Justice Starts in the Moments You Don’t Look Away
There’s a quiet moment in every leader’s day that rarely makes it onto a calendar invite. It’s the moment you notice something and decide whether to let it pass. Like a comment that dismisses a teammate or a policy that favors convenience over people, or a hiring pattern that keeps selecting the same type of candidate. These aren’t headline moments. They’re just glimpses. And leadership is shaped or lost within those moments.
Justice doesn’t usually arrive as a dramatic stand at a microphone. It starts smaller and closer: with what you see and refuse to look away from.
Remember this: The things we tolerate become the culture we lead. The things we name become the culture we build.
I’ve learned that the gap between who we say we are and what we actually allow is where trust erodes fastest. Most leaders don’t aim to be unjust; they’re just busy. Urgency forces us to prioritize. We focus on outcomes, deliverables, budgets, and timelines. Meanwhile, the quieter human stuff, like dignity, voice, and fairness, asks for our attention in softer tones. If we don’t practice listening for it, we miss it. And when leaders miss it, people carry the cost.
Justice starts with self-awareness. Before taking action outwardly, I must first understand what is happening internally, what is within me. What am I tempted to ignore because it’s uncomfortable? Whose perspective would complicate my plan? Where am I benefiting from a system I haven’t questioned? The wisest leaders I know don’t pretend to see everything; they build the humility to ask, “What might I be missing?”
That question isn't a weakness; it's an opportunity. It creates space for new stories, overlooked data, and unseen patterns beyond your immediate view. It shifts you from defending your decisions to discerning reality. And it moves you from performative statements about justice to practical acts of it.
If you use my Triple Loop lens, this is where the work deepens. The First Loop asks, What will I do? The Second Loop asks, How am I thinking about this? The Third Loop asks, Who am I becoming as I lead? When justice is the aim, starting in the Third Loop matters most. If I’m becoming a leader who values image over truth, I’ll choose speed and optics. If I’m becoming a leader who values people over comfort, I’ll choose presence and courage even when it slows me down.
So what does “not ignoring” look like in real life?
It looks like pausing a meeting to name the dismissive comment and invite the person who was talked over to finish. It looks like asking for the demographic breakdown of your pipeline before the final round, not after the offer is made. It looks like adding a question to your one-on-ones: “Is there anything you don’t feel safe saying out loud in our team?” It looks like paying attention to who gets interrupted, who gets credit, and who gets the messy work no one tracks. It looks like changing a policy because it burdens the people with the least power to challenge it.
None of this requires a press release. It asks for a leader willing to see, willing to ask, and willing to act.
Here’s is something simple to try this week:
Notice: In every meeting, choose one thing to see on purpose—who speaks, who stays quiet, where decisions are made.
Name: If something’s off, say it gently and clearly. Clarity is kindness.
Nudge: Make one small structural change that supports fairness: rotate note‑taking, share agendas early, invite written input.
Nest: Build it into your systems so it isn’t dependent on your mood or presence.
Justice grows where leaders refuse to look away. It grows in the small, consistent choices to dignify people, to widen the circle, to tell the truth, and to align power with responsibility. The world doesn’t need more leaders who can speak about justice; it needs leaders who will stop ignoring what everyone else has learned to step around.
Start there. See what you’ve learned not to see. And then, with courage and humility, do the next right thing.
- Dr. Jeff McGee