WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.320 Imagine spending two decades climbing to the 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.960 absolute peak. of the corporate IT world. You 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:11.099 have built this absolutely flawless resume. Right. 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:12.939 You're at the very top of your game. Exactly. 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.600 You are the global CIO of a multi -billion dollar 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.940 company. You're at a major industry event. You're 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:23.320 about to walk on stage to give a keynote address 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.739 to a room full of your peers. And someone just 00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:28.640 walks up and hands you their valet keys. I mean, 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.739 it's just a jarring image. But the crazy thing 00:00:30.739 --> 00:00:34.100 is, it is a completely real scenario. Yeah, it 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:36.039 really happened. And today we're looking at how 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.439 the world's top executives take moments of profound 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.719 exclusion exactly like that one and actually 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.579 reverse engineer them into multi -billion dollar 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:46.520 product innovations. It's such a powerful pivot. 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:49.179 It really is. So welcome to today's Deep Dive. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:50.700 If you're listening to this, you are probably 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:53.579 trying to cut through the endless corporate buzzwords 00:00:53.579 --> 00:00:55.340 surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.479 All the acronyms. There's so many acronyms. Right. 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.520 We all hear them. But what does the actual machinery 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.140 of inclusion look like when it's operating at 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:07.099 the highest possible level? That's our mission 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:09.939 today. We are looking at how C -suite executives 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:13.500 operationalize this for real world impact. And 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:15.599 the source material we're diving into is just 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.159 a phenomenal resource for exactly that. It's 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.359 a panel discussion from the Women in Tech Network. 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.680 Yeah, moderated by Annette White -Klososki, right? 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:26.540 Exactly. And she sits down with three absolute 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:29.200 heavy hitters. You've got Ron Garrier, the global 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.180 CIO at HP. You've got Leanne Hornsey, who's the 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:34.959 chief people officer at Palo Alto Networks, and 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.640 Graciela Perez, the VP and chief digital program 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.019 officer at GE Healthcare. So we are talking about 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.819 leaders who manage massive global workforces. 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:45.859 Oh, yeah. And budgets that honestly rival... 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:48.400 the GDP of small countries. OK, so let's unpack 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.340 this, because today is all about moving from 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:52.379 theory to practice. We're going to see how the 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:54.620 mechanics of inclusion change, like literally 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:56.739 everything, right down to the physical products 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:59.159 we buy and the way we combat burnout. Which is 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:02.060 huge for anyone in the workforce right now. Absolutely. 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:06.140 But to understand how these leaders shape those 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:09.319 massive corporate policies, we first have to 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:11.860 start somewhere incredibly personal. We have 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:14.819 to look at the painful lived experiences that 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:16.849 you know, forge their perspectives in the first 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:19.289 place. Right, because high -level policies don't 00:02:19.289 --> 00:02:21.990 just materialize out of thin air. They're almost 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:25.090 always born from a highly specific lived experience, 00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:27.870 which brings us back to that opening scenario. 00:02:27.969 --> 00:02:30.810 Yeah, that valet key story. In this panel, Ron 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:33.330 Garrier shares that exact story. I mean, he's 00:02:33.330 --> 00:02:35.889 a highly successful executive with 25 years in 00:02:35.889 --> 00:02:38.129 IT. And he is the one giving the keynote. Exactly. 00:02:38.150 --> 00:02:40.629 And he recounts these moments where even as a 00:02:40.629 --> 00:02:43.949 sitting CIO, attendees would just assume he was 00:02:43.949 --> 00:02:45.960 the coffee. Or they'd hand him the keys to park 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.939 their car. He even mentions two specific cases 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:50.919 where security was actually called on him at 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.120 events. Wow. Yeah, because people assumed he 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:54.719 was just wandering around trying to get free 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.360 food. That is just staggering. But, you know, 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.139 what is truly fascinating here is how these early 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:04.099 feelings of being an outsider naturally evolve 00:03:04.099 --> 00:03:07.120 into this lifelong drive to address broader systemic 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.800 inequalities. Right, because when someone hands 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.620 Ron their valet keys, he doesn't react poorly. 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:14.340 He doesn't, like, throw... the keys into the 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:17.639 bushes. Which, frankly, many of us might be tempted 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.319 to do. Oh, absolutely. I would be furious. But 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.979 instead, he uses it as a mechanical intervention. 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:26.289 How so? He stops, he looks at them, and he just 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:28.629 says, no, I happen to be a peer of yours. I'm 00:03:28.629 --> 00:03:30.490 going on stage in 10 minutes. I hope you enjoy 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:33.430 the talk. Oh, that's brilliant. Right. He intercepts 00:03:33.430 --> 00:03:36.009 their bias and turns it into an educational moment 00:03:36.009 --> 00:03:38.770 right there on the spot. He takes that profound 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:42.229 feeling of being marginalized and he operationalizes 00:03:42.229 --> 00:03:44.689 it. He builds a bridge instead of a wall. Exactly. 00:03:44.969 --> 00:03:47.650 And the panel doesn't just focus on race or gender 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:50.169 in this regard. Like, Leigh Ann Hornsey shares 00:03:50.169 --> 00:03:53.349 a very different but mechanically similar experience. 00:03:53.229 --> 00:03:56.289 of being an outsider. Yes, so Leanne grew up 00:03:56.289 --> 00:03:58.770 in a working -class family in the UK. She is 00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:00.689 white, but she points out that she's Irish and 00:04:00.689 --> 00:04:03.889 Catholic, which in her specific environment was 00:04:03.889 --> 00:04:06.129 not a thing that blended in easily at all. Because 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:08.169 she was a very bright kid, so she got sent to 00:04:08.169 --> 00:04:10.349 a school for other high -performing children. 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:13.069 Right, but she didn't have the money, she didn't 00:04:13.069 --> 00:04:15.349 have the proper uniform, and she had what she 00:04:15.349 --> 00:04:18.350 called an appalling working -class accent compared 00:04:18.350 --> 00:04:21.350 to her... you know, affluent peers. And the lengths 00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:23.910 she went to just to survive in that environment 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:26.730 are incredible. Like, at 11 years old, she spent 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:30.350 18 grueling months taking elocution lessons. 00:04:30.670 --> 00:04:34.600 Wow. 18 months. Yeah. 18 months of actively trying 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:37.319 to erase her accent and permanently alter her 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.560 voice just to sound like the majority. And the 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.319 realization she takes from that is just foundational 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:44.699 to her work as a chief people officer. Yeah. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.439 Because she realized she was physically capable 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:50.019 of changing her voice, right? She could successfully 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:52.620 emulate the majority. Right. But it took massive 00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:55.019 effort. Exactly. And she points out that many 00:04:55.019 --> 00:04:57.279 people, people of color, people with different 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:59.879 genders or different physical abilities, they 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:01.860 cannot simply change their physical appearance 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:04.939 to blend in like that. To put this in tech terms, 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:06.680 since we're talking about IT executives here, 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:08.600 it's like running a background operating system 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:12.480 that eats up, say, 40 % of your CPU just to maintain 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.980 a fake user interface. This is such a good analogy. 00:05:15.209 --> 00:05:17.970 Right. Because if you are using almost half your 00:05:17.970 --> 00:05:19.970 brain power just trying to sound, look, and act 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:22.470 like the majority, you only have 60 % of your 00:05:22.470 --> 00:05:25.089 energy left to actually do your job. Yeah, that 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:28.009 CPU drain is real. If an employee's processing 00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:31.069 power is drained by emulation, they aren't using 00:05:31.069 --> 00:05:34.209 that energy to innovate. Leanne's ultimate thesis 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:36.670 is that forcing people to emulate the majority 00:05:36.670 --> 00:05:39.910 is just an exhausting burden that entirely saps 00:05:39.910 --> 00:05:42.810 human energy. which naturally shifts the conversation 00:05:42.810 --> 00:05:45.550 from how empathy feels on an individual level 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.990 to how empathy literally builds things on a corporate 00:05:48.990 --> 00:05:50.949 level. And this is where I really want to push 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:54.350 back on the kind of cynical view of this topic, 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:57.430 because a lot of people view DEI as just an HR 00:05:57.430 --> 00:05:59.230 initiative. Like a training module you click 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:01.550 through once a year. Exactly. But here's where 00:06:01.550 --> 00:06:04.230 it gets really interesting. Does having diverse 00:06:04.230 --> 00:06:06.949 perspectives in a company actually change the 00:06:06.949 --> 00:06:09.910 physical, tangible products that a multi -billion 00:06:09.910 --> 00:06:12.310 dollar company manufactures? If we connect this 00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:15.689 to the bigger picture, Graciela Perez from GE 00:06:15.689 --> 00:06:18.410 Healthcare provides an absolute master class 00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:20.790 on exactly how it does. She brings up a really 00:06:20.790 --> 00:06:24.050 striking data point, doesn't she? She does. She 00:06:24.050 --> 00:06:26.230 notes that over 70 % of healthcare providers 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:29.230 are women. Yet historically, the technology they 00:06:29.230 --> 00:06:31.720 use hasn't always been built with them. or their 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.040 patients in mind. Right. And she talks about 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.120 this concept in artificial intelligence called 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.560 data artifacts. Now, I've heard that term thrown 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.819 around in text circles, but like, what does it 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:44.079 actually mean in the context of building a product? 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:47.639 Is an artifact just a bug in the code? Not exactly. 00:06:48.819 --> 00:06:52.000 Think of an artifact as a historical bias frozen 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.939 in data. Okay. Frozen how? Well, let's say a 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:57.639 development team is training an AI model to detect 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.459 anomalies in medical scans. If the historical 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:03.100 data they feed into that AI comes from a demographic 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:06.120 that leans, say, 80 % male in Caucasian. The 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:08.899 algorithm just mathematically optimizes for that 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:11.680 specific reality. Exactly. It treats that male 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.560 anatomy as the absolute baseline. The AI doesn't 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.759 know it's biased. It's just calculating based 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.149 on the only worldview it was ever given. So if 00:07:19.149 --> 00:07:21.350 the engineering team all looks the same and they 00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:23.550 all have the same lived experience, they might 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:25.730 not even realize the data is skewed in the first 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:28.649 place. Right. The product literally inherits 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:31.629 the blind spots of its creators. That is terrifying 00:07:31.629 --> 00:07:33.589 when you're talking about medical AI. It really 00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:36.250 is. And Graciela points out that this goes far 00:07:36.250 --> 00:07:39.310 beyond just software and algorithms. It dictates 00:07:39.310 --> 00:07:41.089 the physical manufacturing of hardware, too. 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:44.370 Oh, like the MRI machines. Yes. She uses this 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:47.949 incredible example of magnetic resonance imaging. 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:51.230 GE actually went back and physically changed 00:07:51.230 --> 00:07:54.610 the engineering of their newer MRI machines to 00:07:54.610 --> 00:07:58.410 increase the opening space, the bore of the machine. 00:07:58.529 --> 00:08:00.709 Because as she so perfectly put it, people don't 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:03.269 come in one size. Precisely. The original dimensions 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:05.870 were largely based on a specific historical standard 00:08:05.870 --> 00:08:08.279 of the human body. which really excluded a lot 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.800 of people. Absolutely. So by widening that space, 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:13.480 they reduce patient claustrophobia, they accommodate 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:15.480 different body types, and they actually change 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:18.180 the entire diagnostic experience. But here is 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:20.480 the mechanical hurdle Graciela highlights right. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:22.860 You can have all the data in the world suggesting 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:25.920 you need a wider MRI machine, but it takes diverse 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:28.339 people actually embedded within the design team 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:31.540 to spot the flaw. And to champion the redesign. 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:35.179 Because changing hardware is not cheap. No, not 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:38.120 at all. And crucially, it takes a diverse C -suite 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.120 to actually sign the checks. The executives holding 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.679 the budget have to understand the why behind 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.519 the redesign, or the inclusive idea never makes 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:48.580 it off the whiteboard. It just dies in committee. 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.659 Exactly. If you're managing a team right now, 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:54.720 it makes you ask yourself, like, how many metaphorical 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.399 MRI machines is your team building with blind 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:00.360 spots simply because you haven't given the budget 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.080 pen to a diverse voice? Which brings up a massive 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:05.759 logistical challenge. Let's say a company understands 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:08.259 this, right? They know diverse perspectives are 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:10.940 an absolute requirement to avoid engineering 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:12.820 blind spots. Okay, so they know they need the 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:15.720 voices. Right, but how do they actually ensure 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.200 those diverse voices feel safe enough to speak 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:20.440 up in a high -pressure boardroom? Because getting 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:22.740 a seat at the table is one thing. Having the 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:24.919 authorization to use your voice is something 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.870 else entirely. And the panel was incredibly candid 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:30.929 about the barriers here. Graciela shared that, 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:33.809 early in her career, she was literally told to 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:36.509 cut her indigenous curly hair so she would, quote, 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:38.990 look the part for her executive level. Which 00:09:38.990 --> 00:09:41.250 ties directly back to Leanne's warning about 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:44.269 the danger of emulation. The CPU drain again. 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:47.669 Exactly. Leanne argues that a significant reason 00:09:47.669 --> 00:09:50.330 many women fail in corporate business is because 00:09:50.330 --> 00:09:52.909 they try to emulate aggressive male behaviors. 00:09:53.210 --> 00:09:55.509 Right. They force themselves into a posture that 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:57.710 just isn't authentic to them. And it leads to 00:09:57.710 --> 00:10:00.210 utter exhaustion. It results in failure because 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:02.409 you're spending half your energy just wearing 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:04.970 a mask in every meeting. So if the solution isn't 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:07.370 just sending out a company -wide memo that says, 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.990 hey, be yourself, how do leaders actually dismantle 00:10:10.990 --> 00:10:13.929 that expectation of emulation? Well, Ron Garry 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:16.210 has this tactical approach he uses that I just 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:18.990 found fascinating. He calls it identifying wildflowers. 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:21.429 Wildflowers. I love that term. What does that 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:23.700 look like in practice? It's a brilliant piece 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:26.940 of active management. So Ron notices a pattern. 00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:30.820 During informal prep sessions for big executive 00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:33.480 meetings, everyone is chatting, the ideas are 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.740 flowing, and the diverse candidates on his team 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:37.919 are just brilliant. OK, so they know their stuff 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:40.539 in private. Exactly. Yeah. But the moment they 00:10:40.539 --> 00:10:42.799 step into the formal boardroom with the broader 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.080 C -suite, certain individuals who he affectionately 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:49.659 calls wildflowers suddenly clam up. They just 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:51.919 shrink back. But hold on, if someone is already 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:54.000 an introvert, or if they already feel marginalized 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.700 in a room full of, you know, type A executives, 00:10:57.340 --> 00:10:59.500 isn't cold -calling them in front of the entire 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:02.100 C -suite the exact opposite of psychological 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:04.519 safety? Like, that honestly sounds terrifying 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.159 to me. Oh, it would be absolutely terrifying 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.600 if you did it blind. But the mechanism that makes 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.820 this work is prep session. His strategy is entirely 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:13.840 proactive. Okay, so he plans it out with them 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.700 beforehand. Yes. Before they ever walk into the 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:18.899 boardroom, he sits down with his wildflowers 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:21.639 and says, listen, be ready. At some point in 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:23.519 this meeting, I'm going to throw you a softball 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.580 or a t -ball question. He tells them, I am going 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:29.139 to intentionally create a gap in the conversation 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:33.529 for you. And I want you to show your value. Ah, 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:36.450 so he leverages his own power and privilege as 00:11:36.450 --> 00:11:38.669 the leader in the room to construct a safe off 00:11:38.669 --> 00:11:41.210 ramp for them. Precisely. He tees them up so 00:11:41.210 --> 00:11:43.250 they don't have to fight to interject over all 00:11:43.250 --> 00:11:46.269 the loud voices. They just have to step up and 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:48.470 knock the softball out of the park. He doesn't 00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:50.470 just hope they find the courage to speak over 00:11:50.470 --> 00:11:53.750 loud executives. He actually engineers the environment 00:11:53.750 --> 00:11:56.129 so they can prove their immense value to the 00:11:56.129 --> 00:11:58.269 rest of the room. That is real leadership right 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.049 there. It really is. And this raises an important 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:04.840 question about... which Leanne illustrates with 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.799 a really powerful anecdote from a previous company 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:10.340 she worked at. Oh, the hoodie story. Yeah. This 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:13.159 story completely stopped me in my tracks. It's 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:15.320 incredibly moving. It was an all -hands meeting 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:17.960 during Black History Month. A young black tech 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.019 employee gets up on the stage to address the 00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:22.320 company. And what does he tell them? He explains 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.360 to the crowd that his entire life, for his own 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.039 physical safety in his neighborhood and with 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.100 authorities, he was trained to keep his hoodie 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:32.440 up. keep his voice low, and stay quiet. That 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.539 was his literal survival mechanism. Yes. And 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.879 then he walks through the doors of a fast -paced 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:40.740 tech company, and suddenly management expects 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:43.899 him to act like a loud, extroverted, table -pounding 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:47.200 Stanford grad. They expect him to totally reverse 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.360 a lifetime of survival conditioning just because 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.159 he walked into a corporate office. It's a profound 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.480 realization of how historical norms of corporate 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:59.299 behavior are completely alien. or even historically 00:12:59.299 --> 00:13:02.159 dangerous for the very people we are now inviting 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.580 into the building. So Leanne emphasizes that 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:07.720 inclusivity cannot just be a broad sweeping initiative, 00:13:07.899 --> 00:13:09.840 right? It's a highly individual people issue. 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:12.580 Exactly. Because you have white male introverts, 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:14.919 you have working mothers, you have young black 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.159 men carrying the weight of systemic caution. 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:19.940 And they all have completely unique operational 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.559 needs. Which is exactly why she aggressively 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.340 champions things like flexible work schedules. 00:13:26.359 --> 00:13:29.779 Inclusion means looking at the individual and 00:13:29.779 --> 00:13:34.080 realizing that the rigid 9 -5 aggressive boardroom 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:38.179 structure only optimizes performance for a very 00:13:38.179 --> 00:13:41.519 specific type of person. Right. If you want the 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.779 absolute best out of your entire workforce, you 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:46.039 have to offer flexible environments that meet 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:49.139 them where their CPU runs most efficiently. Perfectly 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:51.679 said. So what does this all mean for you, the 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:53.559 person listening right now, trying to navigate 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.440 your own career? The panel tied this back to 00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:58.740 a phrase we hear constantly, personal brand, 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.419 but they approached it completely differently. 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:03.720 Yeah, they really flipped it on its head. Graciela 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:05.679 said you have to find your brand, secure your 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:08.120 foundation, and then just flaunt it. Think about 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:10.980 how a multi -billion dollar corporate brand works. 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:13.679 If consumers don't quite get a company's brand, 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.340 the company doesn't panic, abandon its identity, 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:18.399 and pretend to be its competitor. Right. They 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.659 go back to their core foundation, they strengthen 00:14:20.659 --> 00:14:22.960 their messaging, and they communicate their value 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.429 better. Exactly. Inclusion isn't a one -off email 00:14:26.429 --> 00:14:29.269 you send out in a designated month. As Graciela 00:14:29.269 --> 00:14:31.230 frames it, it's the difference between going 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:33.929 on a crash diet for a week and fundamentally 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:36.549 changing your lifestyle to be healthy. Inclusion 00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:39.809 has to be a daily operational habit. You can't 00:14:39.809 --> 00:14:42.169 invite someone to the table and then demand they 00:14:42.169 --> 00:14:44.870 use your exact manners, your exact tone of voice, 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:47.690 and your exact aggressive posture. You have to 00:14:47.690 --> 00:14:50.350 let them be who they are because, as one of the 00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:52.669 panelists noted, everyone else has already taken. 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:55.639 That's a great quote and this is where the timeline 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:58.539 of our discussion really shifts. Because when 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:01.419 an organization actually masters this internal 00:15:01.419 --> 00:15:03.899 inclusion when they remove that emulation tax 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:06.200 from their employees Exactly when they do that. 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:07.919 It doesn't just stay trapped inside the walls 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.220 of the corporate headquarters It creates this 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:13.460 massive ripple effect that spills out into global 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:16.519 community impact Yes, and this transition is 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.919 crucial because when a massive company starts 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.820 deploying its resources to do good globally It 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.200 actually solves one of the most pressing internal 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:27.019 crises companies face today, which is the desperate 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.460 craving for purpose among their own employees. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.139 And Ron detailed some incredible mechanics of 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:35.120 how HP is doing this. Right because a lot of 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.220 companies just passively write donation checks 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:40.139 to universities. Yeah. But HP actively partners 00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:43.220 with historically black colleges and universities, 00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:47.820 HBCUs, to physically shape their tech curriculums. 00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:51.080 Wait, so they actually help write the coursework? 00:15:51.539 --> 00:15:54.259 Yes. Ron literally sits down with academic leaders 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:57.899 and says, here are the exact IT skills I need 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:01.470 as a global CIO today. He helps them build the 00:16:01.470 --> 00:16:03.309 coursework so that when these students graduate, 00:16:03.710 --> 00:16:06.070 they are perfectly calibrated to be hired immediately. 00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:08.529 That is so much more valuable than just a check. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.899 He also shared that HP's treasurer made major, 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:14.360 highly intentional cash deposits into black -owned 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:16.799 banks in Detroit and Houston. They didn't just 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.960 leave all their capital in Wall Street institutions. 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.940 Right. They placed it there specifically so those 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:24.299 local banks could lend that money out and reinvest 00:16:24.299 --> 00:16:26.039 directly into those local communities. It's all 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:28.860 about intentionality. But the story that truly 00:16:28.860 --> 00:16:31.340 showcases the intersection of global supply chain 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:34.340 and personal purpose is Ron's connection to Haiti. 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.759 Oh, this story. It's amazing. So Ron's parents 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:40.179 migrated from Haiti to the U .S. in the late 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:43.620 60s. Tragically, during the devastating earthquake 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:47.200 there, he lost 12 family members. Just heartbreaking. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.440 It is. And he shared a really haunting detail. 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:52.419 One of his relatives actually called him the 00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:55.799 Knight of the Quake, and he didn't answer. That 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.059 missed call has just stayed with him ever since. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:01.259 Man. So to channel that grief into action, he 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:04.180 serves on the board of SBP, an organization that 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.640 rebuilds homes after natural disasters. Right. 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.119 But here is the amazing way his corporate life 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:12.279 intersects with his personal mission. HP actually 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:14.579 set up a recycling center in Haiti. And they 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:16.380 employ locals there, right? Yes, they employ 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:19.019 locals to pull ocean -bound plastics right off 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:22.289 the beaches. And that recycled material is integrated 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.910 directly into HP's core supply chain. This blew 00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:27.809 my mind. It makes up 60 % of the physical material 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:31.089 in the HP Dragonfly laptop that Ron himself uses 00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:33.849 every day. It is not a charity write -off. It 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:36.150 is core procurement. And to bring the story entirely 00:17:36.150 --> 00:17:38.569 full circle, Ron recently discovered that his 00:17:38.569 --> 00:17:41.609 own second cousin is employed at that exact recycling 00:17:41.609 --> 00:17:44.309 facility in Haiti, building a sustainable living 00:17:44.309 --> 00:17:47.250 for his family. that is a company's inclusive 00:17:47.250 --> 00:17:49.769 supply chain, literally changing the trajectory 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:52.430 of a community and the very family of the executive 00:17:52.430 --> 00:17:54.869 leading the charge. When you hear the mechanics 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:57.049 of a story like that, you really start to understand 00:17:57.049 --> 00:17:59.630 Leanne's advice regarding the daily news cycle. 00:17:59.809 --> 00:18:02.329 Oh, absolutely. She pointed out how watching 00:18:02.329 --> 00:18:04.609 the news every day can make us feel incredibly 00:18:04.609 --> 00:18:08.150 sad, overwhelmed, and just completely disempowered. 00:18:08.410 --> 00:18:10.730 Yeah, the world just feels too heavy to fix sometimes. 00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:14.500 But she offered a very pragmatic antidote. Doing 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.640 good. She stresses how vital it is for companies 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.240 to let employees choose where they want to direct 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.920 their community efforts. So don't just dictate 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:25.200 the corporate charity from the top down. Exactly. 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:27.619 Empower the employee to solve a problem in their 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:29.980 own backyard. Because community service isn't 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:32.680 just a corporate public relations strategy. It 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.500 is a vital operational tool for employee mental 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.359 health. It's how a workforce gains understanding 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:41.599 and shifts perspective. As she simply put it, 00:18:41.700 --> 00:18:44.119 when you do good for others, you biologically 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:46.700 feel good for yourself. And this directly explains 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:48.799 the massive labor shifts we've seen, you know, 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.240 what the media calls the great resignation. People 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.319 aren't just quitting to sit on the couch. No, 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.240 they're migrating. Right. If you are a highly 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:58.700 skilled worker in an organization that doesn't 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.319 value your authentic self, you're going to leave 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:03.880 and find a company that actually serves a higher 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:06.539 good and offers a tangible sense of purpose. 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:11.000 Exactly. Retaining top talent today means giving 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.220 your workforce a reason to be intensely proud 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.279 of the logo on their paycheck. If the company 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.400 is actively engaged in the community, the employees 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.440 feel a shared sense of ownership over that positive 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.950 impact. So let's take a step back and look at 00:19:25.950 --> 00:19:27.869 the trajectory we've been on today. We started 00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:29.789 out trying to cut through the buzzwords of corporate 00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:32.410 culture, looking for the actual mechanics of 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:35.390 inclusion. And what we found is that it is deeply 00:19:35.390 --> 00:19:38.789 personal, rooted in painful experiences, and 00:19:38.789 --> 00:19:41.569 highly operational. We saw how a personal feeling 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:44.289 of being an outsider, like being mistaken for 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:46.569 the valet or spending 18 months trying to erase 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:49.009 your own accent, can evolve into a leadership 00:19:49.009 --> 00:19:52.190 style that intentionally engineers off -ramps 00:19:52.190 --> 00:19:54.849 for quiet voices in the boardroom. We explored 00:19:54.849 --> 00:19:57.589 how removing the exhausting burden of emulation 00:19:57.589 --> 00:20:00.250 frees up the mental processing power required 00:20:00.250 --> 00:20:02.990 to redesign life -saving medical equipment, ensuring 00:20:02.990 --> 00:20:06.130 that MRI machines actually fit the diverse reality 00:20:06.130 --> 00:20:08.589 of the human body. And we saw how a corporate 00:20:08.589 --> 00:20:12.450 commitment community can literally pull plastic 00:20:12.450 --> 00:20:14.950 out of the ocean in Haiti, turning it into a 00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:17.450 laptop while providing sustainable jobs for the 00:20:17.450 --> 00:20:19.849 very families of the executives leading the company. 00:20:19.890 --> 00:20:21.690 It all comes down to the architecture of the 00:20:21.690 --> 00:20:23.470 environments we build and work in. It really 00:20:23.470 --> 00:20:25.990 does. So here is a final thought to mull over 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:28.089 as you close out this deep dive and go about 00:20:28.089 --> 00:20:31.210 your day. We've spent this time exploring how 00:20:31.210 --> 00:20:34.009 human beings must avoid emulating the majority 00:20:34.009 --> 00:20:36.950 just to fit into a corporate machine. We know 00:20:36.950 --> 00:20:39.109 that code switching drains our vital energy. 00:20:39.690 --> 00:20:42.250 Right. But as we increasingly rely on artificial 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:44.509 intelligence to write our emails, to screen our 00:20:44.509 --> 00:20:46.950 resumes, and to manage our schedules, are we 00:20:46.950 --> 00:20:49.029 unknowingly building a digital infrastructure 00:20:49.029 --> 00:20:51.789 that will force the next generation to code switch 00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:55.039 just to be understood by the algorithm. That 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.859 is a terrifying thought. Are we finally freeing 00:20:57.859 --> 00:21:00.460 humans from the burden of emulation in the boardroom 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:03.680 only to program that exact same bias into our 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.339 machines? Take a hard look at where you spend 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:09.079 your 40 hours a week. Are you spending your energy 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:11.319 trying to emulate someone else or are you in 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:14.059 an environment that actively amplifies your authentic 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:16.740 self? It's a profound question about what we 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.789 are optimizing for in the future. Something to 00:21:19.789 --> 00:21:22.769 keep a close eye on as technology evolves. Thank 00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:25.069 you for joining us on this deep dive. Until next 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:26.910 time, keep looking beneath the surface.