Written by Audra (Tafoya) Grassia, edited by Loryn Wilson Carter

This is the seventh post in a series about racism in the progressive political ecosystem. You can read my previous posts here.

My focus is how we — in the progressive and Democratic political ecosystem — reinforce racism by virtue of how we recruit people; how we promote (or fail to promote) people; and how we retain (or fail to retain) people.

In each part of this series, I’ll dive deep into a particular issue in a campaign career life cycle. I’ll offer ideas and solutions on how we can address and work towards creating more antiracist policies.

Expanding the Conversation on Toxic Workplace Culture

Last week’s post about toxic workplace culture really seemed to hit a nerve. I received amazing feedback from colleagues, friends, and people I’ve never met. So, first — thank you for reading and for sharing your stories, experiences, and perspective.

One thing that was clear from the response I received was that workplace toxicity needs some additional airing out.

Not surprisingly, the stories I am hearing from friends and colleagues center around

• Consultants and political advisors who blow them off, don’t actually deliver the work for which they were hired, or are just plain rude;
• Managers (not just campaign managers, but people in management positions) who commit egregious errors in judgment; repeatedly demonstrate an inability to effectively do their jobs with little to no repercussion; and/or fail to demonstrate even basic management skills by not understanding how to provide feedback in a constructive and productive way;
• Possibly worst of all, a system where there’s no support or mechanism for them to address their concerns or think through their options to get out of the situation.

Today, I’ll continue to write on how toxic workplace culture promotes racism within the progressive political space. Specifically, I will discuss how the Peter Principle manifests itself in politics and why it can be so damaging.

#management-and-leadership #politics #white-privilege #progressive #racism #progressive web app