Zach sits down with Bloomberg LP's American Head of Diversity & Inclusion Chris Michel to discuss this moment of racial reckoning we find ourselves in following the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others. Chris shares how his personal planning and goals have been impacted coming into a new organization as an executive, talks a bit about what he's excited to achieve at Bloomberg over the next 12 months, and explains why he believes this moment is actually spurring a movement.

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TRANSCRIPT

Zach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach with Living Corporate, and you know what we're doing, right? Every single week we're bringing to you a few different things, 'cause really Living Corporate is--it's one podcast, quote-unquote, but there's, like, multiple content series on our podcast, right? So, like, on Tuesdays we have Real Talk Tuesdays. That's where we have these, like, long-form conversations like the one we're about to get into today. And then on Thursdays we have Tristan's Tips. So those are, like, you know, 1, 2-minute career tips. Then on Saturdays we switch it up and we either have See It to Be It with Amy C. Waninger, and that's, like, we go into someone's role, right, how they do their job, typically a Black or brown person--always a Black or brown person, actually. And then we also have The Link Up with Latesha. We have some news for The Link Up with Latesha, exciting news, but I'ma wait on it. But I'm just saying, like, be excited. Ask, you know? Ask Latesha about what's going on with The Link Up with Latesha. Let's get some hot goss going on. I can't even say 'hot goss.' I don't know. It's just a funny term, 'hot goss.' But yeah, no, ask her about--y'all know Latesha. Hit her up on Twitter, ask her what's going on with The Link Up with Latesha. Ask her what's new with that. Okay, cool, cool. So like I said, every single week on Tuesdays we're coming at y'all with some real, real content, and this Tuesday is no different, right? We have Chris Michel. Chris Michel is the Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Americas, at Bloomberg LP, a senior HR executive with significant experience in leading talent management programs in multinational organizations. Extensive familiarity with global Diversity & Inclusion matters in addition to a proven track record of success in broad-based talent initiatives including Employee Resource Group management, recruitment, training, community engagement, program development and senior management advisement. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to positively influence outcomes. So look, the next thing you're gonna hear is me talking to Chris, and, like, yo, I'm really thankful and excited for this conversation because--and you'll hear me say this, like, I was just expecting some... I don't know. You know how some people be kinda Hollywood on you, you know? They kind of come on--especially when they, like, formally represent their companies. They can be kinda [eugh,] you know? Just not as authentic. And I try to push 'em--y'all hear me try to push 'em, but sometimes they're not really pushable, but I be trying. Anyways, that's not the case with this conversation. I was really thankful and excited for the fact that he was able to come on, be real, and I'm excited about hopefully having him back. He's definitely a friend of the show, shout-out to Chris, and yeah, next thing you'll hear will be our conversation, and until next time, we'll see y'all. Peace.




Zach: Chris, man, welcome to the show. Thanks for being with us. Man, how are you and your loved ones doing during this time?




Chris: I'm doing well, and the family's good. We're fortunate that we're here in the city, New York City, but nothing untoward has happened to us in the last six or four or five months, so we're very fortunate that we're all well during this time.




Zach: That's a blessing. So let's talk a little bit about your work and the climate at this moment, right? So, like, I'd love to get your opinion. You know, I've asked--we've had Howard Bryant on the show, we've had Robin DiAngelo on some months ago, but I'm curious to get your perspective on why you think there's been this collective call to consciousness regarding Black equity and justice today and in ways that have really dwarfed previous instances of Black folks getting murdered by the police. Like, why do you think this moment is so unique? 




Chris: Yeah. So I think what's interesting about this is that people--like you said, this is not the first time people have seen the murder of a Black man or a Black woman on video, right, but what is different about this time in my opinion is with the murder of George Floyd, what we saw is that the man at the center of all of it was at a point where our system is supposed to take over. George Floyd was handcuffed. He was prone. The police officer was sitting on his neck--well, two others that we didn't see were sitting on his neck, right, but in that moment I think we saw the lack of humanity that Black folks have been trying to insist has been taking place in terms of these interactions between police and Black people for a long time. And so that particular incident, again, our system was supposed to have taken over, right? George Floyd was prone. He was not moving. He was not a threat yet. Derek Chauvin, I think his last name was, sat there, and even in the face of people begging him to get off of Mr. Floyd's neck, you could just see in his face at that moment that lack of humanity, that moment he decided to play judge, jury and executioner, and it was--again, I think white people saw the truth in what we've been saying for years in that one moment, and I think that the pandemic and the politics of the moment have all come together right now to really get people who are in the majority population to see that, you know, what we've been saying for a long time might actually have some legitimacy, and because of that I just think that this particular catalyst has been very different. I think people's eyes have really been opened. There was no grey area, right? You know, some of those videos that we've seen in the past, you know, somebody who wanted to doubt could say, "Well, why did they run from the police," or "Why did they fight?" There was no fight. George Floyd was on the ground. He was handcuffed. At that point he should've been taken to jail and processed and judged by a jury of his peers, but that police officer refused to do so, and again, I think the truth, our truth, came out in that moment, and that's why people are reacting very differently than they have in the past. 




Zach: I mean, let's stay there, 'cause you've been in this space for well over a decade--I'm not calling you old. But you've operated, again, in this executive leadership capacity, right, and I think about one, like, Living Corporate as a platform, right? We've had Black men who have been on the platform. We've had a couple of Latinx men as well, but we don't typically have a lot of Black male executives on our platform. Like, straight up, Chris, I've had conversations with folks offline and they're like, "Look, you know, love what you're doing. I appreciate it. It's a little too radical for me. I need to make sure I take care of whatever, whatever," but I have discussions--I have mentors of course as well, and we talk about the fact that, like--and this is not exclusive to Black men. Black women face this and then some, but I'm talking as a Black man 'cause that's who I am and I'm talking to you, another Black man, right? But I think about the higher you get, like, that tightrope and that safety net gets smaller and smaller, and that tightrope seems to get even more and more narrow, and I think about the fact that you've--you know, I'm projecting a little bit because I'm making assumptions about just--as I read things, Ellen McGirt's written pieces in Fortune Magainze about being Black, a Black executive. I'm just curious, considering that you typically are moving in these majority-white spaces, how do you feel diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is shifting in this moment as a response, and do you think it's just a moment, or do you think there's something more to this that's longer lasting? 




Chris: Yeah. So I think the moment is actually spurring the movement, right? You know, when I first came into the workforce--and, you know, again, like you said, I'm not old, but I'm not young either. When I first came into the workforce, you know, there was no place for a discussion of politics or race or religion or sexual orientation, you know? You just weren't supposed to talk about those things, right? You were supposed to come in, do your job, and leave all of that stuff at home, and, you know, companies can't do that anymore, right? We have to address these human characteristics, which is why people like me have a job, right? Because when I think about our organization, our organization is made up of all different backgrounds, and we address not just the questions about race, we address questions about sexual orientation, disability status, whether or not you served in the armed forces, gender. You know, all of these things make up our workforce and they make up our customer and client population, right, so we have to, as an organization, really consider that, right? So now when you think about this particular moment, it is a chance now for us to really sort of push on this notion that, you know, these differences that we all have really do make us stronger. You know, one of the things I've been really encouraged by is, and this sort of goes back to your first question, is it's not just Black folks out in the streets mar