I had a different podcast that I was going to send out and decided not to share it this week because it just doesn't belong in the public discourse right now.

This is a really big time in our world and it’s been a long time coming. It's become abundantly clear that I have a lot to learn about being an ally and taking a stronger stance on anti-racism, and I am now fully committed to listening, learning and doing better. I thought about not saying anything at all about recent events, because I'm a white woman with all kinds of privilege and I don't think people need to really hear my voice right now.

But, then I realized that I teach leadership. And I think it's important for those of us who have white colored skin who have taken on the roles of leaders and teachers and mentors and coaches to continue to stay in that role, even when it's uncomfortable and we question our ability to do it “right.”

Today I am speaking to my leaders and anyone who aspires to make a difference in the world with your voice.

This episode on anti-racism is a recognition of where I’ve failed to take a stand, an apology and a commitment to do better. I wanted to share the resources that have been helpful, shared especially for our white listeners and listeners of color who do not identify as Black, but want to do better too. Let us learn from these powerful women! I would love to hear what's working for you as well, so that we can be better.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How to begin using your position of leadership to promote anti-racism
• Ways you can be an ally and do better
• Why it's important to listen, learn, and take action with anti-racism in spite of your lack of confidence
• Specific thought leaders of color that can shine a light on our path

Listen to the Full “Anti-Racism” Episode

Featured On The Show:

• Rachel Rodgers of Hello7. Watch her Facebook Live!
• Rachel E. Cargle. Don't miss her TEDx talk!
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
• Trudy LeBron Impact Coaching. Check out her online courses here.
• Stacey Abrams for Governor
• Black Lives Matter
• NAACP
• Shaun King on Twitter
• Download a free copy of Beyond Applause at https://brillianceatwork.com/freebook
• Access my free mini course, Your Crystal Clear Message at the Heart of Your Work HERE
• ​Download a free copy of Lead with Your Natural Charisma, Inspire and Motivate Your Team and Beyond with Ease at http://brillianceatwork.com/naturalcharisma
• The Brilliance at Work Community Facebook Group

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Full Episode Transcript:

I just wanted to share some things that are working for me. And these are for my colleagues out there listening who are white and who are in positions of leadership, whether you're in a position of leadership or not. If you're listening to the Brilliance at Work Podcast, you aspire to make a difference in the world with your voice. And we need to learn how to do that in a way that is anti-racist. And as an ally, all the time, welcome to the Brilliance at Work Podcast, where we shine a light on where great work, charisma and growing a thriving business, you love really comes from. I'm Michelle Barry Franco. I've been a speaker and thought leadership coach for more than a decade from TEDx stages to world famous conferences. And I've helped some of the most beloved business leaders grow their businesses and serve in the biggest way possible through their business and through their thought leadership.

I love that. I get to share the best of what I've learned with you here on the Brilliance at Work Podcast. Hello? Hello, my brilliant friends. This is a really big time in our world. And I had a different podcast that I was going to send out and we decided not to share it this week because it just doesn't belong in the public discourse right now. So I decided to, I thought about not saying anything at all, because I'm a white woman with all kinds of privilege. And I don't think people need to really hear my voice right now. And then I thought to myself, well, you are a white woman, who teaches leadership. And I think it's important for those of us who have white-colored skin and who are professing to be in leadership positions and really have taken on the role as leaders and teachers and mentors and coaches that we need to continue to stay in that role, even when it's uncomfortable.

And there's a very good chance we're going to do it wrong and that we may be publicly told we're doing it wrong, which I'm totally open to because right now my goal, my only goal is to listen, learn, take action, and then keep with that same cycle. Listen to whatever feedback I get and by listen, I mean, primarily listening to black, Brown, indigenous, and people of color voices in a way that I never have before. See, I thought I was before and I wasn't, it's just, I wasn't even scratching the surface and I don't want gold stars for suddenly being way more focused on this. I mean, look, what's happening in our world. Of course, I'm more focused on this. If you're not more focused on this, I do not understand. And I know that that is true for some people.

And I genuinely do not understand that. And really, as I look at my own very small education around the injustices in our world and racism and all of the things that we're seeing come to light right now, I don't understand why I wasn't more focused on it before, but here we are. And so that's what I'm doing now. So to our listeners in the black, Brown, indigenous, and people of color to any of you who identify with those descriptors and that describes your life experience or part of your life experience, I am so sorry for my surface level learning and engagement. And I am absolutely, absolutely working to do better. I'm committed to learning how to be an ally, to learning how to be an antiracist. And I realized that I have a lot of learning to do so this podcast, the way I want to use just a few minutes of this podcast before I sign off and not take up any more space is I just want to share some things that are working for me.

And these are for my colleagues out there listening, who are white and who are in positions of leadership, whether you're in a position of leadership or not. If you're listening to the Brilliance at Work Podcast, you aspire to make a difference in the world with your voice. And we need to learn how to do that in a way that is anti-racist. And as an ally all the time, not just while we are in, in this time of great civil unrest, this is our wake up call. And I know we should have been awoken earlier and whatever awakening I or any of my white colleagues may have had prior should have been even deeper. And so now it's time because that's all we've got is right now forward to do the work. So I want to share with you just some resources for my white colleagues that will help us be better anti-racist and allies.

And so I don't expect, of course, I never expect your attention, but for our black, Brown, indigenous and people of color listeners, thank you so much for even being here and listening and know that I want to hear what you have to say. I want any feedback that rises up that you want to share. First of all, let me say, I do not expect you to spend any time or energy teaching me or giving me feedback or any of that. But if you have something to say, I absolutely want to hear it. To my white colleagues here is what I wanted to share with you today. These are resources that are helping me right now. I would love to hear what's working for you as well, so that we can be better, Rachel Rogers, any way that you can follow Rachel Rogers, always. And I've been following her for a long time.

She is an immensely brilliant and dynamic leader. I am a part of her group “We Should All Be Millionaires,” the club and it is awesome. So watch for when that opens again. But right now in particular, she has a Facebook live that she recently did. And I am, it's public on her page. So you can search Rachel Rogers. We'll put a link in the show notes, but watch her Facebook live. It's powerful, and we need to hear it. We absolutely need to hear it. Rachel Cargill is always doing this work and always doing it with so much strength and education and power, and we need to be listening to her. I saw her speak at TEDx bend. I actually was a coach at the event. And so I got to meet her, such a great gift, but you can watch her talk. Um, but she's done lots and lots of things that she shares publicly to help us be better allies and be anti-racist.

I highly recommend, by the way that you pay the people that I'm mentioning for their services, they do some of these things for free. Absolutely listen to what they have to say, but they should be compensated for sharing their expertise and their experience. So look for those opportunities in here. And I know Rachel Cargill has a community that you can pay to be a part of. And it's very accessible. Layla Saad has written a book that is actually, you can't get it right now. I have it on order, but it is called Me and White Supremacy and just all kinds of resources out there right now where you can learn how to be an antiracist and how to be a better ally. Again, I'm just diving in. I'm definitely not an expert, even at these resources that I'm sharing, but I just want you to know the ones that are really serving me and that I'm also seeing many of my colleagues talk about as being super helpful for them as well.

And then Trudy LeBron, I signed up for, I learned about a course. She was offering, she did it. She turned this around over the weekend so quickly. She said, we need to educate these white coaches in particular. She put out a workshop available on Sunday. So Saturday she was out there sharing and speaking and, and helping us see what we needed to see. And Sunday, she made this workshop available. It's called Show Up and Serve. You can get the replay. I registered midway through the two- hour program, got in about an hour in, and it was brilliant. I mean, it was totally worth my time and money. I mean, it was not expensive at all and you can get it, and I'll be watching the rest of the replay this week. It's on my list of many things that I'm learning from this week, but having been through the second half of it, I know that it's brilliant.

So, these are just some of the resources that I am using to help me be a better ally and an anti-racist. And I hope that they expand the resources that you see out there. The other thing that I have been really grateful for is watched for all of the people on social media, both in Instagram and Facebook that I could follow that are black, Brown, indigenous, and people of color. So I could hear their voices straight from them. There are so many brilliant voices out there that I wasn't following. And you'll have people in your world who are, we will share some of those in the show notes so that you can follow ones that we have found super helpful. But all the people that I've mentioned earlier are excellent resources toward that. I'm going to name just a few, but it is absolutely not an exhaustive list in any way.

Of course, Stacey Abrams, black lives matter, the NAACP and Deseret. Attaway Austin, Channing, Sean King course of Layla Saad. As I just said, there really are so many more. Of course, Trudy LeBron is an excellent person to follow as well as an expert around inclusion, diversity and inclusion. So that is just some, and I know I as a non-expert in this domain, but as a person who really wants to be an anti-racist a clear anti-racist and a better ally, these are just some of the resources I hope they're helpful to you. I'd love to hear from you, my white colleagues and friends on resources that you are using. And again, to our black, Brown, indigenous, and people of color community. Thank you so much for being here. And I'd love to hear from you. If you have anything that you feel inspired to say, all right, that's it for this week's podcast.

I just want to close. Like I always do, because it's still true. It is absolutely true. My friends that call to serve with your voice, with your own experiences and your expertise, that is your sign, but it's not all we need. We do need to know how we can do it better, how we can do it in a way that includes everyone that takes care of everyone in our world. That takes a stand for justice and equality and care and love for everyone equally. And so that's what this part is about. And you can do this. We can do this, my white friends, and we will do this and we'll do this because it already should be that way. All right, my friends, you were absolutely made for this and I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for being here with me on the Brilliance at Work Podcast. If you want to know how to tap your own most natural charisma as a business owner, leader and speaker, you can download a free copy of my book Beyond Applause, Make a Meaningful Difference Through Transformational Speaking. This includes a free short course that helps you get crystal clear on the message at the heart of your work. You can get a free copy of this book and that short course at brillianceatwork.com/freebook. I hope you'll love it.

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