As part of Black History Month, we caught up with Tinuola Omoyele, LCCA’s Subject Lead in Business Management, to talk about Black leaders in business, why representation matters and the advice she’d give to students starting their careers.
Which Black leaders stand out to you, and why?
I think it can be good to look beyond the most obvious or celebrated names and consider leaders across different industries, countries and historical periods.
People such as Madam C. J. Walker, who built a major beauty business at a time when both racism and sexism significantly constrained Black women’s economic opportunities; Ursula Burns, who rose from an engineering internship to become CEO of Xerox; and Mo Ibrahim and Strive Masiyiwa, who combined business success with institution-building and wider social impact.
What makes them particularly interesting to me is that their leadership extended beyond individual achievements. They created businesses, opportunities, networks and possibilities for other people. That is an important dimension of leadership: not simply how far you personally rise, but what you can build and what becomes possible for others because of it.
What makes a good leader?
There’s no single formula for effective leadership. Some leaders are highly visible and charismatic; others lead quietly through strategy, technical expertise, institution-building, mentoring, advocacy or community organising.
I also think it is useful to question how we define an “effective leader” in the first place. We often present leadership as though it is simply a collection of individual characteristics: confidence, decisiveness, charisma, resilience. But it can equally involve listening, judgement, adaptability, intellectual curiosity and knowing how to bring other people with you.
Leadership is contextual. Many great Black leaders have operated, and continue to operate, across enormously different cultural, political and economic contexts. Studying those differences encourages students to move away from the idea of the heroic individual leader and towards a much richer understanding of leadership as something shaped by people, power, relationships and context.
How do identity and culture shape leadership?
Race and culture can certainly shape a person’s experiences, opportunities and perspectives, but they do not prescribe one particular way of thinking or leading.
Black people are not culturally, socially or politically homogeneous. Our experiences are shaped by nationality, culture, gender, class, disability, migration, generation and many other aspects of identity.
This is one reason I find Stuart Hall’s work particularly useful. Hall challenged fixed or essentialist ideas about cultural identity and encouraged us to recognise identity as something shaped through history, culture, representation and difference.
I think it is much more interesting to ask what we can learn from the extraordinary variety of leadership traditions, experiences and perspectives found across Black communities. For me, the strength lies precisely in that diversity.
What challenges have Black leaders faced in business?
Historically, Black professionals and entrepreneurs have not always had equal access to capital, influential networks, senior positions or established business opportunities.
But I would not want those barriers to become the defining stories of Black leadership. What is equally important is what people built: businesses, professional networks, community institutions, new markets and alternative routes into economic participation.
There is a tendency sometimes to reduce these rich histories to stories about resilience and determination. Don’t get me wrong, resilience and determination matter, but so do structures. If somebody has to work twice as hard to gain access to the same room, the lesson should not merely be that they were exceptionally resilient. We should also ask why the room was so difficult to enter in the first place.
I think the more useful lesson is strategic awareness: understanding the environment in which you operate, recognising both opportunities and constraints, and finding ways to create value and possibility.
For any future leader, that is an important skill: understand the system, but do not allow the system to define the limits of your imagination.
What does representation in leadership mean to you?
Representation matters because people notice who occupies positions of authority, expertise and influence. Seeing Black people leading businesses and organisations can expand what younger generations imagine is possible for themselves. Within organisations, it can challenge deeply embedded assumptions about what leadership is supposed to look or sound like.
But I would distinguish representation from power. I think representation is most meaningful when it goes beyond visibility. Having diverse people in senior positions is important, but the deeper question is whether they are able to contribute, influence decisions, develop others and help shape the direction of the organisation.
For me, representation is therefore not simply about “being seen in the room”. It is about having the authority and opportunity to participate meaningfully in what happens within that room.
That is when representation begins to connect with influence, inclusion and belonging.
What advice would you give aspiring business leaders?
I would encourage students to take more from these histories than simply “work hard and be resilient”. Those qualities matter; however, leadership also requires intellectual curiosity, integrity, strategic thinking, adaptability and the ability to understand both people and systems.
Learn how organisations really work. Understand where decisions are made and how influence operates. Build meaningful relationships. Recognise opportunities that others may overlook. And be prepared to question established ways of doing things when there are better alternatives.
I also think leadership should be about more than personal advancement. Many significant Black leaders and entrepreneurs have built organisations, created opportunities, developed talent and opened markets, with an impact that extends far beyond their own success. That is a powerful lesson for future leaders.
For me, one of the most effective questions we can ask of any leader is: What becomes possible for other people because you were in a position to lead?
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As LCCA’s Subject Lead in Business Management, Tinuola helps students explore the ideas, organisations and people shaping business today.
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