Anti-Racist Leadership

How to Transform Corporate Culture

in a Race-Conscious World
James D. White with Krista White
©2022 by James D. White
Adapted by permission of Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
ISBN: 978-1-64782-197-5
Estimated reading time of summary: 8 minutes

Key Takeaways
• Championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is good for individuals and for businesses. Indi-
viduals who work in inclusive ecosystems have greater opportunities to fulfill their potential. Busi-
nesses that create inclusive ecosystems and transform to an anti-racist culture report tangible finan-
cial and reputational benefits.
• Intentional leadership is essential for DEI initiatives to succeed, and it starts at the top with the CEO.
As an intentional leader, you have the power to ingrain DEI into your organization’s cultural DNA.
• As microcosms of society, businesses have an immensely powerful influence over creating a more
inclusive world. When you transform your organization into an inclusive ecosystem, it becomes a
model for the change that needs to take place everywhere.
• Turning your organization into an inclusive ecosystem takes time, but it’s worth the effort. Establish
a solid program, set reachable goals, and measure progress all along the way and you’ll succeed.

Overview
When businesses fail to “walk the talk” of diversity and inclusion, they lose, and people lose too. In Anti-
Racist Leadership, James D. White and Krista White expose the brokenness of our current system and
provide a tangible path for mending it by intentionally building corporate cultures of diversity, equity,
and inclusion.

Intentional Leadership Matters

Championing an anti-racist culture isn’t just the right thing to do. Studies indicate it’s a significant com-
petitive differentiator. And yet despite the proof that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is good for
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Anti-Racist Leadership James D. White with Krista White

business, many companies still falter when it comes to making the changes that transform a business
into a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive enterprise. Why? Because ingraining DEI deep into an orga-
nization’s DNA requires intentional leadership. That leadership is all too often missing.

Intentional leadership requires:

• Acknowledging there’s a problem and accepting responsibility for solving it.

• Recognizing that inclusive cultures extend beyond gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
• Identifying and dismantling structures that support institutionalized racism, bias, and exclusion.
• Proactively driving change on a daily basis.
An intentional leader:

• Works to eliminate bias that holds others back.

• Looks beyond traditional measures of potential to identify inherent potential.
• Listens to people to learn what they want to achieve.
• Draws out the best in others.

CEO-Driven Change
Some companies hire Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) to lead DEI initiatives, believing that’s all the leader-
ship that’s needed. However, often these assignments become figurehead positions that are later made
scapegoats when initiatives fail. In truth, an anti-racist culture must be led from the very top, by the CEO.

The CEO is responsible for:

• Establishing the company’s DEI values, mission, and vision.

• Leading the cultural transformation.
• Creating an operational model that aligns the culture with the vision.
• Knowing the endgame and how to get there.
In driving cultural change, the CEO:

• Sets the tone for an anti-racist transformation.

• Ensures that DEI is a top business priority throughout all management ranks.
• Enables collaboration between cross-functional teams composed of widely diverse members.
• Handpicks team members based on their potential to contribute instead of on traditional biased
standards.
• Addresses both individual and systemic bias.
• Ensures everyone’s perspective is heard.
• Models DEI unequivocally.

How to Begin
The first step in embarking on an anti-racist transformation is for senior leaders to see the work envi-
ronment through the eyes of someone who might have a different lived experience. Empathy is the

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Anti-Racist Leadership James D. White with Krista White

cornerstone for this practice. Many leaders will need to first develop their own empathy skills, then work
on building empathy throughout the enterprise.

Transforming to an anti-racist culture requires answering the question, “What has my company failed
to hear?” You can answer that question and launch your transformation by taking the following steps:

• Actively listen and learn. Provide the opportunity to share information with employees and solicit
their feedback through townhalls and roundtables. The goal is to give a voice to the voiceless.
• Enlist and align across the senior leadership team. Make the business case for change by sharing infor-
mation from the listening and learning sessions with every level of management.
• Audit the culture. Engage a third-party expert to perform an objective, data-driven survey of the
organization.
• Document what you’re doing now. Based on the survey results, assess existing programs to deter-
mine what is and isn’t working. This creates the starting place for change.
• Establish benchmarks. Measure progress against benchmarks that not only gauge internal progress
but also show where your organization stands in relation to competitors and the larger society.
Then set goals for the future.
• Build action-learning teams or taskforces. Action-learning teams (ALTs) are small groups that create
agile strategies for solving real world problems. Establish ALTs to focus on particular DEI issues,
keeping benchmarks and goals in mind.
• Develop an action plan. Based on the previous steps, create a quarter-to-quarter, multiyear roadmap
for changing your organization’s culture.

Transforming the Culture by Design

The first principle of creating an anti-racist culture is that it’s created intentionally, led by the CEO and
based on a blueprint the entire organization understands and follows. Two additional principles also
drive this transformation:

1. Diversity and inclusion must be integrated into everything you do and say as a leader.
2. You must ensure diversity and inclusion becomes a strategic engine for business performance.
Any system in your company that tolerates racism and undermines diversity and inclusion must be
interrupted and replaced with tools that support DEI. This often prompts a fundamental shift in com-
pany processes, practices, and leadership expectations.

Creating an anti-racist culture also requires a change in mindset. That can be difficult and take time. Your
success depends on everyone understanding why you’re making this change: You’re doing it because
it’s both morally right and financially beneficial. DEI is a strategic decision that drives business success.

There are four main components to designing for this change:

1. Use action-learning principles and employee resource groups to drive business outcomes. Empower
small groups of diverse teams to share their perspectives, then brainstorm challenges and solutions
based on those perspectives. Action-learning principles can help you achieve specific goals, such
as developing new markets, implementing a DEI business unit, or creating a more diverse group of
high-potential individuals.

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Anti-Racist Leadership James D. White with Krista White

2. Create a highly intentional communication strategy. Intentional leaders speak clearly and honestly
about bias and systemic racism. As a leader, choose your words carefully. Speak out when you see
instances of bias in action. Help your team build productive skills for engagement. Be intentional
about the visual communication you use to represent what your organization stands for.
3. Enlist key leaders as catalysts for change. Middle managers and human resources (HR) teams have a
tremendous influence over the employee population. Handpick a diverse and engaged group of
individuals from these two groups to be your change agents.
4. Reimagine and redesign your “people” strategy. In many organizations, the role of HR has become ad-
versarial to the employee population. This must change. Your HR function must be reimagined and
reformed to carry the torch of eliminating systemic racism and leading your DEI initiatives.

Building Inclusive Leadership into the Company DNA

As the ultimate strategic decision makers, CEOs and senior leaders are the power behind the bold vision
of creating an equitable and anti-racist organization. Making that vision real and actionable to everyone
in the organization is largely in the hands of middle managers—who have the greatest direct influence
over the workplace. If middle managers aren’t on board with the change, it won’t happen.

Your role is to give middle managers the tools and incentives they need to successfully champion the
change across the organization. Two key principles can help you ensure your middle managers are
engaged in the change:

1. Lay out all of your expectations. Be clear that you expect every leader to participate in building an
inclusive workforce and environment. Explain why DEI matters and present data to support your
business case. Set targets for achieving goals and establish the premise that performance evalua-
tion and compensation will be tied to these targets. At the same time, ensure middle managers that
they have leadership’s full support and the tools to meet these goals. Demonstrate and model how
to recognize and interrupt bias whenever it surfaces.
2. Embark on a multiyear journey of change. Acknowledge that it can take years to achieve DEI goals—
and show that you have the patience for that. Share the action plan and encourage middle manag-
ers to focus on easy and early wins to build momentum. Guide your managers in how to recognize
potential in people beyond stereotypes. Ensure their participation on every action-learning team.
Help them recognize and overcome their own biases. Track DEI metrics to show progress over time
and adjust if targets aren’t being met. You must include middle managers in the collaboration and
ongoing development of your multiyear plan, keep them informed about progress made, and en-
courage and incent them to stay on the path.

Building an Inclusive Ecosystem

Corporations are often mirrors of the world around them. At the same time, they have a powerful influ-
ence over that world. By building an inclusive, anti-racist ecosystem within your organization, you have
the opportunity be a model for the change that needs to be brought about in the world.

Every CEO must be prepared to face difficulty and discomfort when it comes to calling out bias and
racism and implementing the changes that eliminate them from both inside and outside the corporate
walls. Corporate leaders have the ability to reach out from inside their inclusive ecosystems to provide
greater opportunity to the disenfranchised in the community and ensure potential isn’t overlooked.
There are vast numbers of people who, because of systemic racism, aren’t given the opportunities they

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Anti-Racist Leadership James D. White with Krista White

need to allow their full potential to flourish. Inclusive businesses can offer those opportunities, and in
that way contribute to a healthier, more productive society.

Creating a diverse supply chain is one of the most influential steps a company can take to move the
needle. The business case for DEI in the supply chain includes:

• Extending your reach to a wider customer base.

• Making a strong economic impact in underserved areas.
• Proactively mitigating reputational risk.
• Increasing organizational resilience.
You can build a more inclusive supply chain through:

• Partnering with professional associations that represent underserved constituents (such as minori-
ties, women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals).
• Hosting development programs for disadvantaged groups.
• Combining forces with others seeking to achieve diverse supply chains.

Culture Is the Key That Unlocks the Future, and the Future Is Now
Transforming from a white-dominated culture with a 400-year-old legacy to an anti-racist culture that
embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion will take time. But the time to start is now. The Black Lives
Matter movement and the pandemic brought the issues of racism and inequity in the United States to a
head, and there’s no turning back.

By intentionally making a commitment to eliminate racism from every aspect of doing business, corpo-
rations can both establish a model and exert an influence over creating a society that’s more inclusive
in general. Companies must walk the talk of diversity and inclusion through demonstrable, measurable
efforts to eliminate bias, racism, and inequity across their operations. By changing corporate culture,
organizations can change societal culture too.

This is a long haul, not a short-term effort. By focusing on the big picture and long-term business value,
you as a corporate leader can provide the impetus for the change that so many communities are asking
for. Diversity is good for business; it’s good for people; it’s good for society. The future of DEI is in your
business, and you are at the helm.

About the Authors

James D. White is a transformational leader with more than 30 years of experience as a CEO and operat-
ing executive. He has overseen the evolution and growth of some of the world’s most iconic brands in
the consumer products, retail, and restaurant industries. The former Chair, President, and CEO of Jamba
Juice, he has held senior executive roles at Safeway Stores, Gillette, Nestlé Purina PetCare, and Coca-
Cola. A passionate champion for diversity and inclusion, White has been recognized with numerous
awards, and the San Francisco Business Times named him the San Francisco Bay Area’s Most Admired
CEO. White was inducted into the 2021 Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Missouri and received
an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fontbonne University.

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Anti-Racist Leadership James D. White with Krista White

Krista White is a writer and consultant in the DEI space, focusing on work at the intersection of race and
queerness. She’s the founder and CEO of Kiki the App and the cofounder of Culture Design Lab, two DEI-
focused startups. An avid traveler and lifelong learner, she has studied film at the India Study Abroad
Center, writing at the Paris American Academy, user experience design at the General Assembly, and
web development at SheCodes. She’s based in New York City and is a graduate of Columbia University.

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