Leading Beyond the Label: What Hispanic Heritage Month Can Teach Us About Leadership

Recently, while watching Eva Longoria's Searching for Spain, I learned something that surprised me: she didn't become fluent in Spanish until her 40s.

Then I became curious about why I was surprised.

Why had I assumed that one of the most recognizable Latinas in America must have always spoken Spanish fluently?

Somewhere along the way, I had created a story about what her experience was supposed to be based on one part of who she is.

Leaders do this more often than we realize.

We see one part of someone and unconsciously fill in the rest.

We do it based on culture and ethnicity, but also generation, education, communication style, job title, personality, professional background, and countless other characteristics. Categories can help us understand patterns. The problem begins when we mistake a category for an understanding of an individual.

Hispanic Heritage Month offers a timely opportunity to examine that tendency.

There is a lot of human experience inside a label

Observed from September 15 through October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the histories and contributions of Americans with roots in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Even within that description, consider the range of cultures, histories, languages, traditions, and individual experiences represented.

I know firsthand how complex that label can be.

I'm a first-generation Hispanic American with Dominican and Puerto Rican roots. Spanish was present in my family, along with Dominican and Puerto Rican food, traditions, values, and the experience of parents focused on creating opportunities for their children.

But I wasn't born or raised in a Spanish-speaking country. I speak conversational Spanish rather than fluent Spanish. And as I encountered other Latino professionals throughout my career, I sometimes found myself quietly wondering whether I was "Hispanic enough."

That's why my reaction to Eva Longoria stayed with me.

I realized I was making an assumption about another Latina while holding myself to my own assumptions about what being Latina was supposed to look and act like.

The lesson reaches far beyond Hispanic identity.

The assumptions and internal stories we carry about people shape how we communicate with them, what opportunities we offer them, how we interpret their behavior, and ultimately how we lead.

What happens between the numbers matters

This is particularly important as our workplaces continue to change.

The U.S. Hispanic population reached 70.1 million in 2025, representing approximately 21% of the country. Hispanic or Latino workers represented approximately 20% of employed Americans, yet 13.5% of those in management occupations and 8.4% of chief executives.

Those numbers deserve attention.

But so does what happens between the numbers.

What happens when we assume a colleague who identifies as Hispanic speaks Spanish?

Or that someone who speaks with an accent is less comfortable communicating with senior executives?

What about the assumptions we make about a younger employee's work ethic, an older employee's comfort with technology, an introvert's leadership ability, or someone's potential based on the school they attended or the role they currently hold?

Useful categories can quickly become shortcuts for understanding people.

And when that happens, we risk limiting both our perspective and someone else's potential.

Replace certainty with curiosity

One of the most important shifts a leader can make is moving from certainty about people to curiosity about them.

A principle I value comes from the Peace and Justice Institute's Principles for How We Treat Each Other: Identify assumptions: “Our assumptions are usually invisible to us, yet they undergird our worldview. By identifying our assumptions, we can then set them aside and open our viewpoints to greater possibilities.”

Another encourages us to turn to wonder when things get difficult.

Both ask us to notice the story we're telling ourselves and become curious about what we may not know.

That doesn't mean asking a colleague to explain their culture or expecting one person to represent an entire community. Curiosity doesn't relieve us of the responsibility to learn for ourselves.

There are excellent places to begin. The Hispanic Heritage Month portal brings together resources from the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, National Archives, and other national institutions. The Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room offers collections exploring the many histories and cultures represented under the Hispanic and Latino umbrella. The U.S. Census Bureau provides demographic and economic data that can help put those experiences into a broader context.

Learning is a start.

The harder work happens in our everyday interactions: listening carefully, asking open questions, and allowing people to tell us who they are instead of assuming we already know.

Identity gives us context. It doesn't give us someone's whole story.

As you lead this month and throughout the year, consider asking yourself:

• What am I assuming about this person that they haven't actually told me?

• What could I learn for myself instead of expecting someone else to educate me?

• Where could curiosity replace certainty in one of my relationships this week?

Hispanic Heritage Month allows us to learn more about the histories, contributions, and experiences of a significant and growing part of our workforce and communities.

Perhaps it can also remind us of something fundamental about leadership:

People are always more complex than the labels we use to describe them.

Our job as leaders isn't to assume we understand the whole person. It's to remain curious enough to keep learning.

Denise Musselwhite, PCC, is a Senior Executive Coach with Shore Coaching and founder of Tech & Thrive. Drawing on more than 25 years in technology and organizational leadership, including service as a CIO, she coaches executives and teams navigating growth, change, and increasingly complex workplaces. Her work focuses on human-centered leadership, executive effectiveness, and helping leaders build organizations where people can do their best work.