We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Herschenia Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Herschenia below.

Herschenia, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

The most important lesson that I learned on a job that helped me as a business owner was that I should not anchor myself in a position or a company, but use those same transferable skills as an entrepreneur. It seems cliche’, but it has shaped my thinking around going into business for myself.

Some time ago, I worked for an organization that conducted a nation-wide search to find the right candidate for the position. After months of rigorous interviewing, I was selected and offered the position, to which I accepted. From the very beginning there were a couple of red flags and I hadn’t even started the position yet. Just like anyone else, I rolled with the punches, hoping that the incidents were isolated and things would get better. That wasn’t the case.

So many other issues surfaced in such a short period of time and the management style of my supervisor, who lacked fundamental leadership skills and had no experience supervising a person of color (particularly woman) in her role, began to impact my mental health. As a fairly new employee, my focus was on how to work together to resolve the issues and move forward in the spirit of unity. But, I couldn’t be the only one working from a space of resolution. I wound up reflecting on the ups and downs of my entire career and doing some internal work for the sake of my future. I understood that the organization was getting the benefit of my talent, so why shouldn’t I use the training they paid for as a transferable skill. A skill that I now owned. As soon as I asserted myself with my concerns, it was taken as “push back” and I was let go.

A manager, regardless of an employee’s work relationship with that person, has full power and authority of any position that reports to them. Which means a person can fill a position and get paid with benefits in exchange, but the position itself belongs to the employer. The only thing that you have control over is what belongs to you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always been the type to address an issue when I noticed unethical behavior or treatment centered in injustice that would negatively effect someone significantly. These are big deals for me and I believe more people should stand up for their beliefs and values. They were the catalysts for me pivoting to a career in conflict resolution.

After graduating from high school, I thought I knew what career I wanted to pursue; being an attorney. However, that dream fizzled after running into a classmate, who also considered law, the following year during summer break. She shared that her advisor recommended she find a different career because there were “a lot of starving Black lawyers”. That stung! Hearing that dashed all hope and I decided to seek a career in finance instead. But, the legal industry was never far away considering most places I worked early on were law firms.

During my career, I encountered managers who had no business managing and toxic environments that would never evolve under the current regimes. Just about every employer either I or someone I knew worked for had high turnover from discrimination, unfair treatment, bullying, or poor leadership and barely anything was done about it. Companies did not care about paying disgruntled employees to “shut up and go away” or expensive attorney fees in lawsuits. As a matter of fact, companies banked on squeezing employees who were people of color between a rock and hard place to settle for pennies on the dollar in exchange for signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement because they figured the employee would be unable to wait out the years of litigation in court, thus needing to settle immediately, and/or having a record of termination on their employee record. My desire to be in the legal field resurfaced. Instead of being an attorney, I decided to pursue alternative dispute resolution and open In Agreement Dispute Resolution, LLC (IADR) where I provide services as an Outsourced Organizational Ombuds and Workplace Mediator.

Companies rely on formal channels, such as Human Resources, without understanding that most employees who experience workplace issues would rather seek an informal option to resolve conflict, if there is one available. An Organizational Ombudsperson (or “Ombuds”) is a perfect informal resource in allowing the employee to have agency in resolving their conflict in an off-the-record space of confidentiality (they also operate in independence and neutrality). In addition, Ombuds facilitate dialog between parties in conflict to help them move forward with a plan of working together in a more cohesive environment, focusing on the strengths of employees to fulfill the vision. Although this resource can be utilized at any time during a dispute, it is most effective when the conflict is low or ripe for options, as opposed to after formal channels have been explored and there is limited flexibility for resolution.

Ombuds offices are primarily established in higher education and large international organizations, but are quickly becoming a topic of conversation across all types of industries and sizes. Once companies realize they are spending hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in litigation, as well as company reputations being plastered across social media for a conflict that could have been resolved early on, they see the real value and importance of investing in hiring an Ombuds.

In addition to the Ombuds and Mediation services that I provide at In Agreement Dispute Resolution, LLC., I have spoken on podcasts and events around workplace bullying and currently writing a book on the topic. In it I explore what workplace bullying is, how it impacts an employee’s mental health, what strategies companies can implement to resolve it.

Any advice for managing a team?

In order for a person to be an effective manager, there needs to be an understanding of what’s required, the strengths and weaknesses of the team, the needs of employees, and how to align these with the vision of the organization. If either of these are compromised, then turnover is inevitable.

There is no shame in asking employees for their feedback on what they need to thrive as a team. Evaluating that feedback and calibrating for adjustments or improvements to ensure goals are being met are a crucial function to managing and maintaining high morale. Where a lot of companies fail is not getting that feedback of evaluative relationships from employees; it’s normally the other way around. That does not help a manager understand areas where they need to learn and improve for the success of the team. Instead, the employer takes objective feedback from the manager and applies it to an employee’s performance. If more managers used their leadership skills to bridge gaps and actually hear their employees, then work together to find solutions, the company would be more successful with retaining top talent.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There are plenty of books, videos, articles, and resources on management and entrepreneurship. One of my favorite leaders who combined all aspects of leadership holistically was Dr. Myles Munroe. His teachings were based on biblical principles, although you don’t have to be a theology scholar to learn.

Other resources I would consider are from those who have stories from humble beginnings and turned their businesses into empires, such as Pinky Cole, Mark Cuban, and Issa Rae. Even though they are in different industries from each other, and even myself, I follow them because I consistently learn from them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://habrownadr.com
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/herscheniabrown

Image Credits
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