Tag Archive for: Men Who Get It

Men Who Get It: Jamie Broderick, CEO, UBS Wealth Management, UK Jersey

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Jamie Broderick, UBS Wealth ManagementWhile there are many different motivations for championing diversity, such as political, emotional, social, or even a sense of justice, Jamie Broderick of UBS Wealth Management has chosen to focus on business success as the key factor

“When considered as a business issue, it illuminates diversity and inclusion as a topic that everyone should be concerned about, not just those with a personal passion,” he says. “When framed as a business imperative, it enfranchises everyone, including men. You don’t have to be PC, progressive or female; you just have to be a business person.”

Broderick joined the firm three years ago, previously, serving as CEO for JP Morgan Asset Management Europe where he worked for 19 years.

“You can’t create a successful business unless you have an inclusive culture, which encourages a workplace where people can thrive,” Broderick says. And when he talks about diversity and inclusion, he doesn’t just think about gender, but other areas such as LGBT, disability or ethnicity.

He speaks from experience, having transferred to the financial industry from academia 30 years ago. “Not that many people would have looked past the mainstream qualification profile to hire me,” he acknowledges. “It’s probably not a coincidence that the team I moved to was led by women. In an industry dominated by men, they were able to see the potential in a non-mainstream profile.”

Diversity as a Business Issue

Broderick points out that by creating the business case, companies will start to track progress and create targets, just as they treat all other business challenges. “There is no other business issue that people would have let drift for 10 years,” he says.

“You must involve men, as they are half the workforce and most of senior management,” Broderick says. “Diversity and inclusion has an impact on the ability to create a high-performing organization where people remain, thrive and grow, but to shift the dial, you must involve men.

One key way to address the issue is to raise awareness through training in unconscious bias, which he believes should be a component of all line manager training.

He says that most workplaces won’t find overt examples of disparaging remarks or the like, but that biases can creep into everything we do, which offers frequent opportunities to challenge one another.

“Unconscious bias training shows you the extent to which the behaviors that hold people back are pervasive,” he says. “We need to have a broader understanding of diversity of styles and constant support to think about how we do things and how we can improve. There are plenty of opportunities for introspection.”

For example, he suggests texting a meeting leader to ask them to consider the dynamics in the meeting they are holding. He says that meetings need to be constructed so that everyone gets a chance to voice their views, even those who aren’t naturally assertive.

He explains that there are always those who are just as smart and have ideas just as good, but they prefer to hold back and not grab the podium. They may be waiting for entry points that never arrive, and meeting chairs who are sensitive to this dynamic can help create those points of entry.

Extending Diversity to Mentoring

Broderick highlighted the female mentoring program he runs which takes a reciprocal approach, requiring senior women mentees to also act as mentors for more junior colleagues, thus driving the culture of coaching deeper into the organization. This intergenerational approach ensures those who receive also give.

He also recognizes the mutual benefit for mentors. “When I act as a mentor to a female colleague, I help one person progress better. But if she reverse mentors and gives me insights, as a senior manager, that ends up affecting hundreds of people who are now being managed in a different way.”

This is just one component of the Diversity and Inclusion program he sponsors in his UK business. A Women in Wealth networking program was created to focus additional attention on the benefits of connecting women and helping to network more effectively.

“Leaders need to provide more than emotional and moral support. They must incorporate diversity into their business and make sure the business takes it seriously.”

Broderick’s perspective and support for diversity and inclusion was recognized recently when he was named “Champion of the Year” in the CityWealth PowerWomen Awards 2016.

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Men Who Get It: Bill Brucella, Senior Managing Director/Divisional Chief Information Officer, TIAA-CREF

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Bill Brucella“Take ownership of your career by identifying key influencers and mentors who can help you,” says TIAA-CREF’s Bill Brucella, who believes that women should develop their own brand, which can include advocating to get visible opportunities and taking on stretch assignments.

Brucella started his own career as a software developer more than 30 years ago. “I did that for five years before I figured out that there were more talented people in that space,” he says with a laugh, “but then I realized that maybe I could lead them.” He transferred into project management and quickly grew into other management roles all while staying in the tech space. Along the way, Brucella held a variety of positions that covered a breadth of IT roles – data center management, networking, systems administration and managing software development teams. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF, he was a senior vice president for a major software development firm. With 150 reports, Brucella managed consulting sales, delivery and data warehouse development for firms in the banking and brokerage industry.

Brucella’s move to TIAA-CREF was deliberate: having worked for technology vendors his entire career he made a quest to work for the end-user side and enjoy a better work/life balance. His new role as a development manager with a staff of 30 may have seemed like a step back, but it removed the travel and very long hours that had been so pervasive.

“I had a young family at the time, and I figured if I have to work 50 to 60 hours a week, I could at least be close to home” he says. In addition, he saw the career move as an interesting opportunity to become a subject matter expert in the fields of trading and portfolio management technologies.

Seventeen years later, he knows he made the right decision. He has since advanced into leadership roles with added responsibilities and is affiliated with a company that he is proud of.

“TIAA-CREF had a great reputation then, and it’s even better now in terms of how it treats its employees. It has always valued diversity and there have been so many cultural elements that are appealing. I knew it was a place where I could grow my career in a reasonable manner.” He mentions the company’s emphasis not just on results but how they are achieving them, ensuring that they have strong, positive relationships with both customers and employees, for example.

For Him, Diversity is Personal

Having worked primarily for women, Brucella has had excellent experiences, one of the many reason he cites diversity as being extremely important. He has also seen firsthand the fallout when gender diversity is not supported: Earlier in her career, his wife experienced sexual discrimination on the job, and he saw how damaging such a situation could be on one’s career when the incident was not resolved satisfactorily. Additionally, with a daughter about to graduate from college, he wants her to be acknowledged in the workplace for the skills that she will bring to the table. Diversity also dovetails with his religious faith, which is founded in treating everyone with fairness and respect and also acknowledges women with leadership roles.

Of course he also sees the benefits of diversity from a business case perspective. “I have always had women on my leadership team, and I find that you get a better thought process, more opinions and innovative ideas with diverse candidates and coworkers.”

That’s why he insists on a diverse slate of candidates, even extending a search if need be, and assigns high-visibility projects deliberately. “I am gender-neutral when it comes to projects and assignments and make sure everyone has an equal chance at these opportunities to build skills and relationships.”

Another area that he keeps in mind is flexibility, and recognizing that sometimes the majority of the work load at home falls on women. “I want them to know they are not disqualified because they have extra family responsibilities. It’s about focusing on the outcomes and not just the hours and the process.”

Advocating for Women

Brucella takes his roles as mentor and sponsor seriously, serving as executive sponsor to the company’s IT Leadership Council for Women and actively advocating for qualified women to be considered when leadership opportunities arise. He recently heard from a woman that he’d been mentoring and had worked with for several years. She wanted to be considered for a leadership role on an IT team, but couldn’t get an interview although Brucella was certain that she had the skills needed. He was able to reach out and urge the hiring manager to consider her as a candidate, and she ultimately got the job.

Another time he worked with a woman who wanted more public speaking opportunities, so he encouraged her to take a Toastmaster’s public speaking class and then placed her in situations where she could present to leaders.

“We need to be visible advocates for promoting women and diversity in leadership roles. I am committed to develop my team, and so I am available on an ongoing basis. Mentors have to be active.”

But most importantly, Brucella believes that encouraging diversity through mentoring is a two-way street. “It’s rewarding to see someone move up in their career, and climb that ladder when they realize that they can and they want to.”

Rooting Out Unconscious Bias

One of Brucella’s goals is to make it safe for people to challenge him; that if they feel they’re not being treated fairly, he has an open door and will accept criticism without being defensive.

“I want someone to ask me if there’s a reason they didn’t get an opportunity. The best way to counteract any unconscious biases that you or others have is to seek feedback.”

For example, recently, he distributed an article he’d seen on bias in the technology industry, and someone who worked for him said it resonated. He responded by sending the article to the larger team, and asked a women leader to gather feedback and help raise awareness by speaking up if they encountered any bias.

Brucella believes that at the end of the day, women should feel empowered to take ownership of their careers, build their personal brand and identify key influencers and mentors who can help them, while continuing to challenge leaders and peers to actively address bias in the workplace.

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Men Who Get It: Naveed Sultan, Global Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, Managing Director, Citibank

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Naveed Sultan“If there’s a fundamental disconnect in the area of diversity, businesses will not have the outcomes they could, as there will be significant lapses in their performance,” says Citi’s Naveed Sultan. “That’s how important I believe this issue is, not only to me, but to our organization as a whole.”

As head of the Treasury and Trade Solutions division of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group, Sultan oversees one of Citi’s largest global businesses, which handles multi-country client relationships. This business provides an integrated suite of treasury, cash management and trade finance services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations and it runs the industry’s largest proprietary network with banking licenses in over 100 countries. “Our work goes to the heart of the topic of diversity,” says Sultan. “In any global business the talent mix must reflect the footprint, the cultural attributes and ability to adapt and understand the notion of inclusion. For a global organization to be successful, it must incorporate those elements into its business model.”

Sultan began his career in Pakistan, where he worked for a few years in corporate banking before taking a sabbatical to study in the United States for his second management degree, which he earned at Sloan School of Management at MIT. “My decision to study in the United States was driven by my desire to gain exposure to a diverse academic environment and interact with people with different backgrounds,” he says. “It was one of the best decisions I have made because it gave me a very rich experience.”
Upon graduation, he changed his line of specialization into transactional banking, extending into operations and technology, and joined Citi in Saudi Arabia, moving through several positions and geographic locales over his 23-year tenure to his current role.

A Diversity Champion

To Sultan, retaining a diverse talent pool makes business, economic and social sense. “It’s simply the right thing to do, but more than that, there is vital business and economic logic to it,” he says, mentioning a robust body of research that proves diversity contributes to a stronger business due to a better working environment and more informed decisions.
“The notion of diversity in a broader context has always resonated with me, but it’s even more compelling and convincing when you consider the business case,” he says.
Growing up, Sultan says his economist/banker father told him that he would be among the first generation in Pakistan to make the transition into an international environment, to live their lives in a global world. Along with that, he cautioned, would come the need to never pass a value judgment on someone who’s different, but to appreciate people for what they are and have a sense of inclusion.
“That lesson stayed with all of us, and that’s why I realize it’s an important mindset that managers need to have – the ability to value people for what they bring, rather than focusing on their shortcomings,” he says.

Valuing Differences

Sultan realized early on that you can’t confuse style with leadership. For example, somebody who is understated is merely exhibiting a different style and may well be an equally effective leader as someone who is more dimensional and extroverted.
“As managers we have to condition ourselves to develop an appreciation for different kinds of leaders,” he says, even though he has seen that supervisors often subconsciously believe that everyone should converge toward one common style of management.
But, as he points out, if you do that, why do you need diversity? As Citi has evolved rapidly in regards to this dimension he says that awareness has risen exponentially throughout the company. “Ever since I joined Citi, I have been participating in diversity discussions and how we should implement policies to make organizations more responsive to the notion of diversity.”

 

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Men Who Get It: Phil Porado, Content Director, Advisor and Financial Services Groups, Rogers Publishing

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Phil PoradoAs content director for the Advisor and Financial Services Group at Rogers Publishing, Porado oversees three teams that produce trade publications read by financial industry professionals in Canada. He’s been with the company for 10 years, holding six different positions. Prior to joining Rogers, Porado worked for a variety of publications in the United States in the finance, architecture and political industries and also covered general news at United Press.

“Having held a variety of different journalism and publishing positions really helps as a manager,” he says, “because when people ask about processes you can give them a real answer.”

Following His Mother’s Advice

“I’m a diversity champion because my mom told me I had to be,” says Porado, only half joking. He says that he had an advantage through growing up with a mom who was an early 20th century career woman, which normalized women in the work force to him.

“I’m a diversity champion because my mom told me I had to be,”

After her father died, she went to work to help support her four siblings when she was just a teen as a bookkeeper at General Electric. It was during World War II when women were welcomed into the workplace so she took advantage of the opportunity to contribute to her family’s income. Before her 19th birthday, she was running the payroll department.

Porado said she stayed home to take care of her own children, but continued to do people’s taxes on the side and assisted with the bulk of financial planning for his father’s business.

“I remember her telling me when I was 10 that someday I would be in charge and I would have to advocate for diverse people in the workplace, because I was a ‘privileged white male,’” he said, adding that his family never hesitated to make him aware of the fact that he was better off than many.

Porado admired that his parents modeled an even division of labor and says that his home was very much a partnership, with no one shouldering the bulk of the less desirable tasks.

Given his upbringing, Porado expected it to be standard operating procedure to work with women and was surprised to enter the workforce and find that sexism was still rampant in the 1980s.

“It offended me,” he says, since he had been raised in a different environment. “If you’re fortunate enough to be enlightened, then it’s your responsibility to pass it on.”

Publishing Industry Better Than Most

On the whole, Porado says the publishing industry was better than most, largely because it is a desirable field for women. He found that there were a large number of women who were choosing the field who were not only interested, but what he calls highly motivated to succeed.

“I find that women differ from some of their male counterparts many times because they are looking to learn things and up their game. They are constantly soliciting information they can use to become more skillful, which men don’t do as much,” he says. He has had the experience corroborated by others. In fact, just recently a colleague who was hiring for a writing and reporting job asked him, “Is it me, or do you also find that the woman are just stronger candidates?”

He says that when people demonstrate a willingness and desire to learn, he can facilitate their learning, making a point to actively teach them how they can progress.

That’s the greatest management lesson of all, he’s found, to help people thrive and then get out of the way. “That’s when championing gets interesting — when people whom you’ve taught show signs of eclipsing you. And that’s when you need to be able to point them to someone who might know better, though not everyone is comfortable with that. Mantle passing is hard, but if you are able to identify and help mentor a protégé, then you are doing your job.”

He has found that being a sponsor comes naturally since his focus is always on helping others with their career growth. He believes you have to advocate for promotions for people behind the scenes, and the best way to do that is to speak up for people when they’re absent, giving credit where it’s due.

“I have the uncomfortable position of people giving me credit when I am undeserving since it was an entire group effort, and I am just the leader,” Porado says. He rights the confusion by being quick to name the team members who actually did the work and acknowledging that even though he might have outlined the game plan, they were the ones who carried the ball.

Boldly Questioning Stereotyping

He says that over the years, he has seen the effects of stereotyping and has been bold about questioning it. “I would step up and say, ‘Why not so and so?’” when the situation presented itself.”

“I would step up and say, ‘Why not so and so?’” when the situation presented itself.”

Another way that he encourages inclusion is by always suggesting that other team members join meetings when it’s appropriate. If he does find himself in a meeting where he feels another team member should have been invited, he makes the contributions he thinks they would have made, even deliberately pointing out that if that person was there, this is what they would say. “The subtle message is that you were remiss in not inviting that person and only consulting with me.”

However, he is quick to point out that things are progressing rapidly; whereas 20 years ago a stereotypical mindsight was noticeable, now it is much less of an issue. “I’ve been privileged to see a lot of change in my life, and I often point out to young people that they are living in a world that we hoped would one day exist, and they should realize and appreciate it.”

By Cathie Ericson

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Men Who Get It: John Cannon, Partner, Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits Group, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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John CannonThe message is an important one for women … and for men as well:

“Define what success means for you, and then go for it. When you first start your career, make a point of asking yourself every day where you are going and why, and look to peers and more senior colleagues to find careers and best practices to emulate.”

So says John Cannon, a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits group in New York, who has long been a champion of helping women progress in their careers, both informally and as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee. He volunteered to join the committee almost immediately after becoming a partner 20 years ago and was asked to chair the committee shortly after.

Early Influences Sparked Interest In Diversity

Being a diversity champion has been important to Cannon from an early age when, as a “history nut,” he was deeply affected by what he perceived were the many injustices committed in the country over the years against minorities, women and those who didn’t belong to the dominant groups of their times.

Cannon carried that ethos into his career, and when he began practicing at Shearman & Sterling in 1985, he decided to look for ways to help fellow lawyers who did not as obviously “fit in” as well as he did — a self-described private school and Ivy League- educated heterosexual white male.

“While I felt confident in my own ability,” he recalls, “I was certain that others of equal or greater innate talent but different backgrounds than mine would have a much more difficult path to professional success ahead of them, and I wanted to do something.”

He was also influenced by the fact that many of his closest friends, mentors and colleagues at the firm have been women and people of color, including his practice group, which for many years has been a majority female.

Championing Diversity throughout the Firm

In his various firm administrative and management capacities over the years, Cannon has focused on advocating for women at the firm and for the issues that have been important to them.

During his time as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee, he helped establish a number of successful associate-led affinity groups, such as WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention), which has galvanized women associates in the firm for networking, business development and leadership skill enhancement. He has also been a supporter of subsequent women-focused programs, such as a Women Partners Initiative, regular Lean In circles, a social media presence that includes @ShearmanWomen on Twitter and a Shearman Women showcase page on LinkedIn, as well as active participation in Ellevate, the professional women’s network founded by Sallie Krawcheck.

But more meaningful to him has been the mentorship, encouragement and assistance he has provided to female colleagues, from professional guidance and career sponsorship to a role as a sounding board and informal advisor.

Addressing Blind Spots

Cannon knows that it’s crucial to avoid subconscious bias or stereotyping by maintaining constant self-scrutiny — questioning one’s initial reactions to a person or work product, and then examining even more closely the subsequent judgments that might appear to be well-considered and open-minded.

“Although I have undoubtedly failed on many occasions to objectively assess each person with whom I have worked based on his or her own individual merits, I have not ceased cross-examining myself,” he says.

The firm’s Diversity Committee has dedicated time and effort to combating the effects of stereotyping and unintentional bias, principally by keeping itself informed of the performance reviews and career development of diverse associates and intervening where appropriate. “We have tried to impress upon our partners across the firm that despite our best intentions, we are prone to making assessments of other people based on mental shortcuts, including both conscious and unconscious assumptions about the backgrounds, talents and character traits of the members of various groups,” he says.

Leading by Example

“On diversity, as with other matters, the members of an organization take their cue and model their behavior on those who are admired and acknowledged as the most powerful and successful within the organization,” says Cannon, who has consistently advised firm leaders to confidently express their commitment to diversity while also taking concrete steps to help advance the careers and leadership opportunities available to women and other diverse individuals within the organization.

For example, he encourages leaders to actively seek out and personally encourage women and other individual members of non-dominant groups. He has seen that play out at Shearman & Sterling, which he believes has many leaders who have accepted this responsibility and are fully committed to increasing inclusiveness.

Although he notes significant progress in the profession since he joined it 30 years ago, he says that it still strikes him how relatively modest the gains have been in the representation of women and minorities among the most senior leadership ranks. He cites as an example his graduating class at NYU Law School and his summer associate class at Shearman & Sterling, which were roughly 50 percent female.

“Had you asked me then to predict what percentage of the partnerships at the elite law firms would be women by 2015, I would probably have answered 40 percent or so when in fact the actual number is about half that,” he says, adding that similar observations can be made about minorities.

“The bottom line is that much work still needs to be done to promote diversity in our profession,” he says, adding that as law becomes an increasingly competitive business in a challenging economic environment, the market may hold sway in law firm diversity efforts. “Clients regularly insist that diverse teams staff their matters, and I expect that they will continue to reward the law firms that perform best in this regard.”

By Cathie Ericson

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Men Who Get It: Larry Ostendorf, Senior Director Business Development, Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company

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“We’re all in this together; it doesn’t matter what your gender, race or creed is.”Larry Ostendorf

That is the philosophy of Larry Ostendorf, who oversees business development for the aerospace and defense market for Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company. With only a few competitors, the sales environment is largely based on the relationships he builds with his customers, which include aerospace and defense companies, the U.S. government and foreign customers. “My role is to make sure we’re well thought of, to make sure that we have the opportunity to share our capabilities.”

Ostendorf graduated from West Point and spent five years on active duty in the US Army, then he earned his MBA. He’s spent over 15 years in the corporate world as a project manager and business development professional. He has augmented his leadership background with 15 years in the National Guard holding various command and staff positions along the way.

No Rank in Civilian Life

Ostendorf says the corporate world is different from the military because it is a level playing field. He acknowledges that championing diversity has a generational component, and has found that millennials have a different approach than he does, as does the generation ahead of him. “Part of it is how you were brought up, which you can’t help; but also your influences.”

At his current positon, Ostendorf makes sure that all his team has a voice. “They are all successful professionals so I view my role as someone who can be there to guide them rather than give them a lot of direction. To me a major factor of inclusion is that everyone has a say, and that’s how my department runs.”

Ostendorf acknowledges that it is a challenge to find women to join the team. The aerospace and defense industry lacks diversity overall with too many men that have a military background or who have spent their whole career in the aerospace and defense industry.

When looking for candidates, he encourages leaders to broaden their search, reaching out, for example, to the Women’s Society of Engineers or other alternative places to find diverse candidates.

Another example of tapping a non-traditional hiring network occurred when his company was looking to fill a finance position and sent out a request through his National Guard leadership. His company ended up hiring a female soldier from his command, whom he otherwise wouldn’t have thought about. She has blossomed at the firm, and as Ostendorf says, “It’s about opening the door, and then they make it what they want. Diversity is about opportunity. If they don’t run with it, then that’s on them, but if you don’t ever give them the chance, you could be missing out on someone special.”

Standing up for Diversity

Given that it’s a small industry with few women, Ostendorf says that actually provides a lot of opportunity for women to stand out and make a name for themselves. At the same time, he sees that there remains the potential for the “double standard,” where men can perceive strong women negatively.

“We have to make that go away, and to do that, you have to set a good example in the organization. We have to have the courage to stand up and say, ‘Hey! Time out!’ and police our own ranks rather than letting it go, even if it’s a bunch of guys in the room after the woman leaves.”

As a leader, Ostendorf knows that his example influences others, through informal coaching and acting as a resource to help others navigate the job.

Advice for Other Leaders

His main advice for other leaders is “not to play old tape.” In other words, he thinks there’s a blind spot where leaders might pigeonhole people and not see their growth, even after they have changed roles.

He challenges leaders to take a hard look at their interaction and make sure that they are not inadvertently sabotaging others. “Are you cutting off women? Not treating them the same? We have to really examine our behaviors and see where we can make a positive change.”

He says that time and again in his career, he knows that issues in leadership will permeate the organization and manifest themselves as problems at the lower level. “If there are things going wrong, you have to examine the leadership climate. Whether it’s a company or a military organization, you can peel the onion back and see that problems beget problems,” he says. “It all comes back to leadership – the people who are in charge set the tone.

“We all have differences, but we need to embrace those and be sure we’re leveraging the different strengths everyone offers, because at the end of the day, it comes down to whether accomplishing the mission.”

By Cathie Ericson

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Men Who Get It: Mark Pestrella, Chief Deputy Director for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

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Mark PestrellaMark Pestrella knows that everyone has a story, and that women in particular need to feel they can tell their story without looking like they’re weak. “Really listening to my employees’ stories can change the whole environment.”

As the Chief Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Pestrella is essentially the COO of all types of infrastructure that protect residents from natural and manmade hazards in Los Angeles County. With a service area that covers 4,000 square miles and 88 cities including Los Angeles, the department is made up of special districts that provide emergency services, waste management, water resource management, development services, transportation services and public building construction.

With a background in engineering, Pestrella started with the department as a civil engineer assistant, designing and reviewing storm drains.

Now 28 years later, his role as overseer for the 4,000 employees at 78 facilities involves “managing people, not things,” he says. “We have a large and very diverse workforce, which allows us to operate at optimum capabilities.” Pestrella knows that having a diverse workforce enables them to serve a diverse community, but it’s more than that. “If you are trying to create solutions without a group that reflects diversity in education, gender and culture, you’ll get a siloed response.”

Raised With Diversity

From a business standpoint it’s clear to Pestrella that the diversity of his team has to reflect the community, but he emphasizes that it’s also a personal value for which he credits his family dynamic. As a Pacific Islander, his father came to the country as a minority, but says he was “put in the box of mainstream white males.” Growing up with four sisters, a strong mother and a dad who believed in tolerance helped form his thinking, augmented by his childhood in San Bernardino, Calif., an area ripe with diversity.

Addressing and Overcoming Blind Spots

While acknowledging that everyone has blind spots, Pestrella says that he works consistently to address his, even asking trusted colleagues to help him identify them.

Public Works is primarily an engineering organization and as such, has historically been predominantly a male-based agency, but under his guidance, gender recruitment has improved greatly. Even so, he knew he had to address intolerance.

“I could see it happening throughout the organization, where the women were feeling they had to be superheroes to think they deserved a promotion,” he says, adding that in extreme cases he’s had to fire people whose blind spots were interfering with their ability to treat people with equity.

“I could see it happening throughout the organization, where the women were feeling they had to be superheroes to think they deserved a promotion,”

One solution he sees is for men to acknowledge and value differences, rather than seeing them as problems. “We’re being taught you can’t act like anyone is different but that’s not true, and not the best way to deal with gender diversity. There are built-in biases that we have to understand, respect and deal with.”

For example, he says that the way men approach a woman boss often should be different because their styles are usually different. As an example, the first woman director of Public Works for L.A. County is Pestrella’s boss, and he knows that when he comes to her with an issue, she wants him to also offer two or three solutions and then allow time for her to process them. “You have to educate yourself that there are some differences in style.”

And blind spots aren’t just for men. He recounts a woman employee who was so frustrated with the department that she wanted to share her concerns publicly through a complaint. Pestrella says she was one of the department’s best engineers at the time and had potential to be a top leader. He knew that her blind spot was causing her to miss the bigger picture. “She was hearing what she wanted to hear,” he says. Ultimately he was able to broker an arrangement where he would meet with her monthly to discuss her concerns in lieu of her continuing with her complaint. “I wasn’t trying to change her mind, but I felt that she was making a mistake in waving the woman flag. I was able to address her issues, and she has progressed in her career path.”

“I wasn’t trying to change her mind, but I felt that she was making a mistake in waving the woman flag. I was able to address her issues, and she has progressed in her career path.”

A Successful Technique To Start New Employees on the Path to Success

Pestrella believes much of his managerial success comes from a successful technique he uses with new employees. He’ll schedule an introductory meeting, and to ensure that he is in the right mind set, he turns off his computer and devices for a few minutes before they come in. “I want to make sure I am meeting them with an open mind,” he says.

They then embark on a meeting where there’s no note taking, just an opportunity for the new employee to share his or her background. “Over the years, it’s been an unbelievable journey of getting to truly know the people who work with me, and a real asset to establish that trust right off the bat,” he says. “I learn things about people I would never have imagined and almost without fail, I know I would have put them in a different box when I compare what I would have thought about them had we not had the meeting and conversation.”

Though he identifies himself as a private person, he makes a point to coach his employees and says there are several women over the years with whom he has felt comfortable sharing his philosophy. “When I see people who have great potential and the drive to be a public servant, it’s natural to want to share with them what has been successful to me.”

By Cathie Ericson

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Men Who Get It: Douglas Kennedy, President/CEO, Peapack-Gladstone Bank

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Doug KennedyDoug Kennedy has always been committed to championing women in the workforce throughout his banking career, which began as a full-time teller working his way through college.

Not only did his teller position begin his career in banking, but it also earned him a wife. After college, he joined the training program of a local Connecticut bank, where he began by working in a branch. As the industry deregulated, banks were increasingly growing, and so did Kennedy’s career. He held leadership roles with a number of banks, most recently with Capital One where he was responsible for commercial lending in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast; he was also market president for New Jersey. Two years ago, he joined Peapack-Gladstone Bank as its president and CEO.

A Diversity Champion

Diversity has always been important to Kennedy.

“If there wasn’t diversity, the world would be a boring place, and you’d never progress beyond your own beliefs and capabilities,” Kennedy says. For him, diversity starts in his family life. “At the end of the day, I am aware of the diversity in my personal life; this life experience translates easily to what diversity means at the bank.”

Over his 35-year career, Kennedy has worked alongside many talented women and has championed women’s issues, including a job-share situation early in his career with two women whom he knew were top performers that the bank needed to keep.

“It was not well received at the time, and I really had to push for it since management feared that male clients wouldn’t appreciate it.”

Kennedy collected statistics that showed that the job-share employees were more productive than their male counterparts. Armed with the numbers, his human resources department invited him to an off-site meeting of 400 bank leaders, where he was able to show that it wasn’t a crazy, far-fetched idea. “The proof was in the numbers,” he says. “Having math to prove something as a banker elevates it from just an opinion to a fact.” His presentation helped pave the way for additional similar job-share situations — a huge advance at a time when the lack of technology made it harder for women to stay in the workforce.

Maintain Diversity

Currently, more than half of Peapack-Gladstone Bank’s employees are female, and six months ago, he was instrumental in starting a woman’s organization called LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development) which invites senior women in to speak about their careers and the challenges they have faced. The bank’s executive vice president, Karen Rockoff, acts as the senior female leader, and has created a curriculum that speaks to women’s needs and interests and is helping the company develop an agenda to support them.

His goals for the year include accessing female senior leaders in the organization who can organize talks around wealth and how to plan for retirement. “Women can have a gap with financial issues, and since that’s one of our core competencies, we want to deliver those insights to our employees,” he says. In addition, the curriculum will double as an outreach for other corporations with women’s groups.

Kennedy says that he approaches diversity from an enlightened perspective. “I just never have differentiated people on the basis of gender, starting with my wife and I, who have always viewed each other as equal partners. Just because I had the role of breadwinner didn’t give me any authority above hers managing the family and household. So with an equal partnership at home it has been a fairly natural approach when I come to work.”

He says that he would always consider the best person for a position — whether it is a man or a woman. “You have to look at each position and ask yourself, ‘What are the skills each candidate has, what are the skills that are needed, and do they align?’”

Advice for Leaders

Though he sees the prejudice changing, he believes that men would benefit from listening more. “If you are willing to listen to different perspectives, at the end of the day you will end up benefitting. Despite my experience and leadership, it doesn’t mean I have all the answers. We all gain by paying attention to diverse views.”

He says that the key to success in an organization is hiring people who are thoughtful, who have more knowledge about a particular subject and then tapping into that talent — no matter who it is – which will always end up delivering better results. Listening will help any leader find great ideas and solutions to problems.

“If everyone at our company had identical experiences and thoughts, we would be a colossal failure. Diversity is one of the principle assets of any organization and is essential to achieving our future success.”

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Men Who Get It: Roger Mitchell, Managing Director, TIAA-CREF, IT Business and Resource Management

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Roger Mitchell“Increasing diversity is not the responsibility of women or the minority group alone,” says Roger Mitchell. “What is often overlooked is that everybody benefits from diversity, because there is a clear impact on the bottom line, and strong correlation to increased performance, engagement and innovation.”

On his journey to becoming a strong champion of diversity, Mitchell began his career in the UK with Ford Motor Company in a series of human resources roles.Ford eventually offered him the opportunity to move to Detroit, where he lived for 15 years. After a stint as head of HR for Ford’s global IT group, Mitchell segued into a position leading the global IT strategy team. He later joined Fidelity as a member of the HR leadership team. Mitchell subsequently came to TIAA-CREF as the managing director of IT business and resource management, and as a member of the IT leadership team.

Throughout his career, Mitchell has identified the need to expand roles for women as a business imperative. “In IT specifically there’s already a shortage of talent, and it’s tightening even more,” he says. “There’s a necessity to attract and retain both talented women and men, because we are under a tremendous amount of pressure for those skills.”

The Light Bulb Moment

Mitchell first became a diversity champion during his time at Ford when he ended up in a significant disagreement with his boss over missing a meeting to take his kids to the doctor. “When he asked me why my wife couldn’t do it, I had to explain that she worked too, and she had an important meeting at that time and couldn’t miss it,” Mitchell recounts, adding that was when he realized that everyone benefits from flexibility.

He recalls that earlier in his career it was expected that men would put in unlimited numbers of hours as the breadwinner, and he found there were times he didn’t get to spend the time he wanted to with his own family.

Part of changing this traditional mindset is challenging premises such as “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” as espoused by John Gray in his best-selling book.

“I don’t believe that our differences are so extreme, that we might as well be from different planets. I frame it more as men are from earth, and women are from earth too.”

While he agrees that there may be some differences in communication styles, he points out that there are differences even among people of the same gender or across different cultures. “I find it more productive to spend my time focusing on similarities between men and women and any other groups,” he said emphasizing how focusing on differences is divisive and can be the catalyst for unconscious bias.

Identifying and Managing Unconscious Bias

Mitchell is sensitive to unconscious bias, and one example he has seen is how women are judged more on performance than on their potential. He also finds that they are remembered for their mistakes more than their achievements, and that they continually walk a tightrope between being too masculine or too feminine.

“You are either not liked or not respected when you get on the wrong side of the tightrope,” he says.

In Mitchell’s view, systemic change is what will count. He sees his role as impacting those systems to advocate for diversity and inclusion — whether that’s in the areas of employee development or compensation.

“Early in my career we would look at numbers and targets and make symbolic appointments but if they were the wrong appointments, that would set everything back,” he said.

One systemic change he is working on is reviewing job descriptions to check for unconscious bias. He has found implied hours of work or exaggerated amounts of travel that might deter women when in fact they might not really be necessary. To help solve the problem, he says he asks his team to really think about whether the targets they are offering are typical or an extreme example.

Other areas ripe for diversity opportunities are talent review meetings where high potential females are identified. Mitchell says he has challenged his peers in those meetings to validate their selections and compare them to the female candidates.

“We have to look at all of our processes and make sure that there are no unconscious biases,” Mitchell said. “My role as an advocate is to remind people to make sure we’re not missing those who might not be getting the attention and exposure they deserve.”

He also knows that you have to interrupt unconscious bias as it is happening – maybe when you notice that someone is not being heard in a meeting, try to stop the flow of conversation and help them get the floor to make their point.

Spending Political Capital Wisely

Throughout his career, Mitchell has often acted as a sponsor, and in doing so realized that it requires him to use some of his own political capital. He also appreciates that his own sponsors, who value his judgment, help him lobby for those whom he is sponsoring. “It is crucial to focus on talent and use your political capital wisely or you lose the trust of your peers and your own sponsors.” He tries to maximize female opportunities by looking for talented women and putting them on key projects that allow them to exhibit their best capabilities. He also says that as a strong advocate for expanding talent, he tries to hire people who are better than himself and to not feel threatened but to see this as an opportunity to challenge himself. A crucial part of identifying and developing top talent is providing them support and placing them in challenging stretch assignments.

“It is crucial to focus on talent and use your political capital wisely or you lose the trust of your peers and your own sponsors.”

Mitchell admits that his blind spot earlier in his career was to pick people who were just like him, assuming that if he was successful and chose people close to his profile, that they would be too.

“I know now that is flawed logic, and that you need employees with different perspectives and backgrounds,” he says. “I learned that hiring those in my own image wasn’t giving me as successful a team as I could have had. You need spirited conversation and push back to arrive at the right viewpoint.”

Advice for Leaders

Mitchell says that having two daughters of his own in the workforce gives him a unique perspective since he’s heard their stories. He advises others to listen to the experiences of female colleagues and never assume you understand how they feel.

“When you’re speaking, all you’re doing is repeating what you already know. When you’re listening, you’re potentially learning something new.”

He also believes that women have a role to play – notably by making sure that they state their needs rather than letting someone make an assumption. For example, a woman back from maternity leave or one with a young family needs to tell her boss if she’s willing to travel. If she has a partner who will follow and therefore is mobile, say so. People will make assumptions based on stereotypes so you have tell them what you are thinking.

And that includes being specific about career aspirations. He finds that women tend to be more modest and talk about growth and development, whereas men are more likely to be specific and state that they want to be CTO in three years.

A key component to success will be establishing a strong network which is how you create connections that may lead to opportunities, whether it’s volunteering to be engaged in high-priority projects or finding an empathetic sponsor.

“With men still holding many of the senior corporate roles, we must make sure that they in turn become sponsors for women, and help move them into senior roles, “says Mitchell.He views his role in mobilizing other men behind this cause as crucial to the success of any firm’s diversity and inclusion effort.

By Cathie Ericson

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Gender Champion: William “Bill” Johnson, CEO, Citi Retail Services

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Bill JohnsonLeaders must always be conscious of the shadow they cast for their teams, says Bill Johnson, CEO of Citi Retail Services. “You can ‘talk the talk, but people watch you and your behavior, and what you do day in and day out is far more important than what you say. You should never ask anyone to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself, and you certainly should not behave in ways you wouldn’t want your team to emulate. The impression you leave behind is your shadow.”

For Johnson, that shadow extends to a deep passion for diversity. He credits this focus to two strong female role models that he had in his mother and grandmother, who both overcame adversity in their lives to become successful beyond what their education and opportunities would have normally allowed. He was always very aware of the decisions they made and the activities they pursued to advance themselves, and how those decisions helped them overcome some of the bias they faced in life. “Seeing what those two strong women accomplished helped give me better perspective on how to guide talent, irrespective of gender, to achieve their potential,” he says.

Carving Out His Path

Bill Johnson joined Citi in 1999 and has held a number of roles in the North America cards business over the years. Currently he serves as CEO of Citi Retail Services, a leading provider of private label credit cards to a virtual “who’s who” of retailers: major chains like The Home Depot, Best Buy, Macy’s and Sears; prominent specialty retailers like Staples, Brooks Brothers and The Children’s Place; large gas companies like Shell and ExxonMobil; and leaders in the automotive space, including Goodyear, Ford, Lincoln and Volkswagen U.S. In addition to private label and co-brand cards, Citi Retail Services specializes in research, data and analytics to help retailers grow sales through enhanced customer marketing, loyalty and compelling value propositions.

Prior to joining Citi, he spent 10 years at GE Capital, where he learned the retail card industry along with skills that have served him well in business development, relationship management and operational discipline.

A Diverse Team Starts at the Top

Johnson says his goal is to make sure thatevery person on the team has the right opportunities to succeed and that those who are smart, hardworking and committed to the business get exposure to the company’s leaders and retail partners. “I see this as doing the right thing for our business and our people. I look at our team and see diversity, which I’m proud of, but I’m more proud of the performance of the team,” he said.

To continue to build the team’s diversity, it’s important to him to ensure that a diverse slate of candidates is available. He believes it’s important that those in the organization who are doing the hiring expand where they look and source a diverse slate to encourage a range of perspectives and experiences that provide fresh ideas and expertise.
Twice a year, the business conducts rigorous talent reviews, and Johnson requires the entire leadership team to participate so that each member is familiar with the broader talent base as well as emerging talent deeper in the organization.

And that commitment to diversity manifests itself in his core leadership team:four of his six direct reports are women as well as two of his matrix reports. He has either hired or promoted each of these women, who lead major roles in partner management, marketing, risk, strategic initiatives, human resources and compliance.The next level of management is approximately one-third women, and they are always working to continue to grow that number.

Presenting Choices to Promote Sound Decisions

Over the last 30 years Johnson has mentored and sponsored a number of women, sharing his perspective on how to be successful in an environment that isn’t typically gender-diverse.

He finds it most valuable to help emerging talent – women in particular – think about the future and understand how the choices they make might be different from the choices others make. “It is important for anyone to understand that their career choices may be impacted by their personal choices. People – women and men – have to do what is right for them, personally and for their family. Making a choice isn’t a bad thing; it’s just part of life.”

He believes that his role as a sponsor isn’t about helping someone make those choices, but rather to help the individual give full consideration to all the aspects that go into making the decision and considering all the possible outcomes. By ensuring they consider all the consequences of their decisions, they not only can make the best choice for themselves, but they are also owning the choice themselves. “If you make a decision for someone, it gives them the liberty of not taking ownership for the outcome which is where regret and blame originate.”

Balancing the Team

Johnson recounts a story of a young woman who worked for him as a sales representative many years ago, when the industry was dominated by male clients. One particular client team was very traditional and was uncomfortable having a woman in the room. While it would have been easier to remove her from the account, Johnson believed she was a fantastic salesperson with potential to advance and was aware of the impact a reassignment could have on her career. Instead, they worked together to improve her executive presence. In future meetings, she was better able to contribute and ended up being very successful.

Johnson has carried that ethos during his work in Retail Services, where they believe in making the best decisions in the interest of the business while balancing the needs of the teams and their partners. They look for people who are curious and agile and who act with integrity but also realize that ensuring someone is a cultural fit is just as important as having the right skill set. “Given two candidates with similar skills, we gravitate every time toward the candidate who embodies our principles and values,” he said. “Over time, we’re more concerned with people who will do the right thing personally and make sure that others do the right thing. You have to hire the right people for the right reasons.

Johnson has a sign in his office with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that reads, “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”
He believes that can be extended to apply to people as well – that it’s easier to succeed with a positive attitude, and that it’s critical to always try to find the best in people by assuming their thoughts and actions are intended positively. “With that comes the understanding that men and women may be different, yet both are equal.”

By Cathie Ericson

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