In this insightful clip, Shola Kaye discusses the often-overlooked issue of microaggressions and the significant impact they have on individuals in the workplace. Drawing on anecdotal experiences, such as when a black woman received a backhanded compliment for her speech – “Did you write that?” – Shola highlights the subtle nature of this form of discrimination.

Transcript – Uncovering the Impact of Microaggressions in the Workplace

Now I want to look at the third area. So this was empathy and equity. Let’s look at microaggressions. And just to remind you what microaggressions are, these are these little everyday interactions that put down or denigrate minorities or marginalized groups. And just to give you an example, I’ll give you two examples. I’ll give you one because time’s running out when I get to Q and A. So one example of a microaggression. Someone told me this was a black woman, and she was telling me that she had written a speech and delivered this speech at work. And one of her colleagues came up to her at the end and said, that was an amazing speech. Did you write that? And she said that she was so upset that this individual was praising her for writing a great speech, but then doubting that she had the ability to create such a speech. And that’s what a microaggression often is, where you’re given a compliment with one hand, but with the other, there’s some sort of comment that is pulling you back and telling you, well, are you sure you did that yourself? You shouldn’t have the ability, right? So I want you to share in the chat. If someone had made that sort of comment to you, what would you have done? So pop into the chat, would you have said nothing? Because most of us, we don’t have those quick responses, right? So would you have said nothing? Would you have explained why that was an upsetting comment? That’s number two. Would you have had some sort of clever and quick putdown? Or perhaps you’d have done something else? A lot of you saying nothing. Yeah, because our fight, flight, and freeze response kicks in, right? And our brain just goes into fog. So a lot of us have got we just lose the moment. It’s like later on, hours later, we’re like, oh, man, this is what I should have said. Right? But, yeah, some of you have said, what do you mean by that? Like, some good responses here. Excellent. So the point of talking about microaggressions is that they have a real impact. They activate our stress response. They can lead to depression, they can lead to even reduced life expectancy. There was a study that was done, I think it was on black doctors in the USA. They had a shorter life expectancy than white doctors. Why? Because of microaggressions in the workplace. It can waste resources thinking, hold on, what did they say? Did they mean anything? And in the meantime, you should be doing some work or you should be doing something productive, right? And then also you’re feeling disrespected, you’re feeling devalued, and of course, it can impact your performance.

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Hi, I’m Shola and I help you create a people-first culture. My work sits at the intersection of Inclusion, Communication & Emotional Intelligence.

My keynote talks and workshops help your leaders and employees create high-performing work environments where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Sessions are high energy, interactive, and every participant walks away with at least one practical framework for connecting and collaborating more effectively.

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