A Black First-Gen Professional’s Perspective
Quiet-quitting has become quite the trending topic today and it’s important that I speak on it from the perspective of a Black First-gen Professional (BFGP).
First of all, what’s a Black First-gen Professional (BFGP)?
It’s a person of color typically raised in a working-class family who were the first in their immediate family to graduate college and acquire a corporate job or own a business.
Second of all, what is quiet-quitting?
It’s when an employee chooses to do exactly what’s expected of them, or the bare minimum as outlined in their job responsibilities as opposed to going above and beyond.
What I’ve come to understand being employed at a Fortune 100 company for the past 8+ years, is that it’s expected that Managers recognize and promote employees that go above and beyond their job responsibilities.
Thus, if a BFGP like myself wants to break generational cycles and leave a legacy behind by earning and investing as much money as quickly as possible, quiet-quitting won’t help you achieve that…
So do I think BFGP’s or Black employees in general are quiet-quitting today? 🤔
NAH…
However, I of all people understand how going above and beyond could be detrimental to our mental health, and overall well-being. The thing with BFGP’s is that by the time we make it into corporate America, we’re already coping with so much mental weight.
We come from working-class families raised in underserved communities surrounded by poverty, violence, a lack of opportunity and proper role models. As such, by the time we manage to reach adulthood, most of us continue to struggle with depression, identity issues, unresolved past trauma, etc.
So we carry that emotional tax into the corporate workplace, which is multiplied due to the lack of diversity, daily micro-aggressions from co-workers, our lack of inner-belief, imposter syndrome, and survivors guilt.
And I haven’t even gotten to the pressure we face being expected to go above and beyond to be considered for a promotion in addition to working hard enough just to be perceived as performing at the same level of the majority.
IT’S…NO…EASY…FEAT
This to me, explains why Black people have always said:
“we gotta work twice as hard for half the credit”.
If you think about that statement in the context of the modern day corporate environment, which tends to lack diversity the higher up you go–if the majority of the company’s employees are white and come from privileged backgrounds, their bare minimum might look significantly different than the bare minimum of people of color, even more for BFGP’s.
Let me explain…
In my mind, the bare minimum from a perspective of privilege could look like a broadly accepted version of someone being promoted for doing exactly what’s required of them from a place of ease, enjoyment, and worry-free comfort. And in some cases, it could look like getting promoted over other colleagues even with proven lack of dedication and poor work ethic.
I’m curious if this happens because they might feel as if they can show up to work 100% themselves and excel without any extra stress and hard work while being surrounded by a majority of people who look like them and share similar privileged upbringings. Origins where money and good education weren’t much an issue for them growing up.
Whereas the bare minimum from the perspective of a BFGP could look like a broadly unnoticeable experience of someone feeling overlooked for recognition and promotions due to the perception bias that they might not be bringing enough to the table when compared to the majority of their coworkers.
In my experience as a BFGP in tech, I was always doing my best not only to catch-up in vital areas of personal & professional development that I missed out on growing up–but also desperately trying to hold it all together mentally, physically, spiritually, relationally, and financially!
I say that all to say…
I believe there’s a different solution!
As BFGP’s, we don’t have to continue holding onto the belief that Black people have to “work twice as hard to get half the credit”.
We don’t have to resort to quiet-quitting simply to maintain our overall mental health & well-being.
I believe that the best way for BFGP’s to get recognized and promoted in the workplace as well as be successful at life is to:
Start prioritizing ourselves in the morning BEFORE we show up to work!
And what do I mean by prioritizing ourselves? I mean reserving time for yourself every morning to improve your mind, body, soul, relationships & finances before showing up to work.
I call it BUILDING WELLTH!
Throughout the pandemic, I’ve trained myself to minimize placing blame on outside factors for my lack well-being by carrying out an intentional morning routine that helped empower and transform me into a better version of myself every…single…day throughout the work week. As a result of maintaining this routine since early 2020, I managed to show up to work day by day with more of myself.
The more I worked on myself in the morning, praying, meditating, exercising, journaling, reciting affirmations, working on my passion project, learning about who I am, and managing my finances–the more I felt empowered to bring my true authentic self to work.
The more authenticity I showed, the more my coworkers began to accept and feel comfortable around me, the more inspired they got, and the more they appreciated the value I naturally brought to the table. It not only led to my promotion, but it also greatly improved my outlook on life.
I’ve honestly never felt more in control of my career & life success since!
Prioritizing yourself in the morning not only improves your overall well-being, but it eliminates the need to quiet quit and risk being perceived as lazy and unworthy of recognition and promotions at work.
Prioritizing yourself means being able to bring the best of who you are and everything you came from to the table as a Black First-gen Professional, which in-turn benefits everything and everyone else around you—inviting more success, more wellth into your life!
We hope this post was helpful!
Appreciate you family!
To learn more about the benefits of prioritizing yourself in deeper detail, check out our latest Youtube video from Coach Rawls below!
For more information, check out our free 3-day Getting Real: Mini Course.
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