Daniela Negrette, Author at Creative Circle

To say that the job market is 🔥 may be understating it.

We are in the throes of one of the most competitive and complex labor markets that we have ever witnessed — with an influx of open roles — but only a limited pool of candidates to fill them.

A sign of the times? Signing bonuses — usually the provenance of privileged white-collar professionals and professional athletes — are suddenly becoming common, particularly in the healthcare, food service, manufacturing, and logistics industries. You know the boom is booming when truck drivers, pizza delivery folks, office cleaners, and warehouse workers, not just bankers and consultants, are being offered signing bonuses of hundreds and even thousands of dollars. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “nearly 20% of all jobs posted on job search site ZipRecruiter in June offer a signing bonus, up from 2% of jobs advertised on the job search site in March.”

We spoke to Alexa Kornemann, a Creative Circle Senior Account Executive for NYC and the tristate area, about her take on what’s going on. “A lot of companies furloughed and laid folks off and didn’t anticipate things would come back as ‘quickly’ and are rushing to fill those slots. Clients are returning, and organizations need to staff up quickly because businesses are getting overloaded.” She added, “it’s unclear if this will be ongoing or is special to this year, but what we do know is that this is an exceptionally candidate-driven market.”

If you’re in the market for talent with highly sought-after skills, you need to act swiftly, interview smart, and be competitive with offers.

Here are a few key things Kornemann is recommending to her clients:

1. WFH flexibility

After working remotely for the last 18 months, many candidates have changed their lifestyle and are only looking for remote or VERY flexible in-office working options. If you’re open to someone working remotely or giving them the option to come into the office only as necessary, you will increase your candidate pool.

2. Consolidate/limit interviews

Interviews are necessary, particularly for full-time/long-term freelance roles; however, consider this fair warning that candidates could find other opportunities in the time it takes to schedule an interview. If possible, limit rounds and offer panel interviews with multiple teammates.

3. Nix the test

Candidates should have enough work in their portfolio to judge if they will be a good fit for your team. If not, request additional samples. A candidate’s time to complete a test (even paid) will risk them locking in another offer.

4. Full-time > freelance

A direct full-time role will outweigh a long-term freelance or freelance to a possible full-time position for most candidates. If you have the option to hire directly, we highly recommend you go that route.

5. Focus on transferrable skills

If you’re looking for an animator for your luxury beauty line and find one with all the capabilities from a tech and creative perspective but worked in high-end auto, not beauty — aim to be more flexible if the skills are good. An animator (or designer, copywriter, etc.) can adapt to brand guidelines. Auto luxury can easily translate to beauty luxury.

6. Competitive compensation

Offer what a candidate is targeting or more. It’s a candidate’s market, and aside from the role needing to be the right career move, the offer needs to be appropriate and aligned with experience and candidate skills — which can be via monetary compensation (base, bonus, stock), additional company perks, and work location flexibility. Many companies are offering all three.

If you are looking to fill open roles at your company but are having limited success, ask yourself:

What are you doing to shorten the hiring process?
What are you doing to appeal to candidates?

Take a cold, hard look at your hiring practices and see where you can streamline procedures and sweeten the pot — a little may go a long way towards upping your chances. May the odds be ever in your favor.

About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist—Karina writes, produces, and edits compelling content across multiple platforms—including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Yahoo News, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties and has spanned insight pieces on psychedelic toad medicine to forecasting the future of work to why sustainability needs to become more sustainable.

Want to be a successful creative professional? Stellar work is part of the equation. But so are you. Evolving your craft into a business is also about finding the right way to leverage your unique artistic voice. Your personality can be a powerful differentiator — and will help you build your brand as you make connections, grow your network, and establish your client base. How you work and relate to your clients and develop and grow those relationships can make you and your business stand out. Being professional does not mean being dull, droll, or boring.

It’s not all about the “best” person.

As you grow into your creative career, you’ll find that clients and collectors aren’t just looking for someone who has worked with the most prestigious companies or institutions — but rather someone who can understand their needs and pain points and gels well with their vision and culture. They may pass on someone who has fancy bona fides in favor of a creative with whom they have a rapport. And this comes down to your personality and how you present yourself to potential clients. Before you can do this, take some stock in who you are and what sets you apart.

Know thyself.

Say hello to some self-reflection — engaging will help you develop your personal brand. The first step to leveraging your personality comes from knowing yourself both as an artist and person. Gaining insight into your “why” will help you highlight what makes you unique. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses will guide how you would want to present yourself, in an authentic manner, to potential clients.

Some great questions to ask yourself include:

What situations bring out the best in you?
What inspires you? What sparks your creativity?
What are some things that energize you and that you enjoy doing?
What challenges inspire you to get going?
What makes you feel strong?
How have you historically handled disappointments? Do setbacks, errors, or failures throw you off?
What do you enjoy doing for others? How do you go about making other people feel good about themselves?
What makes you feel encouraged and supported?
What do your customers or clients appreciate most about you?
What aspect do you find the most rewarding about your work?
What do others think you do very well?

The core of this exercise is to define what your strengths are beyond your craft. Perhaps you create murals because you like the communal aspect of public art. Or you produce work that champions the rights of marginalized communities and therefore work with vernacular materials. Understanding more about what motivates and moves you will help you frame your work and give it richer context, setting the stage for your personality to shine.

Tell your story.

It’s all about the story. Yes, it’s about the work, but clients are hiring you based on more than just the work itself. They’re buying into you and your story. Be passionate about your work. Get excited. Make it infectious. Aimee Rubensteen, co-owner of Rojas + Rubensteen Projects, a nomadic gallery with roots in Miami, New York, and Paris, says:

“The question you need to ask yourself is, ‘How can you make this person believe that they can’t leave without it?’… I think that applies to anything you sell. The difference with art is that it’s a very emotional sale. It’s usually an emotional connection, a memory or a story or a cause, or even just a spiritual feeling.”

Put together your elevator pitch — but make it authentic. Creating a moment of genuine connection when talking about your work can be challenging, but honing this valuable skill will pay dividends. According to Rubensteen:

“Sometimes it’s a confidence issue. It’s easy to say to a gallerist, ‘You’ll explain it much better than I will,’ but having the ability to say ‘This is what my work is about’ can be really hard for artists… Consider adding an anecdote or description about why your work is important to you. It’s about knowing your own work and talking about it to others.”

How to use your personality to land new opportunities.

Personalize your website + social media channels.
We will echo a sentiment we shared above — professional does not mean boring. Yes, you’re a creative, but what makes you unique? Why should someone choose you over another creative? Craft site and social media copy in your voice, and when possible, write how you speak. As well, your About page is a great opportunity to let more of what moves you to create come through.
Personalize your pitches.
With so many creatives vying to get a leg up, it can be hard to stand out. But by leveraging the power of YOU, using language that is native and true will help you rise to the top. People can tell if you are speaking from an authentic place — and gravitate towards them.
Create new connections.
Clients will be more inclined to hire you if you can successfully build a rapport with them and create a connection. Finding ways to connect in real-time can help. Suggest a phone or video chat instead of just sending emails. Seeing and hearing each other creates a more fully-fledged 2D experience. The more immersive the exchange, the more you can establish a connection and increase the likelihood of winning new business.

Smart ways to forge new connections.

Building a business means connecting with potential new clients — and there are many ways to do this. Find modes of connection that feel like you. We are all different — embrace what makes you you. Be honest with yourself about what jives with your personality. For example, large networking events may be great for extroverts, but not so much if you’re shy. Other options will let an introvert shine. There are so many different opportunities to make and maintain connections — find the ones that will allow you to be yourself. Work in concert with who you are, not at cross-purpose.

Opportunities for folks that love face-to-face interactions:

Visit gallery openings, art exhibitions, and art fairs
Attend other artists’ workshops or classes (or hold your own)
Volunteer at local arts organizations
Find a local Meetup group for folks with similar interests or working in the same discipline

Opportunities to embrace digitally:

Engage on social media — this includes on your page, the pages of other artists, and groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, Behance, and more.
Find online networking events
Start an email newsletter and/or blog (and comment on other peoples’ blog posts!)

Be like water.

Navigating the world as a creative professional means that many unfamiliar contexts and challenges will likely get thrown your way. Whether it’s a stubborn client, a collaboration gone sour, or a gig that just feels ultimately out of your area of expertise, it’s essential to maintain a sense of professionalism and push forward. Folks that can handle these situations best are usually very adaptable and provide the best they can ahead of their ego.

A famous quote from Bruce Lee sums this up nicely:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it.”

We are not suggesting you abandon who you are, what you believe, and the integrity of your work — rather, to figure out how to keep ahold of who you are in the face of challenging professional situations. Learning how to handle these bumps in the road can help set you apart and earn you repeat clients.

Some skills to build that’ll set you up to best handle thorny situations include:

Learning and utilizing these skills helps foster optimal outcomes without having to lose yourself in the process. Engaging with people in the professional sphere as your genuine and honest self may sound intimidating, but you can do it in a strategic way that will benefit you in the long run. You don’t have to bare your soul, and entire life story to anyone who shows interest in your work — but sharing your authentic artistic truth can create space to connect with people through your work.

How keen are your critical thinking skills? Wait a sec — don’t rush to judgment. Find out now. Tackle a sample question from TestPartnership.com. It consists of a passage, followed by a conclusion and several answers; those multiple choices reflect the possible relationship between the information in the passage and the conclusion. Pick the best response — the one that accurately links the two. Do so by reading everything completely. Base your selection solely on the facts given here. Note: There is only one right answer. Here you go….

Passage:
The Red Bus stops every 10 minutes. The Green Bus stops every 20 minutes. Both buses stop at Lansdowne Road. The Red Bus has twice as many stops as the Green Bus.

Conclusion:
The two buses never stop at Lansdowne Road at the same time.

Answer Choices:
1) True

2) Insufficient Data

3) False

Finished with this one? Try another. Then see how you did on both.

Passage:
Multivitamins supplements containing all vitamin types are taken by an average of 30% of adults. Many have Vitamin D deficiency — the production of which is aided by sunlight. Daily takers tend to be more health-conscious than others. People may rely on multivitamins to prevent deficiencies.

Conclusion:
Multivitamin supplements are always taken daily.

Answer Choices:
1) Conclusion Follows

2) Conclusion Does Not Follow

The correct answers are: 2) Insufficient Data for the first; and 2) Conclusion Does Not Follow for the second. Did you score 100%? If so, don’t get smug about it. According to the source, “These example questions will be easier than those in the real test, which will contain questions of varying difficulty.”

Huh, “real test,” what’s that? It’s the actual use of items like these to gauge a person’s critical thinking aptitude. Does this happen? The correct (and only answer) is yes. Some professions routinely go this route. They administer exams that combine critical thinking with other reasoning and knowledge-based assessments to prequalify candidates. Law enforcement does so as a preliminary means to screen would-be police officers, corrections and probations officers, court officers, and dispatchers. The same goes for firefighters, criminologists, and supervisors. There’s more. During job interviews, hopefuls may have to respond to open-ended questions designed to judge their critical thinking. Even before that, some companies ask job candidates to take a critical thinking test as the first step in the interviewing process.

I know about this last initiative firsthand. In vying for an opening as a senior writer/analyst, I found out when scheduled for an interview that I would start with an on-site critical thinking test. Apparently, everyone applying for a job at this firm had to do this. So when I arrived for my interview, I was escorted to a workstation. On cue, I began working through a sizable series of critical thinking questions. The clock ticked; this was a timed exercise. Resigned to this requirement, I found it fun. But I prepared in advance on my own, starting with learning about what critical thinking is.

What Is Critical Thinking?

The meaning of critical thinking is not what may pop into your mind when you first come across the term. Many may view the word “critical” in its negative or unfavorable context. Critical thinking is essentially the opposite of that. The rationale of critical thinking is to weed out all bias, both bad and good. It aims to get an untainted understanding of what’s going on.

What should you believe in a certain situation? What should you do? The hallmark of critical thinking is to use “purposeful reflective judgment” to reach a decision or course of action. Logic guides critical thinkers; that is, logic, marked by meticulous attention to detail. Critical thinking inquires. It explores. It teases out subtleties.

Who knows more about critical thinking than an organization devoted to it? The Foundation for Critical Thinking promotes training and education in this skill set. The group advocates for the clarity and value neutrality that result from using it. They note: “Critical thinking cultivates substance and true intellectual discipline.” Easy and spontaneous it is not. “It entails rigorous self-reflection and open mindedness.” Critical thinkers get to the core of an issue through fine-tuned reasoning.

Now about that reasoning — we all think, right? So what’s the fuss about critical thinking? The Foundation explains. Critical thinking “embodies intellectual empathy, intellectual humility, intellectual perseverance, intellectual integrity, and intellectual responsibility.” That’s a whole lot of “intellectual.” This repeated use drives home a major point. Critical thinking is deliberate and focused. It snuffs out facts; then it separates them from fiction. Above all, it filters preconceived notions to achieve its goal. And that is objectivity.

Now for the formal definition:

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

What Do You Know at Face Value? An Ancient Philosopher Said: ‘Nothing’

That’s a mouthful, that definition of critical thinking from The Foundation. In line with the nature of this thorough, complex process, it captures its full essence. That said, let’s check with others for a user friendly, working understanding.

The Miniature Guide on Critical Thinking is perfect for this purpose. It offers the following definition. “Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.” To hone this capability, critical thinkers “question information, conclusions, and points of view. They strive to be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant.” What’s more, they do a deep dive. They “think below the surface, to be logical, and fair.”

Here’s another view. Critical thinking pertains to “judging the true value of statements and seeking errors.” Wikipedia describes this subject as “complex.” It notes that definitions vary; yet they align on several key points. Those have to do with “rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence.”

In case you were wondering, critical thinking has been around a long time. That horizon is not quite eons but thousands of years. The Foundation provides a rough count. “Critical thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2,500 years.” Why does it cite that number? That timeframe coincides with “the teaching practice and vision of Socrates 2,500 years ago who discovered by a method of probing questioning that people could not rationally justify their confident claims to knowledge.”

In other words, do not accept ideas at face value. They require validation. How? Closely examine evidence as well as the source, assumptions and implications surrounding it. Put everything through this sieve because, as Socrates said: “I know that I know nothing.”

“To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on systematic and protracted inquiry – these are the essentials of thinking” – John Dewey, often considered father of modern critical thinking.

Importance of Critical Thinking

Who benefits from critical thinking? Everyone. The positives that flow from it cut across all categories, groups, and situations. They culminate in two words that form a powerful advantage when put together: better decisions.

But let’s narrow the scope and focus on the work sector. How important is critical thinking in business? Very. Here’s a compelling proof point. The World Economic Forum positions critical thinking as “one of the most desirable skills to have in the workforce.”

The benefits by segment are:

Companies, Business and Hiring Managers

Without doubt, leaders and managers need to make the best possible decisions for their organization. That includes ensuring those who work there do so too. Both day-to-day and longer term thinking should revolve around logic, be systematic, open-minded, and devoid of emotion. Critical thinkers refuse to believe what they hear, see, and receive without proper vetting. Widely held beliefs must go under the microscope too. They question, analyze and come to their own conclusions. “To think differently, we need to think critically. Different thinking also generates creativity thus innovation.” That is one of the salient points expressed in “Why Critical Thinking Is Required for Better Decisions.”

Certain Occupations

Some roles require critical thinking on an out-and-out basis; it’s at the core of their on-the-job activities. People in these lines of work must process information impartially. They need well-honed analytical and observational skills, often on the spot. They cut through the clutter to get to the proper context and heart of a matter quickly and decisively. Indeed lays it out. “For career success in law, education, research, medical, finance and many other career fields, it’s important to display critical thinking skills. It’s an essential facet of any profession where the goal is to deduce information objectively without bias, analyze the content, solve creative problems and come up with realistic solutions.” See “Jobs That Require Critical Thinking Skills.”

Employees and Job Seekers: Resume Tips

Critical thinking is an asset for all career pathways. The same holds true for all stages of employment, including vying for a job. Critical thinkers are good problem solvers and communicators; these are valuable skills for every member of the workforce. Tips: Bring these capabilities to the forefront on resumes. Cite them as action items; add brief examples to substantiate. Also use words such as: analyze, evaluate, identify, interpret, resolve. Prepare to demonstrate critical thinking during interviews. Situational interviews test for this. Take a cue from the previous sentence — prepare. Start with “Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them.”

How Do You Become an Ace Critical Thinker?

As noted, becoming a critical thinking pro doesn’t come easy. Borrowing a line from The Foundation: “Excellence in thought… must be systematically cultivated.” The question is: How? Appreciate the process and familiarize yourself with it. Then practice, practice, practice.

What’s the drill? Different sources offer varying views of how to scale the critical thinking learning curve. The Foundation starts by dividing the method into two main buckets:

Analyze
Identify the purpose of an idea and question at issue as well as the information, inferences, assumptions, main concepts, and points of view.

Assess
Check for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, logic and fairness.

Then it fine tunes these principles into a succinct guide. “A well cultivated critical thinker” navigates the critical thinking highway as follows:

Raises vital questions and problems — formulates them clearly and precisely
Gathers and evaluates pertinent information — uses abstract ideas to interpret it
Connects dots to form judicious conclusions — tests options against applicable standards
Maintains open-mindedness – gauges assumptions, implications, practical consequences
Communicates effectively with others to devise solutions and resolve complex problems

Indeed offers a short how to in the form of five steps to enhance critical thinking skills:

Evaluate all new information
Take the source into account
Question, question, question
Then do your own research
Develop a conclusion

For another more descriptive viewpoint on this process, see The Steps of Critical Thinking section in “Critical Thinking Skills: Definition, Examples & How to Improve.”

What to Expect When You’re Testing

Know that critical thinking tests measure how adept a person is at five core skills. Here’s what they are and how they appear on tests, thanks to JobTestPrep.

Inference – How well can a person interpret a conclusion from the information provided? That’s what this skill is about. Questions of this type start with a statement of facts, which test takers must deem as true. What follows is a conclusion drawn from the opening paragraph and then various options. Which of the alternatives best represents this relationship? Is it true, false or any of the others?

Assumption Recognition – What are the assumptions in a statement? Critical thinking tests measure a person’s ability to arrive at certain conclusions based on the information offered. This type of question starts with a statement. What follows is a series of possible assumptions that may be drawn from it. Which of the choices is logically justified? The answer must be based only on what is there.

Deduction – “Deductive reasoning, also deductive logic, is the process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logical conclusion.” A test question starts with a statement or hypothesis. A set of options follows. Which one represents a logical conclusion that can be drawn from the opening paragraph? This gauges a person’s ability to process information and decide on the merit of the end point.

Interpretation – How does information relate to a conclusion? Does it follow beyond a reasonable doubt? This type of question weighs a person’s ability to process perspectives. On a test, it starts with a short paragraph, which must be deemed as true. Next comes a conclusion. What is the relationship between the two? The critical thinker must pick the best option given, from definitively true to various gradations.

Evaluation of Arguments – Critical thinkers apply logical reasoning when analyzing arguments. On tests, an item that measures this skill consists of a question followed by an argument. The test taker must establish whether that argument is strong or weak. Is it important and relate directly to the question? If so, it is strong. A weak argument is the opposite. Which option provided is the correct one?

Now for the Practice Part: C’mon, Try One More

The gold standard of critical thinking tests is the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). The business and academic spheres use it as well as others. More and more employers are gravitating to it as a pre-employment requirement. It helps them with the candidate selection process.

Test takers: Get ready to step lively. The word is that “all tests are timed.” So read carefully and answer away. What is the significance of the clock here? “The justification for this is that making informed decisions under time constraints is more demanding.”

WGCTA comprises five sections in line with the main skills outlined above. Each section has a time limit — no going back after the time expires, you’re done. The online format now prevails. For that reason, practice in that format to get used to the experience. That’s what I did and highly recommend it. And, as suggested, try to enjoy this exercise. As in most things, a positive attitude helps.

How much have you learned about critical thinking up to this point? Here’s another sample to try, this time directly from Watson Glaser. Work on it directly below or online as part of a larger test. You have 2 minutes and 45 seconds to finish it.

Statement:
One hundred young adults in their 20s and 30s paid to participate in a recent speed dating event at a bar in a big city. At this event, education and occupation were the most commonly discussed topics among the speed daters, because young adults today view these topics as the most important for fining an ideal partner.

Conclusion:
A majority of young adults had not previously discussed the topics of education and occupation with their previous potential partners.

Answers:

True

Probably True

Insufficient Data

Probably False

Hope you did better than I on this one. The correct response is 4) Probably False. That brings to mind one more thing about critical thinking skills — it’s good to refresh them at times.

About the author.
You name it, she covers it. That’s the can-do attitude Sherry M. Adler brings to the craft of writing. A polished marketing and communications professional, she has a passion for learning and the world at large. She uses it plus the power of words to inform and energize stakeholders of all kinds. And to show how all of this can make a difference, she calls her business WriteResults NY, LLC.

Celebrating Pride in all its colorful glory has become a fashionable topic in the land of marketing.

Pride — once shunned — is now popularly supported by both public institutions and private corporations and is a widespread celebration for individuals and families from vast backgrounds and contexts. And this is a fabulous thing, reflecting the incredible leaps and bounds that have been made in the last few decades in terms of social, political, and cultural transformation that has normalized the conversation around gay rights.

Long gone are the days when advertisers only targeted the LGBTQ+ community with coyly worded campaigns. In today’s world, queering the marketing ecosystem has become big business, with rainbows emblazoned on everything from credit cards to fast food to clothing and electronics. But is this actually a win for the LGBTQ+ community or another empty marketing ploy? How many of these companies support the LGBTQ+ community — both inside and outside their company’s walls — all year round?

Welcome to the new Pride Month — a mix of well-meaning corporate intention but also prime pinkwashing season.

A mash-up of “pink” and “whitewashing,” the term describes a marketing ploy by corporations to cash in on and capitalize on the queer community — especially during prominent LGBTQ+ times like Pride month, when queer visibility is at its apex.

The popularity of shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy helped prominent marketers come out of the closet from Amazon to Barclays Bank to Forever 21 and even Israel, which sought to brand itself as the gay mecca of the Middle East (to the tune of much backlash). Some considered even the Obama administration to have adopted pinkwashing to distract the public from its more controversial policies.

As was the case with Israel, many perceived these companies’ foray into the rainbow-dappled Pride world as a vehicle to distract from their controversies. For example, Amazon continues to face a host of criticism ranging from tax avoidance to poor labor relations and working conditions.

Association with LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion messaging may genuinely reflect these companies’ desire to move past former controversies and embrace a more open and inclusive future. But it can be hard to shake the suspicion that some of these businesses may be indulging in a bit of pinkwashing to blur the edges of some historically thorny reputational damage.

Pink sparkle is pretty to look at as it softs through the air, but as consumers become increasingly knowledgeable (and cynical), companies need to do more than just rainbow their logo for June and find ways to support LGBTQ+ rights year-round — authentically.

Some companies have gone beyond rainbow-hued social media posts by making their health insurance trans-inclusive, like Coca-Cola and Hyatt. And the first major hotel chain to offer domestic partnership benefits to queer couples? Hyatt. Taking action to foster a safe, egalitarian, and inclusive workplace goes a long way to creating a more inclusive society. If you’re truly walking the walk, then go paint a rainbow on it.

So, what is the role of private businesses in supporting these efforts in terms of sponsorship or emblazoning rainbows on socks and creating Pride-inspired ad campaigns?

A Pride-inspired ad campaign won’t count for much unless it’s accompanied by a robust set of inclusive internal policies that support diversity and a continuing promise to strive to do better. Recent years have evidenced how marketing campaigns advertising diversity and inclusion may harm a brand’s reputation if not perceived as authentic by the public and backed up by real action.

Want to engage authentically? Here are some assessments to consider:

1. What is your motivation?

It can be easy to get swept up in Pride-fever, but before you roll out the rainbow tchotchkes and merchandise, take a step back to assess why you want to engage and what your company wants to achieve by doing so. Start there.

2. Are you making a real contribution to an LGBTQ+ cause?

The LGBTQ+ community has long been marginalized and underserved. Is your company providing genuine support to the community or just another rainbow flag on a float? It’s vital that corporations show up year-round and contribute — not just during Pride month in June when it’s popular and PC to do so. Want to be an excellent corporate ally? Put your financial support behind issues that are vital to the community all twelve months of the year.

3. Is your company’s position consistent year-round?

Consistency is essential to successful corporate responsibility. Want to engage with the LGBTQ+ community meaningfully? Show up consistently. Here’s a good example of a bad misstep: Adidas, who for several years has shown its support for gay rights by releasing a cornucopia of rainbow-hued goods, was also a major sponsor for the 2018 World Cup, which took place in Russia, a country with an abysmal record for LGBTQ+ rights. The contradiction laid bare a fundamental disconnect between the brand’s messaging and its actions — and made Adidas’ rainbow merchandise look more like a money-making ploy than an authentic measure of support.

4. Is your company fostering a genuinely inclusive and diverse work environment and work culture?

Corporate support for the LGBTQ+ community needs to start from within. Research points to wage discrepancies between straight workers and their LGBTQ+ colleagues, while other data shows that as many as six in ten LGBTQ+ workers feel uncomfortable at work, with three in ten experiencing homophobic behavior. Before a corporation can authentically support gay rights, they need to come to terms with what may be happening in their workplace first. Some points to consider:

a. Are there strong anti-harassment policies in place that are enforced?
b. Is there anti-bias training?
c. Are there equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ workers?
d. Is there an LGBTQ+ pay gap?
e. Are there ERGs or other similar groups for LGBTQ+ workers and allies?

Pride-related diversity and inclusivity initiatives can be a win-win. By championing LGBTQ+ employees, partners, and customers, brands will see a true return with respect to brand loyalty, employee retention, and overall brand visibility. But this will only be the case if these efforts are authentic, evergreen, and sustained. If the rainbow only leads to a pot of gold, save it for the leprechauns.

There is perhaps no political demonstration more iconic, well known, or influential in American history than the 1963 March on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in the event, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech” and the actions taken that day spurred congress to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While the March remains a benchmark in civil right history, one of the key architects of the March itself is all too often overlooked.

Bayard Rustin was a fearless and prolific leader for civil rights, the labor movement, socialism, and gay rights in the United States, and played a significant role in many of the biggest political demonstrations in the 20th century.

Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. Rustin was exposed to civil rights activism from a young age, as his grandmother was a member of the NAACP, and he credited his own activism with being raised Quaker. His grandmother was also accepting of the fact that Rustin was gay: when he told her he was more interested in men than women, she is said to have responded, “I suppose that’s what you need to do.”

Rustin spent his early adulthood cutting his teeth on organizing and activism. He was expelled from Ohio HBCU Wilberforce University for organizing a strike and eventually landed in New York where he joined the Young Communist League; he left after being ordered to “cease protesting racial segregation in the US armed forces” — and pursued a career as a vocalist.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Rustin worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a pacifist justice organization founded by A.J. Muste as well as A. Philip Randolph, who founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Black labor union. Together the three men organized a March on Washington in 1941, to protest racial segregation and discrimination in the armed forces, but the March was cancelled when then President Roosevelt issued an executive order banning racial and ethnic discrimination in the defense industries.

Rustin was arrested and imprisoned a number of times for his political demonstrations. He served 26 months for resisting the draft as a conscientious objector and was arrested multiple times for desegregating buses, including organizing the Journey of Reconciliation, also known as the First Freedom Ride.

His outspokenness and activism for Black liberation was inextricably linked with being openly gay. Rustin stated that to protest was to educate children and adults that segregation and racist treatment of Black people in America was not okay, going on to say:

“It occurred to me shortly after that that it was an absolute necessity for me to declare homosexuality, because if I didn’t, I was a part of the prejudice. I was aiding and abetting the prejudice that was a part of the effort to destroy me.”

Rustin was fearlessly and unapologetically open regarding his sexuality, which was rare at the time, but intolerance towards his being gay cost him opportunities and forced the brilliant organizer to take a back seat during the historic movement.

After being arrested in California in 1953 for sexual activity with another man, Rustin resigned from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. When he and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, other Black leaders voiced concern that Rustin’s sexuality would damage the civil rights movement — Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell even threatened to falsely accuse King and Rustin of having an affair in order to get King to cancel a march he and Rustin planned. King capitulated to Powell’s demands and distanced himself from Rustin (who stepped down from the SCLC) to the dismay of young African Americans.

From there, Rustin organized the March on Washington alongside A. Philip Randolph, and although he played an undeniably pivotal role in the event, he was once again forced out of the spotlight by other leaders who feared the impact his sexuality might have on the movement. Throughout the following decades, Rustin continued his advocacy, and in the 1980s, he addressed his sexuality more publicly and openly advocated for gay rights.

It’s truly unfortunate that Bayard Rustin is often left out of mainstream narratives when it comes to the March on Washington, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and other Civil Rights achievements simply due to his sexuality.

But hopefully we can continue to pay tribute to those like Rustin who were denied their flowers despite their brilliance and power. And while Rustin was forced to sacrifice one part of who he was for the sake of another, the fact that he never denied who he was and always lived truthfully is the very thing that made him a great leader and man of integrity.

After all, according to Rustin, “To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true…”

We can learn so much from Bayard Rustin, from the meaning of non-violent protest to how divisions in race and class are rooted in socioeconomic inequalities. But we can also learn from how he lived his life. That to know yourself, to live in your truth, to speak truth to power, is to be fearless.

About the author.
Sam Mani writes about work, creativity, wellness, and equity — when she’s not cooking, binging television, or annoying her cat.

A year and a half into the pandemic, the shift in how fathers view their responsibilities at home is worth noting. Much of the gender inequality in the workforce has been driven by forces in the domestic landscape — far more moms than dads scale back or step away from their careers to care for young children, sick parents or spouses, and manage the household.
Eroding or nixing this imbalance is key to greater equality in the workplace — and one of the first steps to manifesting this? Awareness. Many of the dads interviewed shared how their eyes had been opened to all the invisible work their partners did to keep things going. And now that they see a fuller picture of what balancing work and home life looks like, they are better positioned to share more fully in the totality of that experience. Here’s to silver linings and the dividends that may echo and grow as we segue into the new normal.

Steve H.

Father to Jacob, Age 3
Married to Henry
Lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in New York City

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
In our household, there are two dads figuring it out. My partner, Henry, and I have Jacob, who is three years old. He was born through surrogacy . Our collective experience in terms of working during the pandemic, in a word: stressful.

It’s hard balancing work, childcare, and family time. It took us a while to figure it out, and now we carefully plan each day together and align on the next day’s game plan every night — but it can sometimes be hard to plan because we are independent consultants, and things pop up. We try our best to even it out, but it will never be perfectly 50/50. We often end up making up work that didn’t get done during the day during the evening after Jacob goes to bed. It’s non-stop. A toddler is a handful

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
We have both been self-employed for the last four years — Henry is in real estate, while I am more of a design consultant and project manager. Sometimes our professional worlds overlap, sometimes they don’t.

+ What is Jacob’s school situation?
Our son is enrolled at The Co-op School four days a week. Initially, Jacob was only registered for two days in 2020 since we were unsure how the Covid situation would play out in the school environment. As we grew more comfortable, we slowly increased our son’s days to three days per week — and then to four. We kept Fridays open for family time. A BIG shout out to The Co-op School for making in-person education work for 2020-2021. They’ve been amazing keeping the school safe, open, and enjoyable for everyone! We are incredibly grateful for the experience we have had.

+ How have you gotten work done with Jacob home?
Last spring, when there was no childcare — and even now — we take shifts. Morning, afternoon, then dinner and bath time together. Everyone gets some time. We rotate bedtime routine and cooking. It’s fair and balanced, but it’s also hard for both of us to spend time together as an entire family. And once our son is asleep — it’s back to work. There’s no real downtime, and that’s been a bit challenging. I’m surprised and proud that we’ve been at this for more than a year, and we’re still doing alright!

Jacob is super-hyper, and it takes a village, but the village during Covid was my husband and me. Now we hire one of the support teachers at Co-op School to help us fill in the gaps.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
Yes — and from extended family and nannies. My partner and I take turns for child duty, whether that’s taking Jacob to school, picking him up, or taking him out to the playground. I feel fortunate that we have the flexibility and can work around our schedules, but the tradeoff is that we often work late into the night.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
Finding a balance between personal time and family time; I think we all need a breather, and finding that quiet moment can be challenging while working and taking care of life during a pandemic. It’s essential to find a few minutes for yourself every day just to de-stress and do something mind-numbing or mind distracting. For me, that’s enjoying a TV episode of anything that resembles “normalcy.” I think we all miss that.

Erosion between work and life, with everything just blending together, has been difficult to surmount. When you’re self-employed, the to-do list is tough to tackle.

+ Has there been a best part?
During the lockdown, spending time at home together in the backyard or taking long walks brought a lot of joy. For a few months, our work completely came to a standstill. It was nice having no work and all family time — but I think after a few weeks of that, we were all getting itchy too…

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
Quality and affordable childcare. It’s especially challenging in New York City, where everything is already expensive, from housing to healthcare. Having a good education is deeply important for me, so I’m really grateful for The Co-op School being open and flexible during the time of the pandemic.

When we had Jacob, I wasn’t working, I took a year off, and at that time, my partner did have a corporate job and had two months of paid parental leave. And he took all two months. You hear about unlimited vacation and leave, but I think it can be something of a show. The more potential PTO is on the table, the fewer people may actually take it. I used to be in corporate, and my company introduced six months of paternal leave, but my boss said de facto, “You’re not going to take six months, are you?” By the time I had Jacob, I wasn’t there.

+ How important is community for you in terms of being a same-sex parent?
Community is key. We found community by going to our local park and library in Bed-Stuy. The Macon Library storytime was a great place to meet local parents who would congregate there. And going to the playground, I’ve met other same-sex couple parents — the community is more extensive than I thought. It’s a great vibe; all the parents and caregivers know each other and look out for one another.

Brian Young

Father to two boys — Hudson, 7 and Mason, 4
Married to Nicole
Lives in Midland Park, New Jersey

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
It’s been interesting. Both my wife and I have been working from home since last March. She’s a teacher. Our boys are doing virtual learning, but one of them is in preschool. We haven’t had any help in the home. As you might imagine, our hands are full — two kids, three dogs, two full-time jobs — all of us working and learning together.

Our youngest son, Mason, went back to preschool part-time in the fall of 2020, but we kept our older son, Hudson, home. My wife has been teaching the entire past year virtually. The juggling act has been supreme.

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
I work at Creative Circle, leading a team of recruiters and placing candidates in opportunities. I am focused on the tri-state area. I live in Bergen County, NJ, and my office is (historically) in NYC.

+ What is your children’s school situation?
Hudson is completing a virtual year of 2^nd grade. Mason has been in a truncated schedule of in-person pre-school. It was nice having him home, but it was also nice having him back in school (laughing).

+ How have you gotten work done with the kids home?
We converted an extra bedroom into an office. Nicole would teach her classes in that room, Hudson would learn in that room, and I would set up in a separate space. When they were done teaching and learning, we’d switch spaces, and they’d go to the kitchen or family room to finish their days. Essentially, they would have the workspace in the morning, and I would take it over the afternoon. Hudson was very organized and luckily able to manage his own schedule, doing most of it independently. He’s super mature and organized.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
In the mornings, it was typically me dropping off Mason to daycare, and then later in the day, while I was available, Nicole helped him manage his schedule. We swapped and tag-teamed like champs.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
For me, it was challenging to work while my kids were done with their day and playing — I wanted to be with them. In the beginning phases of the pandemic, it was easing into our new routine — finding a balance with the new structure of the day. It’s not been easy to shut off work and transition to home life, but I am figuring out how to step away and when. In the beginning, I was the person who would go out and get things like food, which gave me some anxiety. That was something I was concerned about at first.

+ Has there been a best part?
Before the pandemic, my commute was 1.5 hours — getting that time back has been extremely valuable. This year, for example, I had the time to coach soccer. I am fortunate that I can remain WFH. The pandemic’s silver lining has been regaining more work/life balance. This past year has also shown me in greater detail just how much work Nicole does to organize the social activities and other components of our son’s lives. I am more grateful and appreciative for having seen this effort firsthand.

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
Better paternity leave programs. When I had my kids, I had to use PTO — there was no set paternity leave. Having more comprehensive programs would be good, as would support groups of like-minded fathers coming together to have conversations. Some fathers I know have struggled in the past and have not felt comfortable discussing their challenges — I think that a forum for open communication is vital to help normalize the challenges of fatherhood that are not always openly discussed. We need support systems beyond employer set up groups and extend more deeply into mainstream society. Fathers need more open forums for communication and sharing.

Brian Lamsback

Father to two boys — Jonathan, 4.5 and Oliver, born on June 1, 2021
Married to Angela
Lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania

+ What has been your experience as a working dad during the pandemic?
It’s been tough, challenging, yet also really lovely — sweet and sour mixed. My commute is usually an hour each way, now that extra hour can be used for work or family time. I can have dinner at a regular time, and we can all eat together. At first, it was challenging because there was no routine, but we created one. In the beginning, we had no help, and both my wife and I work full-time; navigating that terrain wasn’t always straightforward. I also found it challenging to translate an in-office work culture to one that is virtual.

But — you can’t really talk about quarantine fatherhood without discussing quarantine motherhood. In our case, we’re lucky that Angela has more flexibility with when she needs to get her work done than my more fixed schedule.

+ What kind of work do you do? Where do you work?
I am a Managing Director for Creative Circle’s Philadelphia team; I manage the recruiting and the sales team and have been with CC almost 7 years.

+ What is your children’s school situation?
We were lucky that it was less about managing a more formal educational experience and more about keeping Jonathan entertained. Last summer, we were able to get a university student to help, who began teaching letters, numbers, and other things — and gave us the gift of time to get our respective jobs done.

+ How have you gotten work done with the kids home?
Early on, it was more of a split, but as is often the case, my wife had more flexibility than I did. I tend to be busier in the mornings, and she has several West Coast clients, so we were able to do some dividing and conquering along those lines, though that makes it sound more organized than it was (laughs). I did a lot of evening work after putting Jonathan to bed.

+ Have you gotten any help from a partner?
Absolutely. 100%. I would not have been able to do it otherwise. I would not be able to work anywhere close to an 8-hour workday without my wife. Angela was able to make mornings available to me. We would check in daily and map to each other’s calendars and balance the time. From March 2020 to the summer, we had no childcare, but the re-inclusion of help was a game changer in the summer.

+ What has been the most difficult thing about fathering and working and existing this past year?
Focus and balance. I strive to live by the maxim of “be here now.” I aim to be where I am in a fully present manner. But while that’s my goal, it’s been extremely challenging to do when I’m exhausted and consumed by anxiety around the worldwide pandemic. Trying to focus on all the things meant my mind was bi or tri-furcated, and it was hard to find success in things. I had to reorient and become more process-oriented, to learn to find appreciation less in the goal and more in the journey. I was able to tap into gratitude when I recalibrated my thinking about what constituted success by removing some of the emphasis I had historically placed on achieving specific aims. Once I was more able to appreciate the process and experience, I could value the journey, not just the destination.

+ Has there been a best part?
We learned a lot about ourselves and one another, both personally and professionally. I always thought I could get through anything with my wife and son’s support, but now I know that. Having more time for my family to be there for each other in meaningful ways has been a gift.

+ What would help working fathers in this country?
We need to change the conversation around manhood in America and make it an ideal that a man puts his family first. Let’s normalize the idea that fatherhood and husbandhood (whomever you are partnered up with, whether a marriage or not) are the most important jobs we have. That tough guy BS, I’m not into that.

June 28, 1969. The Stonewall Inn, a known gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, was raided by the NYPD. This was nothing new. What was new was the response — the gay community stood their ground and fought back. Many people who were there that night identified Marsha P. Johnson, a 23-year-old drag artist, as one of the main instigators. Days of protests and riots followed, activating a movement in the LGBT community to fight for their right to exist without the threat of violence and police harassment. A fight that continues to this day.

Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1945, Marsha began wearing dresses at age 5 but stopped shortly after that due to the violence and harassment she experienced as a result. Her mother told her that being homosexual made her “lower than a dog,” so as soon as she got her high school diploma and turned 18, she crossed the river to New York City with nothing more than $15 and a bag of clothes.

Marsha P. Johnson was a character known in the Village and throughout the City for more than just her eccentric fashion.

She constantly showed up with a friendliness that came with no agenda — always the type to say “hello” whether she knew you or not. The P in her name iconically stood for “Pay it no mind,” which was her response to anyone who questioned or challenged her gender expression.

Marsha knew the dangers and hardships of living on the streets as a Black trans woman and working NYC’s Westside piers as a prostitute. Along with fellow trans activist and friend Sylvia Rivera, she founded STAR, the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, which provided resources to trans youth living on the streets — including STAR House, which offered them safe shelter. Marsha’s generous spirit defined her activism. She was constantly giving all she could and was committed to taking care of the community and folks that came through STAR House.

In the 1970s, the mainstream gay rights movement shifted away from the populations that started it all.

The rights and visibility of white, middle-class homosexuals began to take priority over the street queens and trans women of color. Heritage of Pride, who ran the Gay Pride events, went as far as to ban all transvestites from the parade because they claimed that the drag queens were seen as too “different” and “other” in a way that would hinder the progress towards rights for white homosexual men. So, instead of marching in the parade, Marsha and Sylvia instead marched IN FRONT of the official parade. As leaders in the movement for gay liberation, they took their rightful place in leading that parade.

When the AIDS epidemic hit, Marsha took care of patients when others would often stigmatize and ostracize them as they suffered. She challenged the notion that AIDS somehow made a person dirty or undeserving of respect; she believed you should “stand as close to them as you can and help them as much as you can.” She advocated for remembering those who died of AIDS for all the courage they had fighting the disease.

She was known as Saint Marsha to the many folks who knew her throughout the City. The magic of Marsha P. Johnson was her kindness and generosity, and that built her legend. She would spend the last two dollars she had on a box of cookies and then walk through the Village to the Piers, handing them out. She knew what it was like to be hungry and living on the street, so she knew that gift of a chocolate chip cookie to a starving street queen was a great gift. If there was anything she had, even just a bag of potato chips, she would hand that over to homeless queer youth she would come across.

Every year, she marched because Marsha knew the fight was never over — even as Pride events began leaning more towards celebration than protest — sharing that:

“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you ALL have your rights. And I think as long as one gay person has to walk for gay rights, God, all of us should be walking for gay rights.”

Marsha P. Johnson died in June of 1992; her body was found in the Hudson River.

She put her life on the line fighting for LGBT rights — while the police ruled her death a suicide, there was no thorough investigation into her death. Those that knew her highly doubt the validity of that ruling. Marsha would sometimes get harassed on the Pier, and many queens had been subject to violence in that area. Despite those circumstances, the police did not investigate it any further. Hundreds of people showed up to her funeral, overflowing the church, and they had to shut down 7th Avenue for her procession.

At a time when gay people were expected to hide who they really were and conform to the standards of straight American norms to survive, Marsha’s decision to authentically present as herself every day was a radical act of rebellion. While she actively fought for gay liberation, ending police brutality, and AIDS awareness, she was an advocate for the fundamental human right to exist at the core of it all.