Imagine spending two decades climbing to the
absolute peak. of the corporate IT world. You
have built this absolutely flawless resume. Right.
You're at the very top of your game. Exactly.
You are the global CIO of a multi -billion dollar
company. You're at a major industry event. You're
about to walk on stage to give a keynote address
to a room full of your peers. And someone just
walks up and hands you their valet keys. I mean,
it's just a jarring image. But the crazy thing
is, it is a completely real scenario. Yeah, it
really happened. And today we're looking at how
the world's top executives take moments of profound
exclusion exactly like that one and actually
reverse engineer them into multi -billion dollar
product innovations. It's such a powerful pivot.
It really is. So welcome to today's Deep Dive.
If you're listening to this, you are probably
trying to cut through the endless corporate buzzwords
surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
All the acronyms. There's so many acronyms. Right.
We all hear them. But what does the actual machinery
of inclusion look like when it's operating at
the highest possible level? That's our mission
today. We are looking at how C -suite executives
operationalize this for real world impact. And
the source material we're diving into is just
a phenomenal resource for exactly that. It's
a panel discussion from the Women in Tech Network.
Yeah, moderated by Annette White -Klososki, right?
Exactly. And she sits down with three absolute
heavy hitters. You've got Ron Garrier, the global
CIO at HP. You've got Leanne Hornsey, who's the
chief people officer at Palo Alto Networks, and
Graciela Perez, the VP and chief digital program
officer at GE Healthcare. So we are talking about
leaders who manage massive global workforces.
Oh, yeah. And budgets that honestly rival...
the GDP of small countries. OK, so let's unpack
this, because today is all about moving from
theory to practice. We're going to see how the
mechanics of inclusion change, like literally
everything, right down to the physical products
we buy and the way we combat burnout. Which is
huge for anyone in the workforce right now. Absolutely.
But to understand how these leaders shape those
massive corporate policies, we first have to
start somewhere incredibly personal. We have
to look at the painful lived experiences that
you know, forge their perspectives in the first
place. Right, because high -level policies don't
just materialize out of thin air. They're almost
always born from a highly specific lived experience,
which brings us back to that opening scenario.
Yeah, that valet key story. In this panel, Ron
Garrier shares that exact story. I mean, he's
a highly successful executive with 25 years in
IT. And he is the one giving the keynote. Exactly.
And he recounts these moments where even as a
sitting CIO, attendees would just assume he was
the coffee. Or they'd hand him the keys to park
their car. He even mentions two specific cases
where security was actually called on him at
events. Wow. Yeah, because people assumed he
was just wandering around trying to get free
food. That is just staggering. But, you know,
what is truly fascinating here is how these early
feelings of being an outsider naturally evolve
into this lifelong drive to address broader systemic
inequalities. Right, because when someone hands
Ron their valet keys, he doesn't react poorly.
He doesn't, like, throw... the keys into the
bushes. Which, frankly, many of us might be tempted
to do. Oh, absolutely. I would be furious. But
instead, he uses it as a mechanical intervention.
How so? He stops, he looks at them, and he just
says, no, I happen to be a peer of yours. I'm
going on stage in 10 minutes. I hope you enjoy
the talk. Oh, that's brilliant. Right. He intercepts
their bias and turns it into an educational moment
right there on the spot. He takes that profound
feeling of being marginalized and he operationalizes
it. He builds a bridge instead of a wall. Exactly.
And the panel doesn't just focus on race or gender
in this regard. Like, Leigh Ann Hornsey shares
a very different but mechanically similar experience.
of being an outsider. Yes, so Leanne grew up
in a working -class family in the UK. She is
white, but she points out that she's Irish and
Catholic, which in her specific environment was
not a thing that blended in easily at all. Because
she was a very bright kid, so she got sent to
a school for other high -performing children.
Right, but she didn't have the money, she didn't
have the proper uniform, and she had what she
called an appalling working -class accent compared
to her... you know, affluent peers. And the lengths
she went to just to survive in that environment
are incredible. Like, at 11 years old, she spent
18 grueling months taking elocution lessons.
Wow. 18 months. Yeah. 18 months of actively trying
to erase her accent and permanently alter her
voice just to sound like the majority. And the
realization she takes from that is just foundational
to her work as a chief people officer. Yeah.
Because she realized she was physically capable
of changing her voice, right? She could successfully
emulate the majority. Right. But it took massive
effort. Exactly. And she points out that many
people, people of color, people with different
genders or different physical abilities, they
cannot simply change their physical appearance
to blend in like that. To put this in tech terms,
since we're talking about IT executives here,
it's like running a background operating system
that eats up, say, 40 % of your CPU just to maintain
a fake user interface. This is such a good analogy.
Right. Because if you are using almost half your
brain power just trying to sound, look, and act
like the majority, you only have 60 % of your
energy left to actually do your job. Yeah, that
CPU drain is real. If an employee's processing
power is drained by emulation, they aren't using
that energy to innovate. Leanne's ultimate thesis
is that forcing people to emulate the majority
is just an exhausting burden that entirely saps
human energy. which naturally shifts the conversation
from how empathy feels on an individual level
to how empathy literally builds things on a corporate
level. And this is where I really want to push
back on the kind of cynical view of this topic,
because a lot of people view DEI as just an HR
initiative. Like a training module you click
through once a year. Exactly. But here's where
it gets really interesting. Does having diverse
perspectives in a company actually change the
physical, tangible products that a multi -billion
dollar company manufactures? If we connect this
to the bigger picture, Graciela Perez from GE
Healthcare provides an absolute master class
on exactly how it does. She brings up a really
striking data point, doesn't she? She does. She
notes that over 70 % of healthcare providers
are women. Yet historically, the technology they
use hasn't always been built with them. or their
patients in mind. Right. And she talks about
this concept in artificial intelligence called
data artifacts. Now, I've heard that term thrown
around in text circles, but like, what does it
actually mean in the context of building a product?
Is an artifact just a bug in the code? Not exactly.
Think of an artifact as a historical bias frozen
in data. Okay. Frozen how? Well, let's say a
development team is training an AI model to detect
anomalies in medical scans. If the historical
data they feed into that AI comes from a demographic
that leans, say, 80 % male in Caucasian. The
algorithm just mathematically optimizes for that
specific reality. Exactly. It treats that male
anatomy as the absolute baseline. The AI doesn't
know it's biased. It's just calculating based
on the only worldview it was ever given. So if
the engineering team all looks the same and they
all have the same lived experience, they might
not even realize the data is skewed in the first
place. Right. The product literally inherits
the blind spots of its creators. That is terrifying
when you're talking about medical AI. It really
is. And Graciela points out that this goes far
beyond just software and algorithms. It dictates
the physical manufacturing of hardware, too.
Oh, like the MRI machines. Yes. She uses this
incredible example of magnetic resonance imaging.
GE actually went back and physically changed
the engineering of their newer MRI machines to
increase the opening space, the bore of the machine.
Because as she so perfectly put it, people don't
come in one size. Precisely. The original dimensions
were largely based on a specific historical standard
of the human body. which really excluded a lot
of people. Absolutely. So by widening that space,
they reduce patient claustrophobia, they accommodate
different body types, and they actually change
the entire diagnostic experience. But here is
the mechanical hurdle Graciela highlights right.
You can have all the data in the world suggesting
you need a wider MRI machine, but it takes diverse
people actually embedded within the design team
to spot the flaw. And to champion the redesign.
Because changing hardware is not cheap. No, not
at all. And crucially, it takes a diverse C -suite
to actually sign the checks. The executives holding
the budget have to understand the why behind
the redesign, or the inclusive idea never makes
it off the whiteboard. It just dies in committee.
Exactly. If you're managing a team right now,
it makes you ask yourself, like, how many metaphorical
MRI machines is your team building with blind
spots simply because you haven't given the budget
pen to a diverse voice? Which brings up a massive
logistical challenge. Let's say a company understands
this, right? They know diverse perspectives are
an absolute requirement to avoid engineering
blind spots. Okay, so they know they need the
voices. Right, but how do they actually ensure
those diverse voices feel safe enough to speak
up in a high -pressure boardroom? Because getting
a seat at the table is one thing. Having the
authorization to use your voice is something
else entirely. And the panel was incredibly candid
about the barriers here. Graciela shared that,
early in her career, she was literally told to
cut her indigenous curly hair so she would, quote,
look the part for her executive level. Which
ties directly back to Leanne's warning about
the danger of emulation. The CPU drain again.
Exactly. Leanne argues that a significant reason
many women fail in corporate business is because
they try to emulate aggressive male behaviors.
Right. They force themselves into a posture that
just isn't authentic to them. And it leads to
utter exhaustion. It results in failure because
you're spending half your energy just wearing
a mask in every meeting. So if the solution isn't
just sending out a company -wide memo that says,
hey, be yourself, how do leaders actually dismantle
that expectation of emulation? Well, Ron Garry
has this tactical approach he uses that I just
found fascinating. He calls it identifying wildflowers.
Wildflowers. I love that term. What does that
look like in practice? It's a brilliant piece
of active management. So Ron notices a pattern.
During informal prep sessions for big executive
meetings, everyone is chatting, the ideas are
flowing, and the diverse candidates on his team
are just brilliant. OK, so they know their stuff
in private. Exactly. Yeah. But the moment they
step into the formal boardroom with the broader
C -suite, certain individuals who he affectionately
calls wildflowers suddenly clam up. They just
shrink back. But hold on, if someone is already
an introvert, or if they already feel marginalized
in a room full of, you know, type A executives,
isn't cold -calling them in front of the entire
C -suite the exact opposite of psychological
safety? Like, that honestly sounds terrifying
to me. Oh, it would be absolutely terrifying
if you did it blind. But the mechanism that makes
this work is prep session. His strategy is entirely
proactive. Okay, so he plans it out with them
beforehand. Yes. Before they ever walk into the
boardroom, he sits down with his wildflowers
and says, listen, be ready. At some point in
this meeting, I'm going to throw you a softball
or a t -ball question. He tells them, I am going
to intentionally create a gap in the conversation
for you. And I want you to show your value. Ah,
so he leverages his own power and privilege as
the leader in the room to construct a safe off
ramp for them. Precisely. He tees them up so
they don't have to fight to interject over all
the loud voices. They just have to step up and
knock the softball out of the park. He doesn't
just hope they find the courage to speak over
loud executives. He actually engineers the environment
so they can prove their immense value to the
rest of the room. That is real leadership right
there. It really is. And this raises an important
question about... which Leanne illustrates with
a really powerful anecdote from a previous company
she worked at. Oh, the hoodie story. Yeah. This
story completely stopped me in my tracks. It's
incredibly moving. It was an all -hands meeting
during Black History Month. A young black tech
employee gets up on the stage to address the
company. And what does he tell them? He explains
to the crowd that his entire life, for his own
physical safety in his neighborhood and with
authorities, he was trained to keep his hoodie
up. keep his voice low, and stay quiet. That
was his literal survival mechanism. Yes. And
then he walks through the doors of a fast -paced
tech company, and suddenly management expects
him to act like a loud, extroverted, table -pounding
Stanford grad. They expect him to totally reverse
a lifetime of survival conditioning just because
he walked into a corporate office. It's a profound
realization of how historical norms of corporate
behavior are completely alien. or even historically
dangerous for the very people we are now inviting
into the building. So Leanne emphasizes that
inclusivity cannot just be a broad sweeping initiative,
right? It's a highly individual people issue.
Exactly. Because you have white male introverts,
you have working mothers, you have young black
men carrying the weight of systemic caution.
And they all have completely unique operational
needs. Which is exactly why she aggressively
champions things like flexible work schedules.
Inclusion means looking at the individual and
realizing that the rigid 9 -5 aggressive boardroom
structure only optimizes performance for a very
specific type of person. Right. If you want the
absolute best out of your entire workforce, you
have to offer flexible environments that meet
them where their CPU runs most efficiently. Perfectly
said. So what does this all mean for you, the
person listening right now, trying to navigate
your own career? The panel tied this back to
a phrase we hear constantly, personal brand,
but they approached it completely differently.
Yeah, they really flipped it on its head. Graciela
said you have to find your brand, secure your
foundation, and then just flaunt it. Think about
how a multi -billion dollar corporate brand works.
If consumers don't quite get a company's brand,
the company doesn't panic, abandon its identity,
and pretend to be its competitor. Right. They
go back to their core foundation, they strengthen
their messaging, and they communicate their value
better. Exactly. Inclusion isn't a one -off email
you send out in a designated month. As Graciela
frames it, it's the difference between going
on a crash diet for a week and fundamentally
changing your lifestyle to be healthy. Inclusion
has to be a daily operational habit. You can't
invite someone to the table and then demand they
use your exact manners, your exact tone of voice,
and your exact aggressive posture. You have to
let them be who they are because, as one of the
panelists noted, everyone else has already taken.
That's a great quote and this is where the timeline
of our discussion really shifts. Because when
an organization actually masters this internal
inclusion when they remove that emulation tax
from their employees Exactly when they do that.
It doesn't just stay trapped inside the walls
of the corporate headquarters It creates this
massive ripple effect that spills out into global
community impact Yes, and this transition is
crucial because when a massive company starts
deploying its resources to do good globally It
actually solves one of the most pressing internal
crises companies face today, which is the desperate
craving for purpose among their own employees.
And Ron detailed some incredible mechanics of
how HP is doing this. Right because a lot of
companies just passively write donation checks
to universities. Yeah. But HP actively partners
with historically black colleges and universities,
HBCUs, to physically shape their tech curriculums.
Wait, so they actually help write the coursework?
Yes. Ron literally sits down with academic leaders
and says, here are the exact IT skills I need
as a global CIO today. He helps them build the
coursework so that when these students graduate,
they are perfectly calibrated to be hired immediately.
That is so much more valuable than just a check.
He also shared that HP's treasurer made major,
highly intentional cash deposits into black -owned
banks in Detroit and Houston. They didn't just
leave all their capital in Wall Street institutions.
Right. They placed it there specifically so those
local banks could lend that money out and reinvest
directly into those local communities. It's all
about intentionality. But the story that truly
showcases the intersection of global supply chain
and personal purpose is Ron's connection to Haiti.
Oh, this story. It's amazing. So Ron's parents
migrated from Haiti to the U .S. in the late
60s. Tragically, during the devastating earthquake
there, he lost 12 family members. Just heartbreaking.
It is. And he shared a really haunting detail.
One of his relatives actually called him the
Knight of the Quake, and he didn't answer. That
missed call has just stayed with him ever since.
Man. So to channel that grief into action, he
serves on the board of SBP, an organization that
rebuilds homes after natural disasters. Right.
But here is the amazing way his corporate life
intersects with his personal mission. HP actually
set up a recycling center in Haiti. And they
employ locals there, right? Yes, they employ
locals to pull ocean -bound plastics right off
the beaches. And that recycled material is integrated
directly into HP's core supply chain. This blew
my mind. It makes up 60 % of the physical material
in the HP Dragonfly laptop that Ron himself uses
every day. It is not a charity write -off. It
is core procurement. And to bring the story entirely
full circle, Ron recently discovered that his
own second cousin is employed at that exact recycling
facility in Haiti, building a sustainable living
for his family. that is a company's inclusive
supply chain, literally changing the trajectory
of a community and the very family of the executive
leading the charge. When you hear the mechanics
of a story like that, you really start to understand
Leanne's advice regarding the daily news cycle.
Oh, absolutely. She pointed out how watching
the news every day can make us feel incredibly
sad, overwhelmed, and just completely disempowered.
Yeah, the world just feels too heavy to fix sometimes.
But she offered a very pragmatic antidote. Doing
good. She stresses how vital it is for companies
to let employees choose where they want to direct
their community efforts. So don't just dictate
the corporate charity from the top down. Exactly.
Empower the employee to solve a problem in their
own backyard. Because community service isn't
just a corporate public relations strategy. It
is a vital operational tool for employee mental
health. It's how a workforce gains understanding
and shifts perspective. As she simply put it,
when you do good for others, you biologically
feel good for yourself. And this directly explains
the massive labor shifts we've seen, you know,
what the media calls the great resignation. People
aren't just quitting to sit on the couch. No,
they're migrating. Right. If you are a highly
skilled worker in an organization that doesn't
value your authentic self, you're going to leave
and find a company that actually serves a higher
good and offers a tangible sense of purpose.
Exactly. Retaining top talent today means giving
your workforce a reason to be intensely proud
of the logo on their paycheck. If the company
is actively engaged in the community, the employees
feel a shared sense of ownership over that positive
impact. So let's take a step back and look at
the trajectory we've been on today. We started
out trying to cut through the buzzwords of corporate
culture, looking for the actual mechanics of
inclusion. And what we found is that it is deeply
personal, rooted in painful experiences, and
highly operational. We saw how a personal feeling
of being an outsider, like being mistaken for
the valet or spending 18 months trying to erase
your own accent, can evolve into a leadership
style that intentionally engineers off -ramps
for quiet voices in the boardroom. We explored
how removing the exhausting burden of emulation
frees up the mental processing power required
to redesign life -saving medical equipment, ensuring
that MRI machines actually fit the diverse reality
of the human body. And we saw how a corporate
commitment community can literally pull plastic
out of the ocean in Haiti, turning it into a
laptop while providing sustainable jobs for the
very families of the executives leading the company.
It all comes down to the architecture of the
environments we build and work in. It really
does. So here is a final thought to mull over
as you close out this deep dive and go about
your day. We've spent this time exploring how
human beings must avoid emulating the majority
just to fit into a corporate machine. We know
that code switching drains our vital energy.
Right. But as we increasingly rely on artificial
intelligence to write our emails, to screen our
resumes, and to manage our schedules, are we
unknowingly building a digital infrastructure
that will force the next generation to code switch
just to be understood by the algorithm. That
is a terrifying thought. Are we finally freeing
humans from the burden of emulation in the boardroom
only to program that exact same bias into our
machines? Take a hard look at where you spend
your 40 hours a week. Are you spending your energy
trying to emulate someone else or are you in
an environment that actively amplifies your authentic
self? It's a profound question about what we
are optimizing for in the future. Something to
keep a close eye on as technology evolves. Thank
you for joining us on this deep dive. Until next
time, keep looking beneath the surface.