Black History Month Spotlight

In celebration of Black History Month, Chris Georgiou, Co-head of Ashurst Advance, sat down with Arnold Masayila to discuss his proud heritage and experience of inclusion, diversity & belonging at Ashurst. 

CG: Hello and welcome to this special Ashurst Advance spotlight, as part of Black History Month. I'm Chris Georgiou, co-head of Ashurst Advance, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Arnold, who will introduce himself.

AM: I am Arnold Masayila, I am a law graduate and a specialist in the Ashurst Advance delivery team based in the Glasgow office. I have been with Ashurst since April 2019, starting as a fixed term contractor analyst before being promoted to legal analyst, senior legal analyst and now a specialist.

Tell me a little bit about your background and heritage.

I am Zimbabwean, British and very proud of my heritage. Both cultures have been instrumental in shaping the person I am today. I was raised in Hounslow, West London which is a very culturally diverse borough and community of London. My family and I moved to Scotland during my high school years, which is where I have   now spent most of my time.

How important is diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in your life?

Hounslow is very diverse, culturally and ethnically. In my friendship circle we had people from France, Grenada, Ghana, Portugal, Lithuania, Turkey and Syria. This was just my immediate friendship group. When I moved to Scotland, this was very different. For the first time in my life, it became very evident that I was a minority. I was the only black boy in my school for four years, until my senior year when another boy, who also happened to be Zimbabwean, moved to the school. Thankfully I did not feel as though I needed to conform or even to change my behaviour as a result of being a minority in the school. I was still able to wear my hair in an Afro and have my hair braided. I think this is a testament to the great support systems I had in the school and also a strong sense of culture at home.

At university I was part of a very ethnically diverse American Football team. We had representation from over 30 countries. I had the privilege of being a captain and team president. The team was very successful, we were able to reach the National Championship four times, winning the championship three times. Being part of a diverse and multicultural team definitely helped me with my interpersonal skills, learning and understanding of different cultures and customs, but also appreciating diverse thinking and ideas. I was able to build strong working relationships with my team mates.

Can you think of any examples of when you felt a strong sense of inclusion and belonging in the workplace, and how it positively impacted your engagement, productivity, and overall well-being.

We have many diverse backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities in Ashurst Advance, including a thriving suite of networks in Glasgow for our Muslim, black, LGBTI+ and social mobility communities and allies. Certainly, for a while there had been underrepresentation of colleagues from African Caribbean and other ethnic backgrounds, but this has improved significantly over the last few years including in senior positions, but it is something we must keep working on.

During lockdown, in my team we had presentations about ourselves and our backgrounds. I was able to educate my colleagues about my Zimbabwean heritage; foods, customs, and I was even able to show off that Zimbabwe has the most official languages in the world, with 16! Equally I was able to learn about my colleagues' backgrounds and heritage. It was very interesting because although we are all very different, it also allowed me to identify similarities that we had but we were also able to celebrate our differences. We have also had international food fairs in the office, we all brought national foods into the office and we were able to share them amongst ourselves. This was a great triumph and something I would like for us to do more often. It gave me confidence to bring more traditional foods into the office for my lunch without feeling conscious or conspicuous, and it allowed me to be my true self.

This summer we had a very successful summer party. Massive thank you to Jack Ogilvie-Watson, Natasha Hussain and everyone else for organising. The theme of the party was "a celebration of you, celebrating being you" This was a departure from the "smart" dress code, which can have connotations of dressing a certain way, which more often than not limits people to certain dresses or suits. It was fantastic, I was able to wear traditional African Dress which I was very happy about. I received a lot of positive comments from colleagues, who had a genuine interest in the outfit, asking questions and also discussing other traditional outfits that colleagues wore. I was even voted "best dressed", which was a pleasant surprise as everyone was dressed beautifully.

I have always felt welcomed in Ashurst and particularly Ashurst Advance, we are a division that is very purposeful about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. I feel very comfortable in the workplace and can be my true self. For example, I am able to wear my hair in braids and locs. Before university graduation, my parents encouraged me to cut my locs, due to the negative connotations and stereotypes that are unfairly associated with certain hairstyles. To appease my parents, I cut my hair and instantly regretted it. I am very happy that I am now in a professional working environment in which I can grow my hair again and have locs again, being my true self, I do not have to conform to what is deemed as "normal" or the "status quo". This massively impacts my overall wellbeing and ultimately my productivity in a positive way. I am also very grateful that we have a prayer room in the office in which I can use to practise my Christian faith which is an important part of my life and identity and I know that colleagues of other faiths also make use of the prayer room.

In what way do you feel your perspectives and experiences as a member of an underrepresented or marginalised group bring value to the workplace, and how do you believe these perspectives can be better acknowledged and utilised by colleagues and leaders?

The world is ever changing and evolving, the way we do business is also changing. With a lot of businesses and our clients being purpose led, we know and understand that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is very important to them. We should also reflect the diverse jurisdictions that we operate in. I truly believe that diversity is a strength because in doing so you promote an environment that fosters diverse thoughts, ideas and even ways of thinking. In doing so, it makes a diverse business very versatile. Being a member from an underrepresented group means I also have a unique perspective of how I see things or carry out things. It's important to be able to convey that to clients. Make no mistake, this is not about optics, but to give clients the best value service and also more comprehensive and diverse solutions. The legal sector can sometimes lag behind the financial industry for example when it comes to diversity and inclusion. I was on a client secondment for a client in the financial services industry and it was immediately evident that they live and breathe diversity and inclusion, it was very inspiring.

I think leaders can benefit from listening to diverse and unique perspectives and can then become better role models to others and use these perspectives to drive progressive change within the organisation. For example, we have had multiple listening sessions for senior leaders of the firm and Ashurst Advance, covering different areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and these have been wonderful because it's a safe space to understand and develop everyone. I have been particularly impressed with how the division and office have adapted office events, traditionally these have been "social drinks" and can be unwelcoming to non-drinkers. We have changed that to be centred more around foods from around the worlds and activities. I think this has been positively received office wide as we are able to celebrate our diversity and experience more.

From your experience or perspective, what actions or behaviours from leaders or colleagues have positively affected your sense of belonging in Ashurst Advance/ at Ashurst.

Team leaders and Practice Heads are very involved at the core of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. First and foremost they are very approachable, which is seen in the listening sessions that we have had with Chris Georgiou, Hilary Goodier and other members of the senior leadership. We have been able to have genuine conversations and shared recommendations which I am happy to see already being implemented and pursued. I particularly enjoyed Chris and our People & Culture Manager Oi-San Ho-Elliot's idea of a Cultural Iceberg podcast. It is said that when it comes to culture for example, only 10% is above the surface and visible, perhaps the way people dress or present themselves. The other 90 percent is below the surface. Chris and Oi-San wanted to explore the 90 percent that is below the surface. We were able to have a diverse panel with members that have heritage in many parts of the world, including Australia, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Hong Kong ,Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Although this was centred around Christmas and the December holiday season, we had a panel member share how their family celebrates Eid and there were so many parallels with how other members celebrate Christmas, both for religious and non-religious purposes. Again, there were differences but many similarities, perhaps not surprisingly the common thread was family and food! We received a lot of positive feedback from the podcast and something I look forward to contributing to again in the future.

Based on your experience, what suggestions or recommendations do you have for leaders to create an inclusive and equal workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging?

We need to engage ethnically diverse talent, early. We should be going to find the talent, rather than the talent coming to us. I believe we will be looking into initiatives such as visiting University clubs and societies such as the Afro Caribbean Societies (ACS). We are very fortunate in Glasgow to have reach across most of the central belt and there are many universities in the area. We should also pursue collaborating and partnering with professional bodies and organisations that represent ethnic minorities and learning from them. As important as recruitment of ethnically diverse talent is, I believe retention of ethnically diverse talent is equally important. This can be achieved by development of minorities into senior leadership roles, by doing so ethnic minorities can have role models to follow and to aspire to be. These role models can also become mentors to the next generation who follow them.

How has your identity or background affected your experiences and interactions with others and shaped the person you've become?

Being ethnically diverse has definitely shaped the person that I am. I am very proud to be Black, African, Zimbabwean and British, All those identities have formed the core values of the person that I am today. I recently had an encounter with a colleague who is a new joiner. They spoke to their manager in a 1-2-1 about initially feeling "conspicuous" or I guess visible in the office as it became very apparent that they were an ethnic minority. It was initially a shock to the system for them, having come from a strong Nigerian community and also a strong Afro Caribbean Society at University. I had a general chat with them before they had spoken to their manager about the positive and inclusive culture in the office and also some exciting initiatives we were actively working on. I believe it was also reassuring to be in a working environment with people that look like you, that way you do not feel as if you stand out or there is a microscope on you. This showed me that we have come a long way with ethnic diversity in the office but we still have a long way to go and of course ethnic diversity, inclusion and wellbeing is not a box ticking exercise and something that you can "complete". It's something that we have to live and breathe and continue to pursue. The conversation with my colleague highlighted to me the importance of representation and also being present in the office, encouraging dialogue with colleagues. Ultimately be the change you want to see.

CG: Thank you so much for sharing your insights and experience with us, Arnold, I have learned so much from speaking to you! I am sure that your thoughts and reflections will help us to strengthen our inclusive culture and achieve better outcomes and experience for others, and will provide reassurance to many others to be confident and proud to be themselves at work.