The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Opening The Corporate Closet: Transforming Biases to Gay Advancement in Corporate America by Kevin W. Jones

Opening The Corporate Closet: Transforming Biases to Gay Advancement in Corporate America by Kevin W. Jones

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There is a gay glass ceiling in corporate America that few have broken through. Why? It’s a different type of glass. It keeps openly gay employees from advancing while confining those who aren’t out to remain in their closet. If you’re out, you run up against biases that prevent gay advancement. If you’re not out, you might advance but you’re not bringing your true self along with you. With anti-LGBTQ sentiment on the rise, now more than ever, organizations can widen the opportunities for gay advancement for those both in and out of the closet, and smash that gay glass ceiling once and for all.

Kevin Jones wrote this book based on the challenges he faced navigating, ultimately successfully, corporate America as a Gay man. It highlights the author’s own experiences growing up closeted in the conservative South as a Gen Xer in the 1970s and ’80s, and how those experiences influenced his early career development inside the corporate closet and later advancement once he came out. It also investigates the hidden forms of discrimination and biases ingrained in the collective mindset of straight people as well as those inside the LGBTQ+ community.

Blending anecdotes from the author’s life with data from multiple sources to depict the unique complexities of life as a gay person in corporate America, he illustrates the challenges, microdecisions and microaggressions that they and their closeted peers face every day. Whether you’re gay or straight, however you identify, after reading this book, you will become more aware of your own judgments and biases, both toward yourself and those around you.