Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justin Blyden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?
To create a more inclusive workplace, the commitment to inclusion must be intricately tied to the organization’s values and culture; anything less will be ineffective. Once there is a commitment that inclusion is ‘who we are’ and ‘how we work’, the idea of inclusion being centered in the workplace experience is easy to implement and model.
Once the intention has been set, building out a system that supports the goal [an inclusive workforce] can more effectively address the motivators, incentives, knowledge/skill/mindset/behaviors, and environment to achieve success.
In my experience, the challenges arise when there is a disconnect between what organizations say and what they do. Lack of congruency results in the examples of performative representations which are either short lived or simply do not resonate with employees and other impacted stakeholders.
Justin , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
In many ways, my life is a series of interesting juxtapositions. While I have lived and worked in New York City for almost half of my life, I was born and raised on a small island in the Virgin Islands (British). In a Territory whose population is roughly 35K people, you grow up with an innate sense of community with lots of familiar and encouraging faces. As I excelled academically, I was always encouraged that the sky was the limited, though I cannot say that at time, I was clear on what that could look like.
My interest in business and accounting as a profession was cultivated by my mother while I was in my pre-teen years. An earlier entrepreneurial baking venture (inspired by my father) was buoyed by her lessons in T-accounts, debits and credits, inventory management, and marketing. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA where I completed a B.A. in Business Administration (Accounting concentration) in 2008, before starting my career with a Big 4 accounting firm where I eventually earned my CPA designation in NY. Today I am a Management Consultant (which I use as an easier umbrella term for my professional work that encompasses, Strategy, Organizational Architecture, Change Management, and Culture). I help people/organizations answer the question “how” when seeking to design, deliver and deploy optimal solutions to challenging problems.
Over the course of my career to date, I have benefited from exceptional mentors, sponsors, and coaches, and make certain that I am being the same supportive presence to younger individuals navigating in their own careers. In 2021, a colleague, Zachary Nunn , offered me an opportunity to scale my impact by taking on the role as Executive Producer and Business Manager for ‘The Access Point’.
The Access Point is a show on the Living Corporate network, focused on preparing Black and brown aspiring and experienced professionals for the workforce by having the real, nuanced talks they do not know they need. Our hosts, Dr. Lonnie Morris, Jr. and Dr. Wendy M. Edmonds, examine real challenges people face at work and offer expert advice on dealing with their organization, their boss, their co-workers, and their career.
What differentiates The Access Point from other resources for Black and brown professionals is our direct approach to day-to-day realities of the workplace experience. Our conversations are not abstract or surface level, they are informed by current events and build on real workplace dynamics that are often riskier for Black and brown professionals to navigate. Yes, there is absolute consensus that organizations and leaders have a role to play in the quality of the workplace experience, but there is also work for the individual employee as well! Our approach gives guidance to all three stakeholder groups, but also presents the risks in not considering the tips and tools shared. We call that the ‘Black tax’.
We are proud that The Access Point is building community. Often conversations around the experience of Black and brown professionals in the workplace digress into echo chambers of venting and rants. While we validate those experiences, we want to inspire action that improves the workplace experience.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My most monumental pivot to date was making the move from a career in Public Accounting/Corporate Tax to a career in Management Consulting (which I use an easier umbrella term for my work that encompasses, Strategy, Organizational Architecture, Change Management and Culture).
While I excelled at the profession, I wanted a career with more with more creativity and flexibility that would allow me to capitalize on my interdisciplinary professional interests. About six years into my career in Corporate Tax after promotion to manager, I realized that I had to demonstrate not only technical accounting/tax acumen, but also the leadership, project management and related people skills to lead teams and manage projects. This was a development that I truly embraced … running high-performing engagement teams which rose above the stereotypes of public accounting i.e., ‘churn and burn’ with hellish busy seasons. In some ways it was the start of my pivot to my Management Consultant career and what I can articulate today as my personal mission to “help people/organizations answer the question ‘how’ when seeking to design, deliver and deploy optimal solutions to challenging problems.”
After those initial six years, I stayed with that Public Accounting firm for an additional seven years, but across three distinct jobs/roles, each building on the other, and getting me closer to a career that work for my vision for my future: I spent time in Tax Strategy/Knowledge Management, had the ability to support Organizational Transformation effects focused on the Tax line of service, and finally Management Consulting, specializing in Organization and Workforce Transformation.
I was fortunate to have started my career at a very large multi-national organization that enabled growing and navigating my career in an almost bespoke manner.
Today, I lead the US Resourcing function at a global critical issues advisory firm. My current role allows me to play across all aspects of my interdisciplinary interests providing strategic and direct national oversight of Resourcing, with cross-functional integration (Recruitment, People Development, Finance, and New Business) to drive operational efficiency and effectiveness.
For others trying to pivot in their careers, I would recommend spending time to define what that future state looks like. Once that is clear, determine the skills or experiences needed to safely take on that future state role, then build a plan to pivot by strategically acquiring those necessary skills/experiences.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I like to believe that we manage projects and lead teams. It is a subtle nuance, but it helps to bring context to what is happening in these teaming interactions. It’s almost as if there are two melodies being played at the same time … as the leader, it’s your responsibility to conduct a beautiful symphony!
The idea of “leading teams” brings humanity and relationship to the forefront. That would be my main piece of advice…understand the people on the team, what motivates them, what’s important to them, what do they want to get out of this teaming moment. Once you have this insight, you use it to inform how you manage the project!
You maintain high team morale by demonstrating to your team that you were attentive to their wants, needs and desires and connect those (wants, needs, desires) to the successful execution of the project.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://living-corporate.com/show/the-access-point/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingcorporate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingcorporatepodcast/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/living-corporate/; https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinjblyden/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/livingcorporate
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-access-point/ https://open.spotify.com/show/0U2WCDx3vMbTRIigkq8a1Y