My Favorite Mistake — 207: Kim Crowder, DEI and Six Sigma Strategist, Speaker, and CEO — on Red Flags and Double Standards

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

My guest for Episode #207 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Kim Crowder, the Founder & CEO of Kim Crowder Consulting, one of the country’s leading executive, leadership, inclusive marketing and communications firms.

Kim and her team work across industries serving global organizations. From leaders and executives at Adobe to Smugmug, the American Library Association, HarperCollins Publishers, and more, Kim and her team provide executives and leaders with actionable tools to build healthy, people-centered workplaces long term.

She is a certified DEI and Six Sigma Leadership CEO, strategist, speaker, and consultant featured or quoted by Forbes, The New York Times, CNN, and Business Insider, among countless others — she's a sought after commentator and voice.

In this episode, Kim shares her favorite mistake story about not “honoring red flags” during the process of interviewing for a job. Did she experience “micro-aggressions” or just flat out aggressions? Why does Kim say this was her favorite mistake in terms of the growth it provided for her?

Questions and Topics:

  • Unwillingness to talk about money, or negotiate salary – could they have open dialogue on other things?
  • Attacking you for reporting the problem instead of addressing… the problem
  • That next job – I bet you were really on guard for red flags?
  • The need to account for past experiences of employees from marginalized groups?
  • Stay away from saying “toxic?”
  • Is it easier for white men to admit mistakes? Do we have a certain amount of privilege?
  • Low # of Black head coaches in the NFL — equality of the opportunity and also the situation?
  • You provide support for “The Onlys” in organizations – tell us about that
  • Hiring / Promoting Black men or women is not enough? 
  • What does it mean to use data-driven approaches to understand team member experiences over time?
  •  “We call social media the new accountability partner”
  • Being authentic at work — you recently wrote about a double standard related to Angela Bassett and her reaction to losing out on the Best Supporting Actress Oscar

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