Issue 45 - DEI & DNA - Why culturally rooted leadership matters
Published 18 days ago • 3 min read
We’re now on the third edition of the Hispanic Heritage 2024 Inside Out Newsletter.
Last year, I wrote about the phrase, “Ni de aquí, ni de allá“, translated as, “From neither here nor there” and refers to a lack of belonging felt within the Latino community. And yet with healthy integration and empowered reframing, I have, over the years, owned my experience, my story, and my unique leadership.
Our identities, family history, and ethnic heritage do impact how we feel and show up in the world as leaders and individuals.
If you’ve never considered this, it’s likely you operate in an environment that’s homogeneous to your upbringing and cultural norms. If this is your experience, there’s no need for shame. Instead, it presents an opportunity to bring more awareness to your experience and explore how the social and cultural norms you operate within influence your leadership.
As a Latina, Mexican-American, and Chicana who grew up in a predominantly White evangelical community, diversity, cultural differences, and the question of belonging were things I experienced on an embodied and subconscious level. I’ve walked the complex journey of identity development in a racialized society and know it has given me an invaluable perspective on change, belonging, and the ability to integrate what supports me and others to thrive.
Some of the questions that have driven me forward include:
What keeps people like me from holding leadership positions?
Where do my own limiting beliefs come from?
What can I do to write a different story and help others do the same?
The color-blind mentality I grew up with in the 90s left me with simplistic and unsatisfying answers. Thankfully, the scholarship and work of many, many educators, such as Ron Takaki, author of A Different Mirror, and Juana Bordas, author of The Power of Latino Leadership, expanded my world and understanding.
Juana Bora and Me at the Lideramos National Symposium 2022.
It was in part, through this knowledge that my confidence grew as a leader—not by exercising the "fake it till you make it" affirmations or "power poses" I learned in typical professional development workshops.
As noted in the history lesson from last week’s edition, there have been systemic and historic forces at play that have denied and stripped leadership opportunities from the Latinx community in the United States. Yet, even as I acknowledge the current complex ecosystem of power and privilege, I’ve also learned the incredible power that comes from authentically embodying our leadership potential and breaking the old beliefs, mental models, and fears that limit us.
With this knowledge and experience, I support others in developing confidence from within. Together, no matter your background, I help you identify where societal narratives are keeping you small, overworked, exhausted, and feeling like you're never enough. And when a movement of leaders doing the inner work of healing and showing up as whole humans work together we can address the larger systemic issues in our current leadership models.
We all want to reach our potential, enjoy the journey of self-development, and have the energy to positively impact those around us. Let's do it together!
Insightful Resource: Epigenetics, Dr. Joy Degruy, & Adaptive Behaviors
Did you know that the environment and stress your ancestors experienced impacts how your body expresses and reads your genes?
As a culturally rooted, trauma informed, anti-racist, human behavior expert, leadership coach, this work sheds light on powerful avenues of healing and community empowerment.
Are you feeling a pull to improve the way you show up in your life—as both a human and a leader? I’m here to help you find internal peace so you can smash the social norms in your mind that keep you stuck and exhausted. Ready to explore what is possible?
