The LACK

Here is the hardest truth:

Systems are not simply broken; they operate as they were designed.

For Black women in leadership, that design often includes being placed in positions without the mentorship, resources, or safety nets that make success sustainable. Leadership without support is not an opportunity. It is a strategy for sustaining inequity, keeping power unchallenged, and making progress harder to reach.

     This is "the Lack."

The Lack is the absence of guidance, scarcity of resources, and withholding of the very tools required for success. It is the unspoken belief that if we succeed under these conditions, it will be the exception, not the expectation. If we do not, the failure will rest solely on our shoulders, reinforcing harmful narratives about our capacity to lead and the need to be resilient.

I recall being new to a position, excited to take on the role as a change agent and make a positive impact within the organization. I faced challenges that went beyond the ordinary demands of leadership. These challenges threatened productivity, endangered my safety and well-being, placed staff at risk, and caused harm within the organization. Recognizing this, I reached out for support.

Relieved at the thought of having someone with more experience provide guidance, the relief was cut short when I received a response:

     “You need to grow a backbone.”

My heart sunk. The call ended. The challenges persisted.

Research reflects this reality. Many Black women enter leadership through doors left open by crisis, inheriting challenges that others have abandoned (Williams, 2013). African American women are often appointed to leadership roles in high-needs schools where male predecessors have failed (Bloom & Erlandson, 2003). These placements come with the heavy weight of turnaround expectations, often in communities facing deep social and economic hardship (Bloom & Erlandson, 2003; Gooden, 2005). In these contexts, Black women may encounter low learning expectations, high staff turnover, resistance, sexism, prejudice, and racism. Though this example is grounded in education, The Lack is not limited to one field. It is a pattern that appears across industries, shaping how Black women navigate leadership in spaces they enter.

The public sees the position. What they do not see is the reality of leading while living in The Lack: mentorship that is minimal or non-existent, expectations that are inconsistent or unclear, resources that are limited while demands remain high. The pathway forward feels like stumbling in the dark.

The Lack illuminates the exploitation embedded into leadership practice, and the task of building without being given the tools. The title is given without the team. The expectations are given without the equity.

     Still, we lead.

Not because the system provided, but because we found ways to move from without to with. Without guidance, we became guides. Without resources, we created new ones. Without cover, we built shelter for ourselves and for others.

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References 

Bloom, C. M., & Erlandson, D. A. (2003, August). African American women principals in urban schools:

Realities, reconstructions, and resolutions. Educational Administrative Quarterly, 39(3), 339-369.

Gooden, M. A. (2005). The role of an African American principal in an urban information technology high 

            school. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(4), 630-650.

Williams, C. (2013). Women’s leadership: A study of African. American female principal experiences  (Doctoral 

dissertation). Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.