FountainBlue's September 12 When She Speaks program was on the topic of 'One of the Onlys'. Please join me in thanking our esteemed panelists.
Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Tony Deblauwe, VP, Human Resources, Celigo
Panelist Cynthia Dote, R&D Operations Leader, Pure Storage
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, GVP & Deputy General Counsel, North America Commercial Legal, Informatica
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Digital and Communications, Renesas
We were fortunate to have such experienced, diverse and seasoned professionals join this month's interactive discussion. They represented a wide range of interests and backgrounds, but they had much in common:
They were 'different' than those around them and yet found a way to be included, to be heard, and to contribute broadly.
They challenged themselves and others to be open-minded, flexible and agile in order to serve both the business interests of the organization, but also to address the personal and cultural interests of the people involved.
Below is a summary of their best practices on how to be included, empowered and heard as 'one of the onlys'.
Know Yourself
Leverage your strengths, weaknesses and capabilities, while committing to represent yourself and others who are in the minority.
Be fully, authentically yourself, rather than settling for a diluted version of what someone else told you to be/want you to become.
Adopt an open-minded and learning mindset, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.
Be Strategic and Resilient
Strategically plan and deliver to business objectives, engaging a wide range of individual people, ideas and perspectives.
Actively participate and contribute, even when the journey is long and hard and the path is unclear.
Make the business case for embracing diversity, so that you have the resources and mindset necessary to think, speak and act like a culture-forward company, embracing divergent people.
Follow through on what you say, think and do, in alignment with corporate core values around diversity, belonging and inclusion.
Communicate and Connect
Communicate and connect with people strategically and build ecosystems and ally-ships focused on delivering business results.
Learn to be influential and persuasive to ensure that diverse perspectives and ideas are heard and considered.
Create and grow a culture which is open, curious, and tenacious.
Encourage productive and inclusive discussion and brainstorming, making it safe for participation and input.
Our panelists challenged us to dry doing the following things, even if you're one of the onlys:
Find and create a path to get to the outcomes you seek
Represent yourself and others who may not be heard as they are in the minority
Make small steps to build your competence, knowledge and brand, so that you may be invited to participate in the larger projects
I'm impressed with the wisdom our panelists shared this month, and encouraged to think that such high-performing, warm, successful and intelligent people are representing each of us, as one-of-the-onlys.