Rachel, congratulations on your recognition at the CEO Today Executive Coaching Awards. Can you describe your coaching philosophy and how it has evolved to address the complexities of today's leadership challenges?
My coaching philosophy is anchored in the belief that every individual is a leader. The conditions of both your inner and outer environment determines the degree to which you lead yourself and others in a meaningful way. You can't lead from the shadows. My role is to light the path for them to fully step into their potential and light the path for others.
These values below are embedded in the work I do, both in a coaching and consulting context.
1. Authenticity - align identity, values, and purpose with leadership expression
2. Empowerment - enable achievement of full potential
3. Diversity - embrace difference as a strategic advantage
4. Equitable Ecosystems - assess and build practices to disrupt bias and provide access
5. Adaptive Mindset - embed curiosity, learning, and resilience as essential components of leadership
6. Partnership - engage others at every stage of the journey
My mission is to empower women of colour at every stage of their leadership journey and significantly increase their presence in the C-Suite. To only focus on their development would be one-dimensional and not setting them up for success. With that in mind, I also coach and consult with leaders who consider themselves Allies and are committed to building inclusive organizations through systemic change and culture transformation. Creating cultures that are inclusive and embrace diversity in leadership will be the key to navigating an increasingly complex world.
Describe your typical coaching client, and what is the most rewarding part of working with them, particularly in relation to your work with people of colour?
I've been fortunate to work with leaders who show up engaged and committed to doing the necessary work of self-discovery, perspective-taking, and action. They want to have a more meaningful leadership impact at the self, team, and enterprise levels, and I'm here to facilitate their journey while championing them at every step.
My work focuses on two client groups.
People of colour pursuing careers in leadership while navigating corporate systems that were not built for them to thrive. Many of these individuals are early in their careers, questioning if they have the emotional energy that comes with opting into leadership as a person of colour.
On the other end, I have coached clients of colour further along in their careers contemplating opting out of leadership because the emotional tax paid when operating in primarily white spaces has left them drained.
These are brilliant leaders who are ambitious, purpose-focused, and talented. Coaching them on navigating identity as a leader of colour in corporate systems is as important as developing them on the mission-critical competencies needed to lead in a VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity).
The experience of a person of colour in a corporate environment is unique. Applying an intersectionality lens brings another level of complexity to both their lived experience and the coaching space.
Experiences of microaggressions, inequitable standards, and biased practices create workplace traumas that are pushing leaders of colour more and more into the shadows. You can't lead effectively from the shadows. That's where the power of coaching comes in. It's critical to provide them with a coach of colour who can create a psychologically safe space and understand their corporate experience.
This is what differentiates our coaching approach at Lumen Consulting Group Inc.
For me, the reward is in witnessing them reclaim their leadership identity and purpose and leveraging their learning to lead themselves, their teams, and the enterprise at a transformational level.
The other client group is the Ally Ð those leaders who are committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and have the position, title, budgetary, and privilege power to uplift, sponsor, and clear the path of organizational barriers for equity-seeking communities.
As their coach, I create a safe space for my clients to go on their own journey of unlearning and learning.
Genuine and sustainable change does not come from blaming or shaming. It's about building trust, providing alternative perspectives, and facilitating learning. Often, they want to commit to inclusion but don't know how or what actions are required to take their organizations on a transformational journey.
It's rewarding when I can celebrate them translating their insights and learnings into meaningful action. I left corporate to not only disrupt as many systems as I could but also to coach and develop leaders' capacity to accelerate culture transformation.
In your coaching practice, you emphasize talent, inclusion, and diversity. What are some of the common challenges or pitfalls organizations face in these areas, and how do you help them navigate through these challenges?
Some common pitfalls from organizations that get in their way of making progress with this work is:
1. Lack of accountability and integration across business units
2. Inconsistent recruitment, development, and promotion practices
3. Inadequate resourcing of a team and budget
Also, make sure that the claims you make about the culture to candidates during the interview stage are the reality. If you're just starting the journey, that's ok. Be honest about it and speak to your commitment to a future state instead.
You won't be able to retain them for long if their expectations don't match the reality. Once trust is broken, it's hard to regain.
The corporate world is increasingly focusing on culture of belonging as a critical driver of business success. How do you assess an organization's culture, and what steps do you take to align it with its strategic objectives?
While a culture of belonging is essential for fostering a sense of community and inclusion, I want organizations to take it a step further and build a Culture of Empowerment. In an empowered workplace, individuals can contribute meaningfully and take an active role in shaping the organization's success by giving employees the tools, resources, and autonomy to thrive.
Empowerment leads to a more engaged, innovative, and resilient workforce, ultimately driving the organization towards its goals and adapting to the ever-changing business landscape.
The team at Lumen Consulting Group Inc. partners with clients to measure across three domains:
1. Leadership Commitment and Strategy
2. Culture of Trust and Meaningful Connection
3. Ecosystem of Equitable Processes & Decisions
EDI needs to be integrated into every aspect of an organization. It must become part of its DNA. We meet our clients where they are, determine current state to get a baseline, then light the path with a strategic roadmap to future state. We then stay connected on the journey. This isn't a checkbox activity or a feel-good exercise. The journey requires transparency, accountability, and stamina. A multi-year strategy with no endpoint, but rather one that is continuously improved upon.
With the rapid pace of change in the business world, how do you keep your coaching methods and content fresh and relevant for your clients, and how does your learning and development journey help support people of colour further?
We can't be challenging organizations to evolve, and not do the same of consultants and coaches, to transform their practices and professions as a whole.
The three touchstones of Programs at Lumen Consulting Group Inc. are Coaching, Capability Development, and Community Building. I take the same approach to evolve as a coach.
A few things we take into consideration are:
Tailored Approach: client-centric content is key. The experiences and unique challenges faced by of people of colour must be considered when designing leadership development programs and coaching engagements, keeping an open line of communication to understand evolving needs, challenges, and goals.
Connectivity: Building connections within the leadership community, engage in discussions, share experiences, and learn from peers is a powerful tool to facilitate learning.
Technology Integration: Leverage technology to enhance coaching experiences and will facilitate tailored content and community building. Advancements in technology, like AI, should not be feared, but instead, let's get curious about how technology can drive our mission forward.
ItÕs also important to note, that one person doesn't have all the answers, nor can they be all things to everyone. As a coach, I'm honoured to be a peer of other coaches doing phenomenal work in this space. I'm interested in exploring how we, as a collective, can collaborate, integrate, and crowd-source the incredible knowledge within our network to provide an exceptional coaching experience to leaders. On that note, I also have a goal to significantly increase the number of coaches of colour!
Lastly, I'm constantly learning from my clients and leave our interactions feeling enriched.
Your passion and focus on uplifting and advancing women of colour in leadership is admirable. What should organizations be asking themselves to strengthen their pipeline and the progression of women of colour to more senior roles?
The pipeline starts at the frontline. Ensure that proactive identification, development, and progression is happening throughout the full pipeline so that the 'broken rungs' are mended and talent is flowing through.
1. How are you investing in the leadership development of women of colour?
2. What steps are you taking to retain women of colour?
3. What actions are you taking to identify and remove systemic barriers to clear the path for women of colour to progress to leadership, C-Suite, and Board roles?
What can we look forward to seeing from Lumen Consulting Group Inc. in 2024?
Clients have been asking, and we've been listening, so expect to see some exciting Programs in 2024!
These Programs will increase our focus on the leadership empowerment and development for women of colour. More to come on that front! In addition weÕre looking forward to the continuation of transformational projects with Allies to build equitable workplaces for all employees to thrive.
