Call for Papers

The State of Black Leadership: What Can be Done to Create Sustainable Change

This is a new call for papers for the Consulting Psychology Journal. The theme of the issue is: “The State of Black Leadership: What Can be Done to Create Sustainable Change."

The paper submission date is May 1, 2021. Below is more information about this issue. Please contact either Lawrence James ([email protected]) or Lyne Desormeaux ([email protected]) for more details. We hope that you will be able to participate!

The numbers speak for themselves: There are only five black CEOs running Fortune 500 companies, 37% of S&P 500 firms did not have any Black board members in 2019 and only 4.1% of Russell 3000 board members had Black Directors, and approximately 17% talent loss in FINTECH companies regionally in a Mercer study in 2017. There is a dearth of quantitative research on outcomes of coaching and development efforts with black leaders or qualitative study related to models for developing black leaders.

This special issue seeks to elicit research, policy, and practice guidelines that serve to improve outcomes in this field across industries and contexts in which consultants work such as corporate, academia, schools, non-profits, federal and state governments.

Here are some sample questions we would like researched:

  • What assessments are effective in supporting black leadership efforts in organizations?
  • What changes have organizations made in light of the social justice movements and the pandemic
  • What types of training models and implementation methods have shown success for growing and retaining black leaders?
  • How and when do organizations seek this type of support from consultants and coaches, and what are recommended practices for ethically engaging in consulting and coaching with black leaders?
  • Are there any training considerations for consulting psychologists working Black leaders?

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovations and creative solutions to advance black leaders
  • Leveraging other disciplines to inform development and retention efforts
  • Creating sustainable change: Inclusive leadership training for white and other diverse leaders
  • Driving systemic organizational and cultural change
  • Metrics and tools for identifying, assessing, developing, and retaining black leaders
  • Global perspective on black leadership (John Lamptey, Anton Lewis)
  • Issues of intersectionality (e.g., older black leaders, women, LGBT+) that influence black leaders leadership outcomes or initiatives. 
  • Consultant capability, skill-building, and practice in working with black leaders (consultant journey’s)
  • Perspectives from consulting firms on growing black leaders as well as organizations      

For more information about the journal, visit the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research homepage

You may also proceed directly to the manuscript submission portal.