Ideally, you will begin to develop your leadership vision early in your career, sometimes even before your first job. At this stage, you are responsible for building the core capabilities that will help you grow in the future. Here are some affirmations that can help.
In the early stage of my career, I envision myself becoming a leader.
- I build a robust sense of self that strengthens me.
- I critically question and reject negative stereotypes and society’s lowered expectations of black leaders.
- I embrace my unique strengths and cultural resources. I bring new perspectives and ideas that have value and are specific to my experience.
- Like everyone else, I will fail sometimes. This is not because of my race, and my failures do not reflect on my race as a whole. Because I understand this, I use every failure as an opportunity to learn, grow, and develop my resiliency.
- The workplace is not perfect, and neither are my colleagues. At times, I experience painful bias, but I do not let these microaggressions limit my career. Instead of shutting down or quitting, I choose to seek the support of my colleagues in making my workplace more inclusive.
- I develop the credibility, networks, and capabilities to thrive by aligning my skills and my cultural resources — my connections and my background — with strategic opportunities for my company and career.
