A vicious catch-22 frustrates the hell out of me, particularly as a mother of daughters: we need more leaders who are women and people of color, but this doesn’t happen because we don’t have enough women and people of color in leadership roles who can advance those needed changes. Whether in government, the workplace, religious institutions or elsewhere, this dilemma stems from the notion of “to become it we must see it” — yet we don’t “see it” enough to “become it.” Further compounding (and confounding) the issue is that sometimes even those who stand to gain the most from a change will still push to keep the status quo. In the 21st century it should not be this hard to get past historic precedent when it comes to visible and necessary changes in leadership. Yet here we are.
