NBA leadership offers a roadmap to change the status quo

When the NBA and its players’ union recently agreed on a series of simple but effective actions to advance the cause of social justice and racial equality in America, they demonstrated that, in the face of deeply painful systemic challenges, leadership evolved. can make a difference. Political and corporate leaders should take note. New episodes of violence and divisive rhetoric continue to tear apart the fragile scabs covering the country’s racial wounds, fueling a deeper malaise than the riots seen in Kenosha, Portland, Los Angeles and other cities.

Autocratic leadership, which shares a top-down mentality with behaviors related to racial violence, is fundamentally unsuitable for addressing the current crisis. However, leadership that uses deep listening, authentic introspection, and transformative empowerment can make real progress. With the resolution offered last week, the NBA has begun to do exactly that.

Deep listening captures the full meaning of a challenge

There is listening and there is listening. A leader can pay attention to recent civil unrest through the filter of their preconceived notions or focus more deeply on the meaning of what is happening on the streets of America today. For example, a CEO might conclude that a social justice debate does not belong in the workplace. Or, a political party leader may be fixated on the clamor caused by a particular episode of disorderly conduct. However, a leader might also look at the current climate of turmoil and realize that by witnessing several instances of racial violence, people have had the opportunity to observe a system that is fundamentally reluctant to change or self-correct.

The first type of listening is superficial and sterile. It might keep good issues out of the workplace, but it will likely fail dialogue with millennial employees and Gen Z. It might cushion civil unrest, but it won’t heal the growing divide or breakdown that leads some to take to the streets with guns, in the name self-defense, while others plunder in the shadow of those seeking justice.

The second type of listening, however, can initiate a transformative problem-solving process. The deal reached by the NBA last week sprang from a multitude of tense and exciting conversations. The players listened to each other, talked with the owners of the teams and evaluated the point of view of the other stakeholders. Steve Ballmer, one of the owners of the NBA, described how part of this process involved listening to players closely, while acknowledging that people like him don’t have “the lived experience of growing up black in America”.

It wasn’t about winning on one side or overcoming the other; it was about different parties working through the meaning of their distress and the conflicting priorities of their roles. It was this intense process that helped the NBA develop a better understanding of what could be done, as well as a fuller sense of its collective responsibility as a powerful and influential organization of diverse stakeholders.

Genuine introspection allows for change

Although most people think they know their personal values, actual behavior is often inconsistent with the values ​​people claim to have. A leader may think that he appreciates diversity, but pays more attention to the opinions of group members. Another may claim that they want people to talk but feel threatened by the smallest signs of dissent. Sometimes, these gaps are false, but for the most part they indicate a lack of self-awareness.

Failure to achieve an operational understanding of one’s personal values ​​has practical consequences, especially in the face of conflicting goals and / or systemic challenges. In some cases, it can involve applying the rules in an opportunistic and inconsistent way, thereby increasing existing feelings of injustice. In others, it can lead to underestimating the importance of real priorities, which in turn impedes progress. And in more extreme situations, it may be necessary for a person in power to separate their perceived competence from any sense of moral competence.

Therefore, a leader could justify the illegal use of force by a follower as a form of self-defense by labeling peaceful protesters as rioters. He might conclude that sport should remain confined to a bubble of blissful ignorance where fans can forget the harsh reality of particular aspects of life. Or, he may engage in a form of discount so partial that he refuses any factual evidence inconsistent with his self-image.

In all of these cases, leadership shows a lack of ethical imagination. So, when presented with a paradox such as the one eloquently articulated by Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, “why” … we are the ones killed; … we are the ones who are affected; …[yet], you keep hearing [the other side talking] on fear “because” … we continue to love this country, and this country does not love us back “- not only will the leader struggle to understand this, but he will find it impossible to navigate or, possibly, he will try a solution.

Indeed, when it comes to personal values, self-awareness should not be confused with a strict application of one’s own standards. Instead, it should be used in the form of genuine introspection – a practice of regularly reflecting on what those values ​​mean and what kind of mature action they may require. As NBA players debated whether to cancel the playoffs, LeBron James, who had originally voted for the end of the season, reportedly pushed to finish the game. James, criticized by some for his rethinking, he answered emphasizing that at this moment justice needs action, not just words.

Transformative empowerment creates a path forward

The platform the NBA and NBPA agreed to include a social justice coalition focused on facilitating access to voting, raising awareness and promoting true reform. To this end, initiatives such as the conversion of arenas into polling stations and commercials in each NBA playoff game “dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in national and local elections” will be actively pursued. The players and owners have done more than promise a vision. They have also committed actual resources within their area of ​​influence. In doing so, they empowered each other to reimagine how to harness valuable resources to make tangible progress towards the goal of social justice and racial equality.

It is the generative aspect of this process that most deserves attention here. Turning a basketball court into a polling station and using a game not only to entertain but to raise awareness that voting is a means to justice are the kinds of out-of-the-box thinking that can unlock the stalemate of the status quo. The most empowering aspect of the NBA stalemate was not the simple fact that the players were an example to other athletes, but that the players, owners and other stakeholders provided a model of how resources and beliefs can be repurposed for make immediate and future progress.

In the words of John Lewis, one of the greatest heroes of the civil rights era, the NBA has shown how “ordinary people with extraordinary vision …” can get into “… good troubles, necessary troubles, .. seeing something wrong, saying something and doing something “, helping to build” a nation and a world society at peace with themselves “.