I recently replied to a LinkedIn post by David Pereira. It was a wonderful post, and I applaud David’s boldness and courage in sharing it.
Here’s a post comment from Stefan Wolpers—
While I agree fully with your personal stance regarding professionalism, David Pereira, some people will shy away, given the current economic climate. Some of the previously aggravated people may seek an opportunity to settle scores.
And here’s my comment—
I love the clarity (No BS) here. Clarity for David and clarity for those who want to work with and who don't want to work with him.
That said, David has the unique privilege that allows him to adopt this clarity. Many don't.
This post is not about David per se. Instead, he inspired me to write it.
It’s really about being aware of our privilege as thought leaders.
I read many thought leaders on LinkedIn, for example, David Pereira, Stefan Wolpers, Ryan Ripley, Maarten Dalmijn, Pawel Huryn, Josh Anderson, Chris Stone, and if I may include Me 😉. And the list goes on and on and on.
We’re often giving oodles of great advice and sharing insights, given our deep and broad experience. Our intentions are pure and for good. But all that being said, I think many of us often forget something when sharing our thoughts.
Sometimes we forget to include awareness of the privilege we have as thought leaders. And using that awareness to craft our messages better to reflect that privilege and awareness that most of the folks reading our words don’t have.
Wrapping Up
I’m not calling anyone out or chastising anyone. Like I said, the thought leaders I mentioned and many more are super well-intentioned. And the examples, lessons, advice, and experience we share are invaluable.
I just think we might occasionally miss our privilege awareness, and this is a gentle reminder to consider it when we’re sharing with our agile community.
If not for anyone else, I need to work on it…
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
BTW: I want to thank Stefan Wolpers for his comments on privilege awareness.
Here’s a related post to consider—
https://www.agile-moose.com/blog/2020/12/19/the-privilege-of-my-agile-coaching