Black Lives Matter
This week one of the employees at Predictive Index (PI) Headquarters, David Silbert, wrote a poignant article about his feelings on racial injustice. It really hit home, especially as we consider ourselves an extension of the PI family. Therefore, we are sharing his wonderfully written article as well as our grief and condolences to the families of: Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and George Floyd.
One of the tenets that informs our every consultation at SHIFT is that people are complex. Every person is complex regardless of race, creed, religion or sexual orientation. The complexity is what brings the richness and nuance to our existence. We honor that complexity. We honor our differences and we honor our similarities.
“In spite of those differences, there’s always more in common than not. And the sooner we as people can learn that, the better off we’ll be.” David Silbert – PI HQ
Our team acknowledges the existence of white privilege and the unfair advantages that result. PI’s tag line is “Better Work, Better World” and we are committed to doing our part to leave a positive mark. As PI’s CEO Mike Zani said, “We cannot create better work environments without diversity, equity, and inclusion—and a better world certainly cannot exist with racism and injustice.”
What we are doing at SHIFT, especially as Caucasian women, is educating ourselves and listening carefully to Black American leaders. We are leveraging the larger team at PI Headquarters and the information that they regularly share with us on how to make a positive change towards equality. We promise to stand by our Black American friends and work with them to make a positive impact. We made a financial donation to Black Lives Matter.
If you are grappling with what you can do, we urge you to first start from a place of empathy and humility. Humility allows us to listen. As another PI HQ employee, Maribel Olvera said, “If you’ve been blessed to have someone in your life who’s different from you, approach them with empathy. Give them the opportunity to talk about their challenges, as these may be different than yours.”
We leave with you quick access to several resources that we found valuable in our learning journey. We hope you find them beneficial as well:
Val Yaw, SHIFT CEO
