ADVOCATE
ASSESSORI interrogate workplace
norms, challenge the status quo, and ask
inconvenient questions
SELF-IMPROVERI proactively seek
feedback from others and recalibrate my
actions accordingly
OBSERVERI am vigilant enough to
notice when colleagues are not feeling valued,
and comfortable enough to reach out
ADVOCATEI work to enact social
change on the personal, institutional, and systemic levels
(IM)PERFECTIONISTI am unafraid to make
mistakes in my inclusive leader journey, and be held
accountable for learning from them
DETECTIVEI can identify and
call out institutional inequities and
organizational biases, and work to
address them
CATALYSTI use whatever social,
professional, and personal power/capital I
can access to create sustainable change
on several levels
LISTENERI consistently listen to
the groups I am trying to advocate for
MARATHONERI recognize the lifelong
process of being an advocate, and I am
prepared to commit significant time to doing
the work
VISIBLE ALLYI do advocate work on
the public level to encourage others to do
the same, signal my personal values, and normalize inclusion
MENTORI identify and sponsor
underrepresented talent at my organization
TOWN CRIERI ensure that my
organization has a publicly accessible, clear,
and declarative statement a�rming their
commitment to D&I
PIPELINE PLUMBERI hold executives
accountable for diverse recruitment and retention
BUSINESSPERSONI can clearly express and
explain the proven connection between business drivers and inclusive leadership
SELF-CARETAKERI take care of others’
emotional health as much as I do my own, and acknowledge that
advocate work can be mentally draining
CONTORTIONISTI embrace the possible discomfort in learning
about systems of discrimination and dismantling them
ALTRUISTI am prepared to make
personal and professional sacrifices for the sake of a
more equitable and inclusive landscape
STORYTELLERI am equally comfortable
sharing my story, and centering the unheard
stories of others
RECRUITERI encourage others to begin their inclusive
leader journey
TEAM PLAYER I collaborate with colleagues, other
advocates, and di�erent perspectives to research
possible solutions for existing issues
AMBASSADORI realize I have an extra
mandate to educate my own identity group and
leverage my privilege to enlighten others of a
similar background
RISK-TAKERI acknowledge personal
risks and potential pushback as a necessary
part of advocate work
INVISIBLE ALLYConversely, I also accept that I won’t always be in
the spotlight and that some of my work will be done privately without
recognition
RECOMMENDERI realize I do not hold all
the answers, but I am equipped to suggest
additional resources that exceed my own
experiences
STUDENTI am committed to a
perpetual learning and growing process
INSTRUCTIONS: read the advocate behaviors above, and see how many you believe you consistently embody as a leader. Be honest and generous with yourself– but also be critical! Keep an eye on your self-enhancement bias, or our unconscious tendency to boost our self-esteem and overestimate our abilities. As with all advocacy work, the point of this exercise isn’t to “win” necessarily, but rather to identify tangible action steps you can take to improving your work environment for everyone.