Dominate Your Box – Cloaking Inequity
At a recent curriculum development meeting in Detroit, I was reminded that some of the most powerful leadership lessons are passed between colleagues, not through formal training manuals, but through lived wisdom. JoAnn Chavez, a dedicated leader in Detroit and our work at the Michigan Hispanic Collaborative where I serve as a senior advisor, shared an idea that she learned from a former colleague. The concept is simple, sharp, and unforgettable. Dominate Your Box. That phrase stayed with me because it so perfectly named a strategy I have witnessed and practiced for years. It is a mantra for survival, excellence, focus, and ultimately, liberation within systems that were never designed for equity-minded leadership.
To me, Dominate Your Box means mastering your current domain with such precision, consistency, and clarity that your presence becomes undeniable. It means staying rooted in your purpose and thriving within the space you are given, even when that space is constrained by institutional politics, systemic inequity, or the unspoken boundaries of tokenism. It is about staying focused on what you can control, building power from the inside out, and turning the box from a cage into a platform.
This post is part of the Uppity Minority series at Cloaking Inequity, where we explore the complex, often treacherous terrain navigated by equity-minded leaders. It is a series about the cost of being clear. About what happens when we refuse to perform, refuse to comply, and refuse to shrink. Dominate Your Box is a core strategy in that toolkit. It is the kind of leadership lesson passed quietly in back hallways, whispered after the meeting ends, or exchanged in side conversations when we see each other being silenced, sidelined, or surveilled.
The origin of the Dominate Your Box strategy, as JoAnn explained, came from a trusted colleague who offered it as guidance in a moment of tension. It is not about staying in your lane out of fear. It is about becoming so focused and good in your lane that an organization cannot function as well without your presence. It is about building undeniable success in your current role so that no one can honestly question your contribution, your credibility, or your capacity. It is about playing chess in a space that often tries to keep you playing checkers.
In the lived reality of leaders of color, especially those who dare to lead with integrity, Dominate Your Box becomes a form of armor. It is a strategy for outlasting systems that seek to contain or undermine you the moment you stop being convenient. In next week’s Uppity Minority post, we will explore what happens when leaders go from “pet to threat,” previously we discussed when they are labeled radioactive, or when their hires and initiatives are targeted (see links below). Dominate Your Box does not prevent that shift from happening, but it equips you with a record of success that is difficult to erase, even by those who want you gone.
I have seen this play out in my own leadership journey. Whether in academic leadership, state policy work, or national advocacy, there have always been moments where individuals welcomed the idea of diversity but recoiled from the reality of equity. There were times when my work was praised loudly, right up until the moment it began to impact actual structures, budgets, or norms. The pivot from celebration to containment is subtle but unmistakable. And in those moments, the ethos of Dominate Your Box can be a grounding force. It reminded us that when the waters get choppy, you focus on what is right in front of you and you make it excellent. You build something so real, so rooted in purpose, that it outlives the resistance. You don’t get sidetracked. You stay focused.
Dominate Your Box is not about shrinking. It is about growing with intention and focus despite what’s happening around you. It is not about being silent. It is about being strategic. It is not about submitting to systems of oppression. It is about mastering the piece of the system you can influence and transforming it with clarity and care. The strategy asks you to avoid mission creep, to stay focused on your deliverables, and to create success in the present.
Too often, people of color and equity-minded leaders are selected for roles that others passed over. They get the job because it isn’t considered particularly desirable. It comes with broken systems, low budgets, or high turnover. Think of Barack Obama’s 2008 election, when he inherited a late-breaking financial crisis that would have crushed a less capable person. That kind of discipline is essential for leaders who are constantly pulled in multiple directions. People of color and equity-minded leaders are often expected to do more with less. They are asked to serve on every committee, weigh in on every crisis, and show up for every community. The burden is framed as opportunity, but it can easily become a trap—an overwhelming sprawl of obligations that makes it impossible to succeed in the role you were actually hired to do.
Dominate Your Box is the counter-strategy. It rejects the myth that always saying yes to everything is the path to success. Instead, it insists on excellence within your core responsibilities. It prioritizes depth over breadth. It challenges you to focus, deliver, and lead with such clarity that your results speak louder than any title or committee ever could. That is how power accumulates. That is how credibility grows. That is how resistance becomes reputation.
There is also a deeper cultural truth embedded in this idea. For many of us raised in working-class or immigrant households, this mindset was modeled by the people who loved us. I saw it in my ancestors, in the field workers who labored without recognition but whose discipline shaped generations. I saw it in union members who understood that excellence was a form of resistance. Dominate Your Box is rooted in that legacy. It is the modern articulation of a survival strategy long practiced by people who had to be twice as good to be seen as half as worthy. The difference now is that we are not just surviving. We are naming it. We are teaching it. We are writing about it. We are building community around it.
In the context of my work with the Michigan Hispanic Collaborative, I have witnessed firsthand how this strategy plays out. The leaders, educators, and advocates I work with are not waiting for permission to lead. They are changing lives through programs like La Próxima Generación by showing up consistently, serving students with integrity, and refusing to let bureaucracy slow their progress. Each person is mastering their role because they understand that movement work begins with trust, and trust is built through results. That is the essence of Dominate Your Box. Earn the trust by doing the work. Expand your influence by showing what’s possible. Build what cannot be denied.
Of course, this strategy does not guarantee safety. There will always be institutions that fear empowered leadership. There will always be systems that try to clip the wings of those who begin to fly too high. But Dominate Your Box gives you the tools to fly with a compass. It helps you lead with evidence. It sharpens your instincts. It strengthens your record. It centers your purpose so you cannot be easily shaken by politics, surveillance, or sabotage.
What makes this an Uppity Minority story is that it does not settle for symbolic inclusion. It insists on strategic excellence. It is about what happens when you refuse to be a placeholder and instead become a builder. It is about what happens when you make your current position the foundation of a legacy that reaches beyond the walls of the institution.
If you are reading this and you are a leader of color or equity-focused leader navigating a difficult season, let this be your reminder. You do not need to fix everything all at once. You do not need to convince everyone. You do not need to dilute your vision. What you need is to find your box. Focus on it. Sharpen it. Own it. And then dominate it with such grace and clarity that your work becomes its own defense.
In a world that still questions our legitimacy, there is nothing more subversive than excellence. Dominate Your Box. Build the future. And when the box opens, let them know it did not open by chance. It opened because you made it impossible to ignore.
Please share, subscribe, and read the past articles from the Uppity Minority series by Julian Vasquez Heilig:
The Uppity Minority: The Politics of Hiring and the Price of Courage
The Uppity Minority: Stephen Colbert and Joy Reid—Fired, Freed, and Unleashed
The Uppity Minority: Executive Leadership, Power, and the Price of Speaking Up
The Uppity Minority: How They Will Come for You, Be Ready
The Uppity Minority: Radioactive or Ready?
The Uppity Minority: Is Resigning the Right Thing to Do?
The Uppity Minority: When the White Ally Isn’t
The Uppity Minority: Hunted, Surveilled and Secretly Recorded
The Uppity Minority: When the Betrayal Comes From Inside the House
The Uppity Minority: You Spoke Up—So They’ll Call a Lawyer