“I Find Black Leaders to be Toxic!” She Said

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I find black leaders to be toxic!” She Said

In finding qualified writers for our site, my recruiter came across a very interesting candidate. He was talking to a young black woman who was in search of an opportunity. She inquired about the company asking if it was black-owned. This is not a typical question when interviewing someone, but perhaps it is in today’s hiring circles.

At any rate, the recruiter told her yes, it’s owned by a black man, and then she responded, “Not to be offensive, but I find black leaders to be toxic.”

There are times I have to laugh about the way this new generation is so brutally honest. Some of me can appreciate it, but I also find it rather shocking, disappointing, and offensive. But I’d rather have someone be honest and upfront in the beginning than lie about what they can do and waste my time when I discover they are not qualified later.

On their behalf, there will be a price to pay because they’re missing out on something that will never die, developing relationships.

Ironically, a friend told me a black gen-z’er quit his job and told his white female boss she was a “Karen” and he could not work for “Karens.”

Black Leaders Black Leaders
"I Find Black Leaders to be Toxic!" She Said 4

I couldn’t help nevertheless to ponder what would make someone say something like this to a potential Black employer. And would she say this to white employers?

Everyone I know is an entrepreneur my closest friends are Black entrepreneurs, and they complain about the same things about black employees.

The sense of entitlement, the lack of work completion, and many excuses instead of results are not something that we usually discuss in public. Still, it is a common problem amongst Black entrepreneurs.

The consensus is Black people do not respect Black-Owned businesses.
This is not to say ALL Black employees who work for black entrepreneurs are like that, but I’ve heard it more times than I care to remember.

Most black business owners feel a sense of debt to the black community and work very hard to provide opportunities that were not afforded to them.

This drive to build the community is self-imposed and a constant for entrepreneurs, but the courtesy is not always returned.

I told a friend of mine, a black woman, who works for a corporation, what this woman had said. She said that she agreed and that the woman had a point.

On the other hand, I remember interviewing a huge industry mogul who told me hiring black people was often an unwelcome chore. She was made to feel like they were doing HER a favor with their sense of entitlement.

Many of the black business owners that I know have been approached in ways that I don’t think white business owners get approached for … things like loans. I’ve been asked to go to the bank to deposit someone’s pay because they didn’t have Zelle and wanted to enjoy the holiday weekend.

I took the time to show them how to sign up for Zelle and they were offended, but this is not something I think a white business owner or ANY business owner should be doing.

I’ve had people in training who didn’t show up until the next day, people who have asked me to call their relatives and give them a job etc.

I even had one Black woman, who I didn’t know from Adam, ask me for her pay upfront, promising to do double the work because she was living in a hotel and had to pay the bill before they kicked her out. Yeah, and I take my head off at night and put it on the end table before going to sleep.

It is a huge slap in the face for a black person to say Black leaders are toxic but then again, I have worked for a few myself. This is not to say I also didn’t work for racist white bosses, but we are talking about black business here.

Considering how hard we work to have a small taste of success as entrepreneurs, is it true? Or is this just another effort in our training to ensure we continue the crabs in the barrel mentality?