Not Enough or Too Much? Working While Black

Hello friends,

As a Black woman in corporate, or in any office job, you're always under scrutiny. Heck, as a Black woman existing and minding your own business, the same is true.

Downgraded For Being Quiet

I learned that for the first time at a training day in England. I've told the story before, but here it is in a nutshell. I was quiet throughout the day, as the trainer wasn't telling me anything I didn't know - no point in taking up airtime when there were people who needed the input more, I thought.

Having aced the tests when the training finished, I discovered that the trainer thought that my silence equated to ignorance rather than knowledge. In other words, I'd been under scrutiny, and he'd drawn the wrong conclusion. It was a lesson I wouldn't forget.

It's one of the reasons why, even in the discomfort of my introversion (nothing wrong with being introverted but in my case it didn't lead to social adeptness) I constantly had to force myself to speak up and advocate for myself. Now it's easier than it would have been then, as I can use writing - for which I have a gift - as my main mode of communication.