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Staying on Code

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Keith Powell and Ricky Robinson, co-founders of C-CRETS, a career advice platform shared this article as a companion to their podcast Getting on Code: Leaders Walk Their Talk.

Maureen’s digital twin introduces the podcast. Enjoy ILI’s experiments with AI tools.

Short clip from the interview:

 Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership, Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify,  Amazon Music,  Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

The corporate workplace is not an equal playing field. Everyday, BIPOC employees face various challenges, from microaggressions to being passed over for promotions and other work opportunities that they’re qualified to receive. Despite this, BIPOC employees have and continue to climb the corporate ladder by contributing value to their organizations, as well as honing key skill sets such as networking. Though the focus is often placed on being able to network with white colleagues, BIPOC employees who succeed often have the ability to get along with and help colleagues who look like them. One way that they’re able to do this is by staying on code, as no one is able to move ahead in a silo.

But what does it mean to stay on code? For BIPOC employees belonging to underrepresented groups, it means aligning themselves within a group, through their decisions and actions, in order to better navigate the corporate workplace. In our podcast, C-CRETS, the content that we create has helped our listeners learn more about corporate America, secure higher paying jobs, and even foster a greater sense of understanding among underrepresented employees and our allies. But the podcast has also enabled us to stay on code as we share valuable career strategies and insights with other African-American employees to help them better navigate the world of work.

Here are three ways other BIPOC employees can also stay on code.

Become more than a bystander

Staying on code equates to not being a bystander and demonstrating interest in the workplace development of other BIPOC employees. This remains critical to the advancement of more employees belonging to underrepresented groups. On-the-job training and mentorship plays a critical role in developing the skill set of any employee. As leaders, we have benefited when those ahead of us have taken us under their wing, and provided either mentorship or sponsorship. Oftentimes, the knowledge that they shared would have taken us many more years to learn. Within our own careers, we have also given back by mentoring employees coming down the pipeline. What we’ve seen is that people rise to the occasion when they know that they’re being supported; taking on challenging projects and tasks, and then succeeding at them. Good leaders do not hoard knowledge. Being selfless and showing an interest in others not only affects the corporate workplace right now, but for generations to come. Not being a bystander requires you to act. It can be as simple as sharing some words of encouragement with a colleague, or more extensive, such as being a sponsor.

Speak up confidently

Many BIPOC employees tend to not speak up during meetings at work. However, it is important that we do not mute our own voices and contribute our ideas. When diversity of thought is willingly expressed at work, there is a greater benefit to the company. The sharing of ideas creates more opportunities to solve a problem.

When BIPOC employees speak up, it’s a chance to show our peers the value we bring to the table and opens the path for other employees belonging to underrepresented groups to get comfortable vocalizing their thoughts and concerns. In addition, this paves the way for better communication amongst coworkers.

It is only through dialogue that people are better able to understand and engage with one another. Yes, you can contribute value solely through the completion of assignments on the job. However, verbal communication is also a key way of sharing intellectual capital.

Your coworkers also have different learning styles including those who are auditory learners. So while there will be people who are fine with reading about a project idea, there will also be those who appreciate a verbal breakdown of the same project idea. Be willing to share your thoughts when in the room. It will make the job more meaningful to you, gives you an opportunity to immediately contribute, and may encourage others like you to speak up.

Be someone else’s guide

Being someone else’s guide is about giving back and paying it forward. After about a year on the job, most employees have put some points on the board by producing worthwhile work. As a BIPOC employee, while you continue to make strides in your own career and move ahead, consider reaching back and pulling someone up along with you. The ability to be of help to someone else is not only an important leadership skill, it’s part of staying on code.

On our podcast, many thought leaders and industry professionals have sat to be interviewed by us, sharing their wisdom with listeners. As hosts, one pattern that we’ve noticed in their career trajectory is their willingness to give back to their communities. Thought leaders are more respected and influential when they have helped others achieve their goals, and companies are more profitable when their employees help each other out.

 

When you stay on code by becoming more than a bystander, speaking up confidently, and by being someone else’s guide, it creates more opportunities for other employees from underrepresented groups to advance their careers in the workplace. Yes, staying on code does require intention, but it is also necessary if we want to disrupt the status quo and create better workplace environments for BIPOC employees.

 

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Keith Powell is a Chief Operating Officer in private education with over 20 years corporate experience in the U.S. and Canada. Most of his career, Keith led global Finance and Operations functions for Fortune 1000 companies in the automotive, chemical, consumer and commercial goods, e-commerce, and smart home industries. Keith was the “first” or the “only” quite often climbing the corporate ladder. Having mentored and coached hundreds throughout his career, he continues to share practical, digestible advice to underrepresented employees as a co-founder of C-CRETS, a career advice platform offering career coaching services, online courses, and topical content through blogs and a podcast.

Ricky Robinson is a Vice President of Human Resources for a $35B leader in the medical device industry. His 20+ year career has afforded him leadership roles in Human Resources for some best-in-class global organizations spanning industries from commercial goods, retail, smart home industries and med tech. Ricky is extremely familiar with being the “Sole Brother” on the Executive Leadership Team quite often challenging diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias issues within Corporate America, and as an advocate and sponsor for underrepresented groups. Having spent his career as a mentor and coach, he continues to share the tips and tricks that help underrepresented employees reach their full potential as a co-founder of C-CRETS.

Thank you for reading the Innovative Leadership Newsletter by the Innovative Leadership Institute, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

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Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership, Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify,  Amazon Music,  Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

Bringing Your Full Self to Work

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Welcome to the Connex Executive Insights Series, produced in collaboration with Connex Partners. This invitation-only executive network brings industry leaders together from the worlds of HR and Healthcare.

Connex Members are part of a cutting-edge community, finding actionable solutions to their most pressing business challenges via high-value peer exchanges and curated resources, including tools, platforms, partners, and c-suite networking opportunities.

Executive Insights Series features highly respected and engaging guests who share novel ideas and practices related to the latest leadership topics.

Jason Lioy of Dawn Foods discusses the importance of having an open and inclusive workplace culture in his article and podcast Cultivating Empathy Through Authenticity.

 

It’s staggering to think about just how much time an average adult devotes to work, especially in recent years. Between labor shortages, business model changes, and the ever-present nagging emails so easily accessed by our mobile devices or in our home offices, the reality is that the 40-hour workweek is a pipe dream for most. It’s no wonder, then, why our collective consciousness has been pulled towards the importance of DE&I in the workplace – if we’re to give so much of ourselves to our jobs, then we (rightfully) expect it to be done in a welcoming, warm, and safe environment where we don’t feel the need to hide who we are or the unique perspectives we bring to the table. Maureen Metcalf had an opportunity to explore that concept with Jason Lioy – Chief People Officer at Dawn Foods – as part of the ongoing Connex Executive Insights Series to learn how they’re approaching employee engagement through a DE&I lens.

Dawn Foods is a global leader in bakery manufacturing and ingredients distribution and partners with bakers, retailers, and wholesalers to deliver the ingredients, expertise and inspiration to help them grow their business – a complex process that has more than 4,000 team members servicing 100 countries around the globe. . Despite that, they’ve never lost focus of their core values or rich company culture, both of which are heavily influenced by their family-owned status. They aim to provide that warm, familial atmosphere, cultivating a psychologically safe environment where team members feel they belong, are valued, and most importantly, are respected. That work recently was highlighted in a push for individuals to bring their whole selves to work through Dawn’s internal “I AM” campaign.

In 2021 for Global Diversity Awareness Month, Dawn wanted to celebrate the differences of its team and what makes the team who they are. The ‘I Am’ campaign was simple, it asked people to share something about themselves that might not have been known to the rest of the team. The campaign began with a handful of courageous pioneers, senior leaders, and C-suite executives posting self-made signs on Dawn’s internal social network, Workplace .,  All beginning with “I AM”, they shed light on those elements that strongly guided their behaviors, mindsets, and actions as they navigate the workplace: I AM “a single mother”, or “living with ADHD”, or “the first college grad in my family”.

The campaign connected team members around the world, opened up new conversations, and most of all, it was empowering. The campaign immediately received a wave of attention and engagement from team members, each broadcasting pieces of their own stories to their colleagues. The message from Dawn was loud and clear: you can be your authentic self at work and don’t have to code-switch, because it’s the uniquities underpinning who you are that drive the business. Doing so required immense trust, and by having leaders express their vulnerability first, Dawn was able to create the kind of powerful groundswell that helps define company culture.

A Better Employee Experience

The benefits of the campaign from a DE&I perspective were readily apparent, as it spoke directly to the chief barriers of inclusivity and belonging. However, it also assisted Dawn in their ongoing process of reimagining and strengthening their team member experience. The pandemic forced their corporate team members into home offices for the first time, and while communication and engagement were key foci for their frontline teams, those at-home team members were experiencing a unique and unprecedented kind of isolation. Dawn trusted team members to handle their tasks and do them well and made a point to increase the frequency and quality of personal check-ins and team-based connections. They had leaders stress the importance of personal wellbeing, living that ideology by reminding their reports that they’d be there to support and listen. Their work to develop and execute the “I AM” campaign was a valuable extension of that vulnerability, encouraging team members to be comfortable with one another and seek out all the benefits of psychologically safe, open dialogue with peers.

The same ethos of meeting team members where they have also been reflected in Dawn’s revamped talent practices. Difficulty in recruiting and the prevalence of remote – and now hybrid – work led to a widening of candidate pools into geographies that weren’t previously considered. Dawn also invested in robust virtual onboarding, brand videos, and collaboration tools. From day one, team members are supported, engaged with the business and its values, and connected with others while being accepted for who they really are.

Empowering Leadership

To maintain that environment, Dawn has also recalibrated their leadership skillsets. Soft skills have always been critical, but our “new normal” has put an outsized focus on empathy, and that’s doubly true for any organization trying to signal to employees that it’s okay to be themselves. Dawn is encouraging leaders to practice active listening and make a genuine attempt to understand the unique, individual contexts behind interactions with team members; requiring that they be authentic and honest themselves. In conjunction with resilience and courage, these skills form the core toolkit for meaningfully engaging their team members and actually executing on their promise of a welcoming atmosphere. That, in turn, feeds retention, giving teams the long-term stability needed to drive business performance and bring the full weight of their diverse perspectives to bear – the real goal of any DE&I program.

 

About the Author

Brandon Hicke at Connex Partners brings nearly a decade of writing, consultative, and market analysis experience to the table. He plays a pivotal role in developing and enhancing the Connex Membership model through engaging content pieces and synthesized industry insights. In his free time, Brandon loves cooking, competitive gaming, pedantic philosophic discussions, and exploring his new hometown of St. Louis with his loved ones.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Seeking to Understand: Advice to Successfully Implement DEI Initiatives

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Maureen Metcalf writes this blog and summarizes 5 recommendations Roger Madison shared about how leaders can improve the outcomes of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.  It is a companion to the podcast Diversity and Inclusion Insights from IBM South Africa Experience.

Recently, I was honored to interview Roger Madison, a successful person of color overcoming discrimination and bias.  Let me share a little bit about Roger.

Roger’s Background

Roger grew up in Farmville, Virginia, and went on to earn  his Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the George Washington University School of Business and Government Studies.   He is the Founder and CEO of iZania, LLC, which he established in 2003 after a successful career as a sales executive for IBM, some of that time was spent in South Africa.  iZania.com is an online community of Black entrepreneurs, professionals, and consumers, dedicated to economic and social empowerment. His goal is to help bridge the digital divide.

Roger’s passion is helping to prepare young people for the business of life. He is actively engaged in our community as a board member, volunteer, and mentor with Junior Achievement of Central Ohio, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus.

He is married to his lovely his wife, Joyce, and they live in central Ohio.  They have been blessed with two adult children and two grandchildren.

 

Our Conversation

I believe part of the solution to diversity, equity, and inclusion involves understanding people’s experiences impacted by discrimination. During the interview, Roger shared the story of his struggles when his high school was closed because of the Brown vs. Board of Education legal battle. Roger also shared how bias impacted his ability to perform during his early college years and how his experience in the U.S. Air Force helped him develop the skills and confidence required to complete his college degree.

Roger was among the first and often only black person in a job or role. He found ways to thrive, even in overtly discriminatory environments. He is talented, able to self-advocate, and also fortunate to have had the opportunities he did. As described above to young people, he now gives back, helping them understand the business of life. He also serves as a role model and mentor for many others through his direct work at iZania and other community work.

I encourage you to listen to his full interview at the link here.

 

Roger’s Recommendations

Based on Roger’s unique experience, here are the five steps he recommends to improve outcomes from DEI initiatives.

  1. Undertake an honest assessment of the current status of your organization.  Understand the perceptions of DEI issues of existing employees.  Their perceptions represent the reality of your organization.  This has to be the starting point.
  2. Set measurable goals for change. Establish a vision of the inclusive environment you are working toward.  Commit to targets of inclusion, similar to the affirmative action programs of the 1970s.
  3. Create a pipeline to sustain the targets you establish.  Ensure meaningful representation at entry, middle, and senior levels of your organization.  This means providing opportunities for advancement with mentorships, special assignments, and broad exposure across all organizational areas.
  4. Be an advocate for the vision of an expanded culture of inclusion.  Leaders must lead.  This is not an assignment to delegate to the Chief Diversity Officer.  There may be a need for a Chief Diversity Officer to execute programs, but leadership must reside at the top.
  5. Follow through with the execution of plans to reach the goals established.  DEI must be a commitment, not an option.

We encourage you to look at how your organization is doing against your DEI goals, and if you don’t have DEI goals, how you are doing compared to where you think or wish you were. If you are not meeting your goals, take action. If you are in a formal leadership role, you can take significant action. If you are an individual contributor, you can be an advocate! All of us have a role to play in the evening the playing field. Thank you for playing your role well – to create a world where everyone has equal opportunities.

 

About the Author

Maureen Metcalf – Founder, CEO, and Board Chair of Innovative Leadership Institute – is a highly sought-after expert in anticipating and leveraging future business trends to transform organizations. She has captured her thirty years of experience and success in an award-winning series of books which are used by public, private and academic organizations to align company-wide strategy, systems and culture with innovative leadership techniques. As a preeminent change agent, Ms. Metcalf has set strategic direction and then transformed her client organizations to deliver significant business results such as increased profitability, cycle time reduction, improved quality, and increased employee engagement. For years, she has been willing to share her hard-won insights – through conference speaking opportunities, industry publications, radio talk-shows, and video presentations.

 

Podcasts

How Hilton Became a Global Best Place to Work: Hilton’s CHRO Tells All

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Guest: Laura Fuentes

Season: 9   Episode: 17

Joy, learning, friendship: that’s how Laura Fuentes believes the ideal workplace should be. When she arrived at Hilton, Laura found a culture and leadership team that was thinking along the same lines. Since then, she’s been instrumental in guiding the growth of that culture into one of inclusion, wellness, growth, and purpose – the four pillars of Hilton. It’s just one way Laura and Hilton commit to the well-being of Hilton’s employees. The goal: make Thrive at Hilton something every employee feels every day. Laura shares that journey, which has plenty for you to learn from to make your organization a thriving place, too!

Here’s what Laura and Maureen cover:

  1. How Thrive at Hilton has 100-year-old roots, when Conrad Hilton shared his belief that travel is the key to world peace;
  2. The incredible value of a human-focused work culture; and
  3. How that culture boosts the company: “If your team members feel respected and heard, that’s how they’ll make your guests feel, too.”

 

Other episodes you’ll enjoy: