Harvard Business Review

What Leaders Must Do Today to Resolve Systemic Racism

Harvard Business Review

Summary

The recent episode of HBR Quarantine addresses the urgent societal issues stemming from the killing of George Floyd, highlighting the pervasive racism and inequality in the United States. The discussion emphasizes the need for businesses and executives to take meaningful action against these injustices, moving beyond mere statements of solidarity to implement tangible changes within their organizations.

Laura Morgan Roberts, a professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, joins the conversation to explore the intersection of race and leadership. She stresses that racism is not just a historical issue but a present reality that affects workplace dynamics. Roberts advocates for a comprehensive approach that includes acknowledging systemic inequalities and fostering an environment where diverse voices are heard and valued.

The dialogue also touches on the role of individuals in promoting change, encouraging professionals to engage in difficult conversations about race and to take proactive steps toward inclusivity. The hosts and Roberts agree that the current moment demands courage from those in positions of power to confront uncomfortable truths and to commit to long-term efforts in dismantling systemic barriers.

As the conversation concludes, there is a call for accountability and measurable progress in diversity and inclusion efforts, with a focus on ensuring that the momentum generated by recent events translates into lasting change within organizations and society at large.

Show Notes

What Leaders Must Do Today to Address Systemic Racism

4 Jun 2020

---

How do we start real conversations about race in our organizations?

This video was recorded live on June 3, 2020. Research shows that how organizations respond to large-scale, diversity-related events can either help employees feel psychologically safe — or contribute to racial identity threat and mistrust of authority. Laura Morgan Roberts is professor of practice at the Darden School of Business and co-editor of "Race, Work, and Leadership," a book about what organizations to can do to eliminate systemic racism. She discusses how various companies are responding to racism today — and practical ways that leaders at all levels can step up for their colleagues of color.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We enlist the foremost experts in a wide range of topics, including career planning, strategy, leadership, work-life balance, negotiations, innovation, and managing teams. Harvard Business Review empowers professionals around the world to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact.

Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters

Follow us: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review

​

​

​

​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from Harvard Business Review

Oct 30, 2026

Easy Networking Tips for the Networking HatersUploaded 03-01-234 Jan 2023---Networking doesn’t have to be scary or hard.00:00 Networking can feel frightening and embarrassing. But it doesn't have to.00:30 Tip 1: Look for islands.00:58 Tip 2: Networking doesn't have to involve meeting new people.01:35 Tip 3: Turn networking into a game.02:02 Tip 4: Don't stress yourself with preparing for small talk.Based on the HBR/Ascend article by Amantha Imber: https://hbr.org/2021/10/easy-networking-tips-for-the-networking-hatersThis video is co-produced with @Emeritus. You can find more co-productions from HBR and Emeritus on the Emeritus app: https://emrt.us/HarvardBusinessReviewFollow HBR:https://hbr.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/https://twitter.com/HarvardBizhttps://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_reviewSign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters#HarvardBusinessReview #Explainer #Networking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 30, 2026

How to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career in the Wake of the Covid-19 Crisis

Oct 30, 2026

What Is Strategy? It’s a Lot Simpler Than You ThinkUploaded 23-02-2223 Feb 2022---To many people, strategy is a total mystery. But it’s really not complicated, says Harvard Business School’s Felix Oberholzer-Gee, author of "Better, Simpler Strategy". 00:00 To many people, strategy is a mystery.00:25 Strategy does not start with a focus on profit.00:52 It's about creating value.01:00 There's a simple tool to help visualize the value you create: the value stick.01:30 What is willingness-to-pay?02:30 What is willingness-to-sell?03:14 Remind me: Where does profit come in again?03:48 How do I raise willingness-to-pay?05:00 And how do I lower willingness-to-sell?06:18 Real world example: Best Buy's dramatic turnaround Companies should simplify and focus on two value drivers, he argues: customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. By aligning strategic initiatives on these alone, leaders make their workers’ jobs less complicated and improve customer experiences. Oberholzer-Gee is the author of the Harvard Business Review article “Eliminate Strategic Overload” (https://hbr.org/2021/05/eliminate-strategic-overload) as well as the book “Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance” (https://www.amazon.com/Better-Simpler-Strategy-Value-Based-Exceptional/dp/1633699692/).Produced and edited by Scott LaPierreVideo by Dave Di Iulio and Elie HoneinAnimation by Alex BelserFollow Harvard Business Review:https://hbr.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/https://twitter.com/HarvardBizhttps://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_reviewSign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters#HarvardBusinessReview #Strategy #WhatIsStrategyCopyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 30, 2026

Ancestry CEO Deb Liu Says Women Need to Reframe Their Relationship to PowerUploaded 23-11-2223 Nov 2022---Deb Liu is CEO of Ancestry, the $5 billion genealogy platform, and the author of Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work. While overt discrimination against women may have receded in recent years, she says covert discrimination, including unconscious bias, can be just as pernicious, keeping women from reaching the peaks of success. She pushes for women to find themselves not just mentors offering advice, but a sponsor who will put­ their own career on the line to advance that of someone they believe in.This interview part of a series called “The New World of Work,” which explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success. Each week, Adi will interview a leader on LinkedIn Live — and then share an inside look at those conversations and solicit questions for future discussions in a newsletter just for HBR subscribers. If you’re a subscriber, you can sign up for the newsletter here: https://hbr.org/my-library/preferences?movetile=newworldofwork.Follow us:https://hbr.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/https://twitter.com/HarvardBizhttps://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_reviewSign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters#HarvardBusinessReview #NewWorldofWork #AncestryCopyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 30, 2026

Managing Working Parents During the Pandemic | HBR IdeaCastUploaded 15-03-2315 Mar 2023---Ellen Ernst Kossek, management professor at Purdue University, is researching how the pandemic is putting an enormous strain on working parents and the new challenge that poses for their managers. She shares how supervisors can offer much-needed consistency and predictability for working parents on their teams. She also outlines specific ways to give working parents more flexibility while still holding them accountable. Kossek is the coauthor, with Kelly Schwind Wilson and Lindsay Mechem Rosokha, of the HBR article “What Working Parents Need from Their Managers.”This episode originally aired on HBR IdeaCast on November 10, 2020.Listen to more HBR IdeaCast episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzAU8TPKsJuaxff5Cp0P2DKE_tFyaWOOaYou can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2020/11/managing-working-parents-during-the-pandemic - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/managing-working-parents-during-the-pandemic/id152022135?i=1000497975212 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7v4Ii5hb8aHWO4n6aqlDWd?si=I9Sxf-1wR-ilMg6B-x0tKw - Stitcher https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/79282001&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/79282001&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/79282001 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2lkZWFjYXN0/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAwNi0wNS0wODppZGVhY2FzdC4wNzY2?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwiA_r2ditz9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA Series Description: A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org.Chapters:00:00 – Intro 1:52 – This is Management’s – Not the Individual’s – Problem3:43 – Managers: Make Work Predictable Yet Flexible8:55 – Four Behaviors of Supportive Managers12:44 – How to Make Sure the Work Still Gets Done18:58 – Flexibility in Essential and Frontline Work24:29 – Longterm Effects of Flexibility26:47 – OutroFollow Harvard Business Review:https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/mycompany/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review/Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #business #management Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See all episodes →