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The Management Center (TMC) offers tools and training programs for managers and their teams, and what sets them apart is not just the quality of their courses but their prioritization of building racial equity within organizations, rather than just helping them produce better quantitative results. 

Today’s guest, spiritually rooted coach and trainer Jakada Imani, has spent his entire adult life helping Black people break free from the barriers which prevent them from reaching their full potential. His personal experience of being mentored in the social justice movement in his youth has driven his desire to help others in the same way. Jakada is currently the CEO of The Management Center.

In this conversation, Jakada explains what TMC's offerings consist of (most of which I can personally vouch for because I have attended them myself), how they are changing mindsets around management, and his plans for growing the organization so they are able to positively impact more people. He also delves into what he is seeing take place in social justice movements around the world, and why, in the destabilizing time we find ourselves in, he has hope for a different kind of future.   

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Key Points From This Episode:

• Jakada’s entry into the social justice world, and how the mentorship that he received in this space informed the trajectory of his life and career.

• The mission of The Management Center (TMC), and an overview of the work that they do.

• Management is a skill on its own, and oftentimes a mindset shift is required when people transition from doing the work on the ground to managing people who are doing that work. 

• Some of the most popular tools and programs offered by TMC.

• How TMC prioritizes racial equity in their programs. 

• An overview of TMC's approach to combating traditional preferences, traditions, and requirements.  

• Jakada explains the danger of relying on a gut feel to make a decision, using a real-world example to highlight this point.

• Transformation that has taken place in social justice movements over the past few years.

• Where Jakada finds hope during the destabilizing time we find ourselves in.

• Jakada’s self-care practices, and plans that he has for the future of TMC.

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Tweetables:

“I’ve been about trying to help Black folks get free for my entire adult life.” — @jakada_imani

“If we can get folks to think about the role of management as a competency and a skillset in and of itself, that is an ‘aha,’ and folks just get better [at it].” — @jakada_imani

“Growing our services to be able to help more folks is the stuff that gets me excited.” — @jakada_imani

“It is a profoundly destabilizing time, and that means the world is in play. It’s a loose ball; it is not settling and it’s not set.” — @jakada_imani

“The main question is effort; are we going to try harder? Are we going to try harder? And then to seek those moments and to give it all in those moments will be important.” — @jakada_imani

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Jakada Imani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakada/

The Management Center: https://www.managementcenter.org/ 

Greenpeace USA: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/ 

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