Are you finding it difficult to rise up the leadership ranks?
Erich Spencer, Senior Director of Global Inclusion Diversity and Equity and GIDE Business Partners at Medtronic (No. 2 on Fair360 2023 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list) said being authentic can help employees grow as leaders.
“We are all leaders, either in our family roles, workplace roles or community roles,” he said. “We are practicing how we connect with others and communicate with others every single day. How you channel that into the situation right in front of you is the reflection point. How do I take that and make it fit for this situation, for this audience that is looking for me to do it, but in a way that’s authentic to me?”
Spencer said employees shouldn’t view intersectionality as something the workplace needs to overcome.
“I really encourage people to reflect and define yourself and recognize the power in that,” he said. “Then celebrate that and channel it into your work in a way that gets you ahead in ways that are productive to you, but also that you don’t lose yourself. I think a lot of times we’re pressured to assimilate in a workplace culture. I think the more we can be celebratory of our differences, the more we’ll open up the space to truly be authentic.”
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