How to Lead When No One in Leadership Looks Like You

The terrain of leadership for the excluded and marganilised is lonely, tough, and extremely scant. I can only speak from my own experience and from the stories of those I have coached who are navigating this same, often rocky, leadership terrain. Brilliant capable individuals who are super frustrated by the systems and structures in place that get them nowhere.

Lets firstly look at the data lest there are still those of you out there that think it is not so bad for the excluded in leadership.

The Harsh Reality

As of 2025 this is what leadership looks like in figures:

In the UK, Europe, and USA there are less than 1% of black people in organisational and other leadership.

• In the UK: There are zero Black CEOs among Britain’s 100 largest companies… not one. Forbes, 2021

Dear Leadership, that is ZERO and that can be extended to CFO’s and the C +Suite.

• In Europe: There are zero black CEO’s. In early 2025, specific numbers for all of Europe are not readily available, but the data shows a persistent underrepresentation of Black leaders in senior corporate positions.

Dear Leadership, that’s ZERO CEO’s in the whole of Europe!

• In the US: Things look slightly “better”, and I use that word loosely. In 2024, only 1.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs were Black… and that was considered a record high.

Dear Leadership, when was a 0% or a 1.6% a high performing figure in anything?

And as we know for a number of reasons that figure is most likely on the decline.

What It Feels Like to Lead When Leadership Doesn’t Look Like You

So how do those measly leadership figures translate into reality for someone like me who is a leader and has the privilege of working in leadership spaces?

Let me show you how this translated in my early career:

When I started my finance career some 30 years ago I looked up to leadership and all I saw were white males in all the future leadership positions that I wanted to hold. As a young, black, woman, I was incredibly naïve and in some respects that naivety may have been what carried me through to eventually hold those leadership positions because I looked for every reason to soar in spite of my womaness, in spite of my blackness and in spite of all my traits and uniqueness's that just did not look or present in any way as a white male. Thank goodness I experienced deep work ethic from both of my lawyer parents and by osmosis this was inculcated into everything I still do. In a nutshell I worked my way up to Senior leadership, Board member and now CEO of ARTE LEADERSHIP. Excellence was my focus tool. Let me be clear though, it wasn’t only excellence that got me to leadership circles, but it certainly helped me get there and stay there.

My current leadership career:

30 years on and being part of leadership and I am astounded at how the leadership barometer has just not moved. I am no longer naïve and I am now fully aware of structural and systemic injustices within organisational structures that continue to keep us out of leadership. In spite of this I am still hopeful that leadership somewhere in some Boardroom, on some leadership conference, in some leadership strategy meeting shall say:

“Enough! We really need to strategically grow and develop black leadership. We need measurable goals, a 2030 vision where at least 20% of our leadership represents Black and other marginalised communities. And we need to do this in a way that allows everyone in this new ecosystem can thrive and soar so that we see direct positive impact on our bottom lines and organisational legacy.”

In short, dear leadership: “ We need to develop and grow a new kind of organisational leadership identity”.

In the meantime if leadership continues to lead with the status quo, I offer up 3 tools for those of us who are starting off in our careers and who look, speak, intonate, think, and do things differently from the so called leadership norm so that we can be authentic and lead. Later in this series I shall share with you tools for when you have been in the career game for some time and you’re feeling frustrated because things aren’t quite going the way they are going for other colleagues of a different hue.

Tool 1: Always Work in the Zone of Excellence

I remember I walked into corporate with 2 Masters Degrees and a lot of enthusiasm to prove myself. The first thing one of my bosses asked me to do was to photocopy a 500 page document and then fax (a mode of sending documents a few moons ago) them to a client. I remember being so enthusiastic and doing the job with a smile. I was happy to be working. My parents thankfully had taught me that if you prove you can do the small things well, people shall trust you to do the big things. And I experienced that. I just focused on gaining as much experience as I could and I put my hand up for new experiences. What that did for me was to keep focusing on gaining experience, gaining all types of work exposure and always doing it with excellence.

Tool 2: Find Attributes to Role Model

My two bosses were two white males with high expectations of everyone and everything. They, and the rest of my white colleagues, were whom I daily engaged with. I knew that I couldn’t ever become a white male and thankfully that was never my goal - to be like one of the boys. But these two bosses had something that I had admired - their high energy and enthusiasm for new projects all over the world. They were risk takers and though they were not my obvious choice for role models there were positive aspects to them that I could aspire to. And that’s what I got from them - energy, enthusiasm, risk taking, and diversity of work. What I realised when I went into leadership roles was that there was no-one that looked like me and at face value I wondered if colleagues or clients would identify with me as a leader who is black and a woman. Well many clients, leaders, and colleagues have told me that though they connect very well with me and again that is because they are aligned with my energy, my work ethic, strategic creativity, expertise and experience in a terrain where there are so few leaders that look like me.

Tool 3: Remember your Strengths and Guard your Integrity.

There are unfortunately going to be many people who will not be in your corner and who are going to ‘other’ you. These may be colleagues, bosses, or clients who are part of a system that they have never questioned nor do they want to. Unfortunately for some people, the look/ talk/ class/ ethnicity of someone different to them is all too much consciously and/or subconsciously. I remember when I was in a meeting and a colleague said to another colleague: “All black people are stupid”. This man then caught himself when he realised I was in the room at the same meeting table and said, “oooohhh oh oh, I wasn’t talking about you Chitupa - you’re the exception. “

What I had to remember in that moment were my innate strengths and my truth.

I am not the exception.

I have a multitude of strengths and really unique global leadership experiences which I have fought for. And there are hundreds of thousands of black people who could be in leadership if given the same opportunities as other colleagues within organisations. Building a diverse leadership talent pool has been successfully done in other parts of the world such as South Africa and Malaysia. In wobbly moments I have to remember my strengths so that I can remember me in spite of the organisational terrain that finds it difficult to see, elevate and support me towards leadership.

Leadership isn’t just about titles, it’s about visibility, integrity, and impact.

If you’ve been leading in silence or waiting to be seen, this is your invitation to step forward.

• Start by defining your own leadership identity.

• Surround yourself with mentors who challenge bias, not your worth.

• And if you need structured support, coaching can help you claim your space without compromise.