Beyond Good Intentions: What Real Allyship Looks Like in Leadership

Written By: Donald Thompson

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most of what we call allyship is actually just good intentions wrapped in the wrong actions. I see leaders who genuinely care, but are stuck in what I call “passive allyship.” They are not saying the wrong things, but they’re not doing the right things either. 

In other words, allyship isn’t a sentiment – it’s an operating decision. Real allyship is a leadership competency you can measure, teach, and hold accountable. The focus should be on being present, intentional, and willing to use your influence to create opportunities for others. If you can run a P&L, you can run a playbook for allyship.

1) Listen More Than You Speak

True allyship starts with humility: create space, ask better questions, and resist the urge to fix. Operationalize it: schedule monthly skip-level listening sessions, rotate facilitators to reduce power distance, and capture themes in a simple “voice of talent” dashboard you review at every staff meeting.

2) Use Your Voice When Others Can't

Advocate in rooms where others aren’t present. Your voice carries weight. Convert mentoring into sponsorship: put two emerging leaders on your personal slate each quarter, attach your name to their next stretch assignment, and make the intro they can’t make themselves. Require balanced interview panels and diverse candidate slates for every manager-level opening – no exceptions.

3) Do the Work Even When It's Uncomfortable

Recognizing and mitigating bias is ongoing work. Since our brains naturally sort data quickly and much of that data involves people – ensure your processes eliminate assumptions and exclusions. Make it concrete with a 30-60-90 plan: (30) set explicit behavior standards and meeting norms; (60) embed allyship goals into corporate policies and manager performance reviews; (90) tie a small portion of variable comp to measurable outcomes: promotion velocity, retention gap closure, and pay-equity movement for underrepresented talent. Publish progress quarterly.

Authentic allyship creates permission for others to lead and builds psychological safety. Psychological safety is the feeling that one can share their honest input without fear of retaliation, criticism or ridicule. It isn’t “nice to have” – it’s a business advantage. Teams with high safety surface risk faster, fix issues sooner, and work better together. Meld psychological safety into your operating cadence: track three simple signals – (1) regrettable attrition by cohort, (2) time-to-productivity for new hires, and (3) promotion readiness across demographics. Improve the system and these numbers move.

Allyship in the AI Era (Don’t Let Your Tools Recreate Old Bias)

As leaders adopt AI to speed decisions, we also risk scaling bias. Real allyship means asking: what data trained this model, who is contributing to prompt revisions, and how are we auditing outcomes? Set vendor standards for explainability, require periodic fairness checks, and pair AI recommendations with human review – especially in hiring, promotion, and pay. Your influence can prevent “automated discrimination.”

What Real Allyship Looks Like This Quarter

Add “voice of talent” to the first 10 minutes of your staff meeting—one pattern you heard, one action you’ll take.

• Personally sponsor two leaders outside your immediate circle; put their names in two rooms they can’t access yet.
• Ensure all manager-level and above roles have balanced interview panels that use standardized rubrics and include a diverse pool of candidates.  
• Add one allyship KPI to manager scorecards (e.g., promotion velocity or retention delta). Review quarterly.
• Run a light AI bias audit on one people-decision flow (hiring, pay, or performance) and fix one gap now.
  
  

The business case is clear. Your allyship – or lack of it – sets the tone for culture and performance. But here’s the leadership case that should move you to action: the best leaders create conditions where talent can do the best work of their careers…and they build the systems that make that repeatable. That's not just good allyship — that's good leadership. Start at your next staff meeting. Then make it part of how you run the business.

Hear more from Donald Thompson at the 2025 Summit for Women in Tech. Learn more, meet the speakers, view the agenda, and register here.

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