Let Your Hair Down! Why Authenticity Matters At Work

A conversation with diversity consultant Tracy J. Edmonds

For the better part of her distinguished  31-year career at Anthem, Inc., the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Tracy J. Edmonds opted for straight hair over her naturally curly African American hair. When asked why, she said “I didn’t want to stand out. I was having my own internal dissonance with my hair. It’s just one example of the type of choices women feel they need to make to have a successful career.” 

After serving for five and a half years as Anthem’s third Chief Diversity Officer, Tracy left to satisfy her entrepreneurial yearning and recently founded her own business, TJE Coaching and Consulting, LLC. In this new endeavor, Tracy serves as an executive coach and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, working primarily with women - especially minority women - to help them, their teams and their organizations achieve success. 

In addition to Tracy’s new business, she has also authored a forthcoming book, scheduled to be released in early 2021. The book, appropriately titled “Wild Hair - A Courageous Women’s Guide to Authenticity at Work”, highlights not only Tracy’s fraught relationship with her hair, but over a dozen other stories from her career and about women she’s mentored or coached. 

One of the main topics Tracy is passionate about is how executive leaders can tap into their authentic leadership to create inclusion. We recently caught up with Tracy to learn more about authenticity at work and why admitting vulnerability actually helps make leaders stronger and more effective.

Benson Executive Search (BES): We hear a lot about how important it is for brands to be “authentic,” but what do you mean by “authentic leadership?”

Tracy: Being a leader is nothing more than a role we play. So authentic leadership is about ‘you’ the person. And not just ‘you’ the leader. Each of us is unique. We come with our own DNA, our own talents, our own experiences.  There can be dissonance between who you are and who shows up when you lead. We all know who we want to be, but we live under the constraints of what leaders are expected to be in the culture we may be working in.

BES: Ok, so how do you get this message across to executives who might be having a hard time incorporating their authentic selves into their roles as leaders?

Tracy: I tell leaders that how they lead must be based on their own value set, the attributes that are unique to them. Be self-aware -- know your truth, know your story, and share it. When you’re an executive and leading a significant number of people, you really must dig deep and do the important work of self-awareness because of the significant impact you’re having. The answer to why diversity and inclusion matters to any leader is in their story. It’s not necessarily about going out to protest racial injustice. It’s about sharing your genuine perspective and demonstrating that diversity and inclusion has a place in your leadership dialogue.

BES: You also talk about “creating power through vulnerability.”

Tracy: Leadership is not about you. It’s about the people you’re serving. In my mind, leadership is a privilege and can’t be taken lightly.  And to be a great leader, you have to be willing to risk the ostracism and criticism that may come about, for example, when you admit to others that you can do better with equity and inclusion in your professional and personal lives.

Leaders make themselves vulnerable when they acknowledge their own shortcomings, lack of knowledge and past mistakes. As I said earlier, leadership is the role you play. When you step into that role, you assume the benefits as well as the challenges that come with it. Vulnerability is one of the challenges that also has benefits.

BES: What are some of the other benefits leaders may experience once they allow themselves to be vulnerable?

Tracy: To be vulnerable is human. Leaders who allow themselves to become vulnerable are showing their humanity to others, to their employees.  And humanity creates connection. This is what inclusion is all about -- humans feeling connected, whether it be to a group, team, or organization. With inclusion, organizations can more powerfully solve problems and produce better outcomes as a result. Vulnerability creates connection. Connection drives inclusion. Inclusion generates power.

Be vulnerable. 

BES: Beyond becoming an authentic leader and making themselves vulnerable, you’re also coaching executive leaders to ‘act with an open heart and mind.”

Tracy: When leaders act with an open heart and mind, they’re telegraphing that they value the perspective of others. Acting with an open heart and open mind means a leader stands for something, that they’re mission-driven, that they’re not just blowing in the wind on the issue of the day. When organizations discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion, they need to discover their connection to it. It’s not just about an organization donating. It is about valuing the perspectives of others and making the connection between that value and the organization’s purpose.

BES: Care to add anything else?

Tracy: Yes. With both an open heart and mind, a leader is holding space for others to share their differing perspectives and emotions about equity and inclusion.  Seek. Listen. Accept and understand the concerns of other people whose equity and inclusion experiences will no doubt be different than your own. What we understand becomes knowledge that can never be unlearned or destroyed.

Act with new knowledge. 

Tracy J. Edmonds is the owner of TJE Coaching & Consulting. She coaches leaders and organizations on authenticity and strategic diversity and inclusion.

She can be reached at tracyj@tracyjedmonds.com and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/tracyjedmonds.