Lou,
I completely agree with your assessment of this weeks training. It was impactful and I really learned a lot. Really enjoyed getting everyone's perspectives during the comprehensive training session. I've already shared some the stories and my enthusiasm with some of my teammates. Clearly winning in this area and being seen by the industry as having a diverse and inclusive environment is important to the company. As we continue to be viewed as one of the best places to work, leadership in this area will be one of the keys to attracting the best and brightest from all demographic segments.
Again, great training this week and well worth our time.....
Jeff
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Team:
I took a risk this week and carved out two days in the middle of Q4 with $15M in committed business on the line to spend two days with Jeff Moore in a diversity training event in RTP. Overall I'm a huge proponent of diversity but 2 business days in Q4 for a Commercial RM is a big ask :) however as I discussed with Bryan live, this was one of the most impactful training sessions (top 3) I've participated in during my 10 years here at Cisco. The timing relative to the horrific events in Charleston also created some anxiety around the event but the group did a great job of having courageous and frank conversations that highlighted the need to embrace and champion diversity. A couple quick highlights from the training below for your reference:
A. Shari Slate, Cisco Diversity Officer, kicked off the meeting and gave us a readout on why diversity is important to Cisco and highlighted our metrics which aren't all trending in a positive direction. Percent of non caucasian new hires new hires in US Operations declined two years in a row (52, 48, 44% respectively) and Female Managers and Directors declined in the US from FY13 to FY14 from 23 to 22% were two examples. All details in corporate social responsibility report which can be found here:
I thought it was really cool to hear that Chuck was actually the one to hire Shari to Cisco four years ago. Sounds like he knew what he was doing….
B. Trudy Bourgeois facilitated the majority of the training drawing on her experience as african american SVP at RJ Reynolds. Her blog on huffington post captured here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trudy-bourgeois/
The two key points that I took away from her talks and the two extensive quantitative survey's that both Jeff and I participated in:
1. Looking beyond Commonalities – I've always worked hard to find common ground with others of all races, creeds, colors, etc but Trudy and the material went beyond that to focus on understanding the differences and strengths in others and workign to help leverage that for the greater good.
2. Inspirational Leaders – I learned that it wasn't enough to simply given everyone an "equal playing field". As a majority I take for granted that there are so many great role models for me and folks like me to aspire to. We need to provide the same for others so that they truly have mentors that they can strive to become.
C. Exec Sponsors - Joe Pinto highlighted the funding he provides and how he advocates for diversity in exec ranks to help us be more competitive. Steve Yaeger who is from RTP is also an active exec sponsor.
There was also a great deal of detailed information on implicit and explicit bias as well as detailed evaluations that helped Jeff and I learn more about ourselves and how we can work better together and help each other achieve more.
I hope you find the material interesting. I was amazed at how much I didn't know and how much still needs to be done to help give everyone a chance to leverage their strengths and felt compelled to share a brief summary to complement some of the casual conversations that I've had with many of you 1:1.
I hope you take some time to understand some of the nuances of this topic. I was long overdue. Sincerely, Lou
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