Going a little deeper on ‘representation’
I often check my writing with people to make sure that I am actually making sense. I’m not that confident with my writing ability — do the words I use or the way I construct sentences accurately convey, and do justice to, the thoughts or feelings that I have?
As you can imagine, at best this could cause some confusion, at worst it could result in a more fundamental disagreement. When asking for a second pair of eyes to read my last post before publishing, I was asked “why are you writing these posts? What do you want them to do for those that read them?”.
This forced me to really think about which subjects or topics I want to explore, and more importantly, why should anyone want to read these posts.
When I decided to leave Arrival, I was sent lots of lovely messages from lots of amazing colleagues from across the business, but one of them in particular stood out for me—
Hello hello, hope all is well 🙂
Bit of a random one.. It’s probably oversharing which I have a tendency of doing 😬 but hopefully it’s nice to know.. and not too much for a Wednesday evening!
I wanted to share a bit about when I first got my offer at Arrival. A bit of context, me and my brother are polar opposites. So when I told my brother that I got the job, his first reaction was disappointment that I’ll be working for an EV company — he’s a massive petrol head and hates EVs. He then moved to questioning why I’d work in the vehicle industry when cars has always been his passion.
After I sent him a link to the Arrival website, he saw you on it. From your photo/video and name he inferred two things: one, that you might be of Indian descent, and two, that you might specifically be of Punjabi or Sikh descent.
Our whole convo then shifted to how great it was that you’re one of the faces of the company and him feeling excited and kinda proud that this was the type of workplace I’d be joining.
It may be a small thing, but it was big for me. So I wanted to say thank you for owning your space in the ways that you were able to at this company.
Plus thanks for being a genuinely nice person that supports those around you. I was super intimidated before our first chat having had this interaction with my brother 😅
This got me thinking about the impact that representation in organisations can have and how we perceive it. When I think about representation, my mind often jumps to the images like those in the picture above/left. It’s powerful to see multiple role models of colour in senior positions who have a major influence in the world.
They are role models that people like myself, and indeed anyone can look up to — it really is an amazing and inspiring thing to see.
It’s equally easy to be sceptical about various bits of corporate collateral showcasing their commitment to “diversity and inclusion”. Many people reading this will have felt the uncomfortable situation of being ushered into a room with other black and brown colleagues to stage a ‘meeting’ for the company website “join us” section.
The tone may not be struck correctly every time, however the phrase — “see it to become it” and the systemic challenges to which it refers, should not be overlooked. Seeing representation is the catalyst that could get us to a place where self-doubt about whether certain professions, situations or skills are for people from ones culture, heritage or religion, can be replaced by more seemingly mundane concerns like pension contributions, on-site gyms or commute time.
Maybe what the skeptics don’t realise is that seeing representation doesn’t just impact the ambitious graduate, new starter or seasoned professional — it’s uplifting a family, their friends, maybe even a whole community. It’s showing a whole new set of open doors that previously felt impenetrable and off limits. That’s the real magic.
This may not have answered the question on why I write these posts, but I suppose that there are questions with answers that are so entirely dependent on circumstances that they need a far reaching, emotional and meandering discussion to untangle.
Those conversations could serve to inspire, educate, reassure or help others articulate their experience. If through this medium I can help to move conversations towards a more positive or constructive place, then that for me is good enough!
Edited by Imogen Pierce
