The state of Black leadership: What can be done to create sustainable change.

Abstract

This article serves as a summary for the special section of Consulting Psychology Journal focusing on the state of Black leadership and what can be done to create sustainable change. This section is part of a series of ongoing articles describing and evaluating diversity and inclusion initiatives within consulting psychology. Implications for addressing consulting process issues, research gaps, and ongoing training needs are discussed. What's It Mean? Implications for Consulting Psychology Evidence suggests that culturally congruent models of coaching are needed to improve coaching efficacy with African Americans (Kea-Edwards, 2023) and that coaches and organizations must be more willing to directly address issues of racism and systemic bias (Bendel & Passmore's, 2023; Carter et al., 2023; Kafka, 2023; Kea-Edwards, 2023). Qualitative and quantitative research has identified tools and interventions that can enable coaching efficacy and ultimately individual readiness for promotion. There has been greater attention and effort to improve leader diversity in senior executive ranks and boards with organizations. Organizations have added Lyne Desormeaux https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3039-2127 LAWRENCE JAMES received his PhD from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience in various settings including clinical and corporate consulting. He is an executive coach; trusted advisor; diversity, equity, and inclusion expert; and the author of the whitepaper "Journey to the Top: Developing African American Executives." LYNE DESORMEAUX received her PsyD from the California Institute of Integral Studies and her MA in International Politics from Harvard University. She is a consulting psychologist, a supervisor of coaches, and an executive coach, and she designs and delivers diversity-focused programs for career and leadership development. She is a coauthor of the article "Making Way for Paradigms of Diversity Leadership."Lawrence James is founder and managing partner at L. James Jr. Consulting-a consulting psychology firm.