Interview with Layla McCay: "Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling"
An interview with the author of Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling: How LGBTQ+ People Can Thrive and Succeed at Work
Layla McCay is the author of Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling: How LGBTQ+ People Can Thrive and Succeed at Work, coming out next week from Bloomsbury and is available to pre-order now. A psychiatrist and founder of the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, Layla is Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation and Executive Lead of Britain’s Health and Care LGBTQ+ Leaders Network. She has been recognized on the Outstanding 100 LGBTQ+ Executives Role Model List 2023 as a global role model driving LGBTQ+ inclusion in business. She features regularly in the media, from the Financial Times to BBC Question Time and CNN. She lives with her wife in London.
Fabrice: Layla, it’s great to have this conversation with you, especially with Pride month approaching and both of us preparing for various speaking engagements. How will you leverage these events to promote your upcoming book "Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling"?
Layla McCay: Hi Fabrice, it's wonderful to connect on this. All the more so because what you do through the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors is part of the solution to the issues I identify in Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling. I interviewed more than forty LGBTQ+ people in senior leadership roles, from Board chairs to CEOs to Ambassadors for my book, across different sectors and countries, and they’ve been incredibly generous with their time and insights into how being LGBTQ+ has affected their careers and what has most helped them get to their current roles. I’ve combined their personal stories (and spicy anecdotes) with the latest research on what holds LGBTQ+ people back at work and what can help close that gap and enable us to thrive and succeed. So, word of mouth is a huge part of promoting the book – I’m counting on you all! A big focus is contacting companies to engage directly with their diversity and inclusion teams around Pride engagement. I want to speak directly to people who can impact change at the leadership level. And my publisher, Bloomsbury, has some solid promotion lined up for the book release.
Fabrice: That sounds very timely as we experience a backlash on the concept of diversity itself. Given our shared interests, let's dive into the core of our discussion: the underrepresentation of LGBTQ+ individuals in senior positions. What are your thoughts on the impact of this on businesses?
Layla McCay: For a long time, we’ve known diversity and inclusion are good for business. The backlash you describe makes it more complicated for companies to approach this and make improvements in the workplace. Fundamentally, what this book shows is that being LGBTQ+ can impact us at work in both positive and negative ways that we may not have fully understood. While researching for the book, I was fascinated to learn more about our particular strengths in management, innovation, and resilience, while also saddened to hear stories of discrimination. Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling helps individuals and companies understand how to leverage the positive factors to create further benefits and how to address the various things that cause negative impacts. Companies can take advantage of a full spectrum of ideas and insights when LGBTQ+ voices are included in the boardrooms and across leadership roles, and this book should help them do it.
Fabrice: Absolutely, and from our preliminary talks, I understand you've been exploring how the visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals in such roles can serve as powerful role models. Can you expand on that?
Layla McCay: Yes, visibility is critical. Many leaders described not having any visible role models when they were growing up and how it affected their aspirations, confidence, and self-belief. It meant they self-censored their career potential. When younger LGBTQ+ individuals or even seasoned professionals see others like them in high places, it signals that it is possible to be out and successful. This visibility can inspire and motivate others but also challenges the status quo, which often assumes heteronormativity as the default in professional settings. Being able to project yourself as a leader is a key component of success in the workplace; for this, you need role models.
Fabrice Houdart: That’s a poignant observation. Conversely, what are the main bottlenecks to achieving fair representation for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace?
Layla McCay: One of the most significant issues is the deeply ingrained prejudice, which can manifest subtly in recruitment, promotion decisions, and day-to-day interactions. But it’s not just the views and behavior of others. LGBTQ+ people often face internal challenges like imposter syndrome and the long-term effects of childhood experiences that can affect our professional confidence and visibility throughout our careers and keep people in current roles too long rather than reaching for promotion. Finally, I think LGBTQ+ people often live at the margins of critical networks, and we are not always aware of how important these networks are – some of the leaders I interviewed didn’t even know they’d been excluded until this became apparent later.
Fabrice: Both internal and external barriers need to be addressed. Speaking of solutions, what workplace policies are essential for effectively supporting LGBTQ+ inclusion?
Layla McCay: Policies need to go beyond generic diversity statements. We need targeted support, such as comprehensive health benefits that cater to LGBTQ+ families, clear anti-discrimination policies, and active support networks within companies. We need targeted talent management programs that address the specific reasons LGBTQ+ people are particularly likely to slip off the rungs of the career ladder. It’s essential for all staff to feel a sense of belonging and that their whole self is valued by their employer. Even practical matters like IT play a role – one person I interviewed reflected that nothing makes you feel ‘othered’ like having to tick the ‘other’ box on a workplace form for sexual orientation or gender identity; another lamented that when she inputted that she was a lesbian into the workplace IT system, it wouldn’t save til she registered the date this started and the date it was likely to end. It’s about creating environments where everyone feels safe and valued and can thrive without hiding parts of themselves or pretending to be someone different or disadvantaged.
Fabrice: As we wrap up, Layla, could you share how your book addresses these challenges and what you hope it achieves?
Layla McCay: This isn’t a standard book about diversity and inclusion – we have plenty of these already. It’s specifically about the LGBTQ+ experience at work. By exploring the causes of the diversity gap experienced by LGBTQ+ people as we climb the career ladder, I combine current research with the real-life insights from people who have ‘broken the rainbow ceiling’ and achieved senior roles to illuminate some brilliant role models and identify what held them back and what enabled them to progress. This unique insight will not only inspire and provide personal insight to LGBTQ+ people at every stage of their career; it will also empower managers and companies to gain insight and translate their existing knowledge about diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging to action meaningful improvements for LGBTQ+ staff that we have seen work for others. The goal is to foster an understanding that empowering LGBTQ+ professionals and ensuring their representation in leadership roles enriches the entire business ecosystem.
Fabrice: Thank you, Layla, for sharing your insights. I look forward to seeing the impact of your book and our continued efforts to promote inclusivity in the corporate world.
Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling: How LGBTQ+ people can thrive and succeed at work (Bloomsbury) is available May 21st (US), May 23rd (UK and Rest of World) from all good bookshops. Or you can use our Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors discount code ALCD30 for a 30% discount if you order directly from Bloomsbury (bulk discounts are also available directly from the publisher). https://www.bloomsbury.com/breaking-the-rainbow-ceiling-9781399410762/
To read more on the topic, check out this new study by Ryan Federo of Universitat de les Illes Balears: THE RAINBOW GLASS CEILING: BREAKING BARRIERS FOR LGBTQ+ INCLUSION IN BOARD DIVERSITY