to provide people with the language to help them to talk more openly [00:03:00] about race and difference at work. And thirdly, as a mother of three daughters, who are now entering the workplace, I wanted them to have something that they could share with their non Black leaders as a way of opening up conversations around race and [00:03:20] difference.

I've been really quite touched to hear the impact that the book is having from people who've already read it. People, black, white, and brown, have shared with me some amazing stories of how it's helped them to transform relationships between individuals who've got [00:03:40] very different lived experiences. The model black ultimately offers new ways of thinking about black people in the workplace.

Ways of thinking that can be used to understand the experiences of all kinds of underrepresented and marginalized groups. So, whilst [00:04:00] the book shines a light on the daily reality of being a Black leader in the workplace, it also offers alternative entry points for conversations around equity and inclusion more generally, and importantly, it also explores what we can all do at work to [00:04:20] promote equity and inclusion.

The book itself is aimed at leaders of all backgrounds, but there is a key focus here on those leaders who are from the majority. It's those people that I would really like to read this book. The book is my contribution [00:04:40] towards equity at work, educating non Black audiences about issues that relate to Black people in the workplace.

That said, the book's also been embraced by Black leaders who've said it's helped them to make sense of their workplace experiences and given them the vocabulary to talk about it. This podcast [00:05:00] is a space for us to continue the conversation. We will explore a range of topics around race and difference more generally.

I'll be connecting with individuals from all parts of the world who are interested in aspiring to create more equitable workplaces. It is [00:05:20] ultimately about helping us all as we strive to build relationships based on mutual curiosity and so much more in order to help trigger positive change.[00:05:40]