Step 1: Be visible as a leader on this issue. Your silence is deafening, but we can see it. History is watching.

Step 2: Use your resources to implement lasting change. Police brutality is a problem that we can rid our nation of, if you choose to engage on the issue.

If we make this an economic issue, we can effect change quickly because money talks.

Economic sanctions work! They worked in South Africa to end apartheid. They will work in America to end police brutality.

In this article, I show you how to make the money you control put an end to police brutality without you having to spend a dime.

Step 3: Create a culture in your organization where an ongoing dialogue with diverse voices is just part of what you do.

Those are your three action items. Now I'm going to show you exactly how to execute.

Step 1: Be Visible As A Leader

Understand where black people are right now: Angry. Tired. Conflicted.

Conflicted?

Yes, conflicted.

Black professionals are afraid to speak out on George Floyd for fear of damaging their career or business prospects.

We’re being victimized again.

“Make me wanna holler,

the way they do my life.

Make me wanna holler,

the way they do my life.

This ain't livin', this ain't livin'.” --Marvin Gaye

It was already more difficult for us to navigate the business and corporate landscape.

Now we have to navigate this crisis that we did not create.

I’m taking a huge risk by speaking out on this topic. This can cost me all kinds of business opportunities.

But what real choice do I have?

I can play it safe and stay silent and wait for this to blow over...and die on the inside.
I can keep marketing my business as usual and look like an oblivious fool.
Or I can speak out and risk everything.

Impossible choices borne of a situation (police brutality) where I was already being victimized.

I chose the third option and wrote what I thought was going to be a single article to vent my frustrations and acknowledge what is going on in our country.

That article spawned a second article, which led to this third and final article that you’re reading.

I did not seek this journey and I did not enjoy it.

This is a window into what the black professionals around you are going through right now…on top of being much more likely to die from coronavirus.

It’s a lot, man.

All day.

Every day.

For our entire lives.

And the generation before us. And the generation before them. And the generation before them. And the generation before them. And the generation before them.

It’s a lot.

This is why our nation is burning right now.

But as Americans, we can fix the problem that brought us these protests.

As a leader, you have an obligation to help fix this problem.

If you lead an organization and you're saying nothing about George Floyd's murder with the nation ablaze, what kind of atmosphere do you think you've created for the black employees you lead?

How comfortable do you think your black employees or business associates feel about saying anything?

But what can you say?

You want to speak out, but this is a topic where it's far too easy to step on a mine.

Keep reading. I'm going to help you avoid those mines.

Step 2: Use Your Resources To Implement Lasting Change

Demonstrate a meaningful commitment to change by leading an effort in your organization to reform police union contracts, since that appears to be the root cause of bad policing.

I wrote about that in my previous article on this issue.

I think we can all agree that the police do not need to be exempt from the law in order to enforce it.

That's a pretty logical, rational, and universally embraceable position, don't you think?

Use that as your speaking platform.

Recognize that there are some evil, malevolent souls in this world and that only such people would argue that the police need immunity from the law in order to enforce it.

All that is required for those evil souls to continue to terrorize the black community is your silence.

Be a leader in educating your employees and your community about the police union contracts that are at the heart of the issue of police brutality.

An organization called Campaign Zero is an excellent place for you to start.

Use Video To Communicate

Video is a tool you need in your toolbox for three reasons:

People are more likely to watch a video.
They retain more of the information.
They’re more likely to take action based on what they saw.

If you need help with developing your video communications strategy, that’s what I specialized in before I had to stop focusing on running my business and start focusing on helping my country heal and figure out how to rid itself of racist police.

Be sure to take a look around my website and not just at this series I was compelled to write to address George Floyd’s murder.

A couple of months ago, I put together a free video communications strategy guide to help leaders lead their organizations through the COVID-19 crisis.

Everything in that guide is even more relevant now. I encourage you to check it out.

Video Communications Strategy

Money Talks

Turn this into an economic issue and watch police brutality end overnight.

Bring your connections and other resources to bear to lead a campaign to lobby the local politicians where your employees live and work to reform the police union contracts.

You can't change hearts, but you can change behavior.

It is absolutely possible to motivate people to do the right thing, even if not for the right reasons.

This is a problem that you can take clear and practical steps to solve and deliver a tangible result of a safer world for your employees to live in.

We are ALL safer when the police have to obey the laws that they enforce. Look at where we ALL find ourselves right now because of that not being the case.

Maybe designate an internal task force or working group within your organization to focus specifically on this issue and empowering employees to lobby their local city officials.

Again, Campaign Zero is an excellent place for you to start.

Turn this into an economic issue for cities.

Make a review of the police union contract a part of your decision-making process for locating your business operations.

Make city officials know that your organization does not set up operations in municipalities where the police union contract does not provide a safe environment for your employees of color.

Practical Examples

A few years ago, every municipality was courting amazon for locating its HQ2.

If Amazon said any municipality with a police union contract that compromised the safety of its employees would not be considered, you better believe that would effect change.

On the east coast, getting a Wegmans is a big deal for any community. The same thing applies.

If Wegmans said we’re not locating a store in any municipality where our employees won’t be safe from police, things would change quickly.

The NBA All-Star game, the MLB All-Star game, the Superbowl...even regular games are all massive economic boosts that any municipality covets, as Former head of the NFL Players Association Domonique Foxworth shares in this clip:

Each one of those sporting events creates an economic incentive for instituting a police union contract that ensures the safety of all citizens.

All that is required to make that happen is for the people in charge to make it a requirement. The municipalities will comply.

Money talks.

Apply Local Pressure

On a local level, chambers of commerce and other business organizations have lots of money to talk with, too.

Form a coalition with other business leaders and make a pledge. That will prove to be a powerful negotiating tool for city leaders when they negotiate with the police unions.

Effecting this public safety change does not require Jeff Bezos or the president of a major sports league.

All that's required is a business community that cares about public safety for ALL members of our society.

When police brutality costs municipalities economic development opportunities, they will change their police union contract.

If a city is losing out on job creation because of a bad police union contract, that contract will change. Police do not need to operate above the law to do their job.

And when police officers know that brutalizing black people means they're going to have to find a new way to pay their bills and their health insurance etc, they will change their behavior.

We are each and all empowered to fix the problem that led to George Floyd’s murder.

We cannot fix racism, but we can absolutely fix these police union contracts that enable racist police officers to terrorize the black community without fear of being held accountable.

Police Chiefs Would Do This Now, If They Could

Right now, the police leadership cannot get rid of bad apples if they wanted to and that is a problem we can absolutely fix, as this retired NYC police captain shares (starting at the 8:30 mark).

As the leader of an organization, you have a lot of power and with that, a lot of responsibility.

Our nation is reeling right now and it’s because of these police union contracts. This is something we can fix.

As a leader, this is something you have an obligation to fix.

Be Visible On This Issue

Most people have no idea that these police union contracts give police license to do whatever they want, with no repercussions.

Turn this into an economic issue and watch how quickly change happens.

These police union contracts are a corrupt foundation underlying and compromising everything in our society.

If there is no true law and order, we have no true society because a society is when we all agree to live by the same rules.

These corrupt police union contracts exempt the police from any and all rules.

Fix that root problem and all the cascading symptoms it creates will go away.

This is a very simple way for you to demonstrate that you really do care about the plight of black people in America.

The work will not be easy, but the task that needs to be accomplished is clear and simple.

The only question is are you in this with us, or not?

Employees, You Can Apply Pressure, Too!

Share this article with your fellow employees and, together, present the economic sanctions I describe as the course of action you want your company to pursue.

Some CEOs will do the right thing for the right reasons. They just need the information because, although they’re in charge of everything, they don’t know everything.

It’s your responsibility to help them find a course of action to pursue.

Other CEOs will do the right thing only because they now recognize the consequences of not doing so.

Put this plan in front of them and hold them accountable. Action on this issue is something that it will be very easy to keep score on.

You don’t have to start from scratch. Campaign Zero has done the heavy lifting for you.

Whether we get people to do the right thing for the right reasons or not, what matters is that we make these bad police union contracts a thing of the past, immediately.

Step 3: Build A Culture Of Communication

A weekly talk show is also great way for your organization to demonstrate a true commitment to diversity and inclusion.

It’s not good enough to present the world with one of those photos where you scoured every division of your organization to assemble some “diverse” people.

Speaking from the perspective of a member of a minority group, we all know that’s a staged photo because many of us have been conscripted to participate in that photo at one time or another.

You’re not fooling us with that photo.

But a weekly show featuring diverse participants who are given a platform to actually speak and share their thoughts and insights and expertise…that’s something that you don’t see everywhere and that’s also how you can attract the best and the brightest to your organization.

YouTube reaches more 18- to 49-year olds in any given week than all cable networks combined.

Use it.

Show me somebody who looks like me and do it on a regular basis in a substantive context.

A Diverse Show, Not A Show On Diversity

I'm not talking about you creating a show on race or a show focused on Diversity & Inclusion.

I'm talking about a show that focuses on your industry that has participation from diverse professionals in your industry.

If your business is corporate accounting, create a show about corporate accounting. Just don't have it be a show where white men are the only participants, week after week after week.

Women and minorities are qualified to talk about corporate accounting, too.

You can publish your show 50 times a year and now you've created a large table where everyone has a seat.

The diversity in the dialogue that comes from having regular conversations with people with different perspectives and life experiences is how you create a culture of diversity that will put your organization into a far better position than it was in prior to George Floyd's murder.

And, by the way, your talk show would make an incredible recruiting and retention tool...possibly for less than your existing recruiting efforts are costing, and your show will produce better results because of scale.

Nothing scales like internet video.

More Info

Nothing Travels The World Like Video, Either

If you really want to attract the best, that means recruiting around the world.

Video is the most cost-effective way for you to recruit worldwide by using the most powerful medium in the world to consistently demonstrate that all voices have a voice in your organization.

So the business case is there. This isn't just about doing good, it's about doing good by your stakeholders and shareholders.

We all live in this world together.

Organizations that embrace that truth outperform organizations that don't.

Conclusion

In every profession, there are people who are unfit to be in that profession.

The profession of law enforcement is no different.

What is different in the profession of law enforcement, however, is that law enforcement officers:

1) Have the authority to take someone's freedom.

2) Have the authority to take someone's life.

We MUST be able to remove people from this profession who are unfit and these bad police union contracts make that impossible for police chiefs to do.

A bad police union contract is a safety net for racist police. Take away that safety net and behavior will change.

Economic sanctions work! They worked in South Africa to end Apartheid.

When history looks back on this moment, what will the record show you did to help?

Your kids and grandkids will one day read about this crisis moment in our country and ask “what did you do?”

Make sure you have a good answer.