MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Business Leaders Need to Rise Above Anti-Woke Attacks
- 7m
- Bobbi Thomason, Traci Sitzmann
- MIT Sloan Management Review
- 2023
As the debate over the word woke rages on, business leaders are grappling with the meaning and connotations of the term. (Spoiler alert: Woke means being aware of inequity and injustice.) Many conservative CEOs have followed the lead of politicians in using the label as a weapon, accusing others of contracting the “woke mind virus” or claiming that caring about “woke diversity” ignores the economy’s bottom line. But even politically moderate CEOs have become quick to reject the label.
Consider Larry Fink, CEO of the multinational investment firm BlackRock, who has led the charge of investing with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals in mind. In his annual letter to fellow chief executives in 2018, Fink asked, “What role do we play in the community? How are we managing our impact on the environment? Are we working to create a diverse workforce?” BlackRock has continually led the charge in making ESG a mainstream pillar of investing. Those efforts seem socially aware. Still, Fink claimed that those initiatives are “not woke.”
About the Author
Bobbi Thomason, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of applied behavioral science at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Traci Sitzmann, Ph.D., is a professor of management at CU Denver Business School.
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MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Business Leaders Need to Rise Above Anti-Woke Attacks
