Perfect Imperfection: Eliminating Disparity and Developing Opportunity for Black Women in Leadership

Perfect Imperfection: Eliminating Disparity and Developing Opportunity for Black Women in Leadership

Aisha Hart-Miller | 2022

Abstract

A desire to cultivate an accurate perception of who I am and who we are as black women in leadership was both arduous and critical. Exploring the disparity and bias I received as a black woman made me seek the heart of God for a way to theorize my experiences and others. Two theories were coined: A Black Woman’s Leadership Disparity Theory and A Black Woman’s Opportunity Theory. A variety of topics and situations across disciplines, levels of hierarchy, and compensation underscored distinct divergence for black women leading and those attempting to advance in corporate America. The formidable synonym being affixed to black women as the “angry black woman” was being applied to impassioned, hard-working, and dedicated black women serving in their various roles. The social construct built through race and gender creates a wedge between success and growth for many black women. Even amongst Christian black women this phenomenon was rampant although it was really being embodied through blurry vantage points. To demystify the presumptions, I sought a collaborative process to concurrently vindicate and uplift black women while challenging leaders in authority to recognize this problem.

A few things are accomplished through this hybrid manuscript/ curriculum, Perfect Imperfection: Eliminating Disparity and Developing Opportunity for Black Women in Leadership. It becomes a written protest that implores us all to walk in the perfect imperfection we were created to be. The work is broken into seven sections that offer a creative culmination expression to engage readers and participants. First, it provides a narrative of a different character in each chapter outlining their varying yet similar experiences across disciplines. Second, specific struggles are identified by each character to provide a foundation for the next section. Third, system(s) address systemic and oppressive issues researched to connect the experience to theories and create factual context. Fourth, an applicable leadership strategy is provided to offer a framework forward from assumptions that create discrimination of all kinds. Fifth, scriptures and biblical comparison to women of the bible are identified as leaders several considered to be black parallel to depict both perspective and victory. Sixth, reflective sonnets are authored acting as mantras and poetic expression eliminating the “invisibility” that has become so commonplace for black women in the workforce. Lastly, reflective questions are provided as a study to support the intentional work that must occur as part of the developmental process to becoming a perfectly imperfect Christian black woman in the workforce.

Keywords: Leadership, Disparity, Black Women, Work, Bias, Theory