Meet our Leaders
Challenge
One of the general challenges when diverse talent seeks to grow is a concern that there is a standardized model for leadership, which may be at odds with their ability to be authentic to who they are.
Actions
We wanted to demonstrate that there is not a “one size fits all” path to leadership at Pitney Bowes. Our Pitney Bowes Women’s Inclusion Network (PB WIN) decided to create a monthly “Meet our Leaders” series of one-on-one conversations with senior leaders about how they got where they are today. The interview of each leader is led by a high performing diverse team member and livestreamed for our global audience to join in and ask questions of their own. The in-depth exchange covers a wide range of topics related to the leaders professional and personal journey. In the process, the leaders share insights and tips on learning and career management and tend to turn the tables on the interviewer to draw out their personal perspectives as well. The result is a free-flowing intimate conversation that provides practical advice on growth and development, while showcasing our leaders’ varied experiences and diversity of thought, background, gender identification and orientation, age and race/ethnicity. It also provides a great development experience and raises the visibility of the array of diverse high performers who interview the leaders. Employees can submit questions in advance, tune into the livestream and submit questions real-time, and/or watch the recording of the broadcast on-demand individually or with a group.
Outcomes
In post event surveys, participants gave the series an average 98% top-box score, listing the benefits of the series as:
- making growth at the company feel more achievable
- highlighting traits/skills essential for personal and organizational success, and
- making the leaders more relatable
Excerpts from our series of conversations were also picked up by a national diversity platform and repackaged for several stories on career advice for their audience. All in all, by having leaders share their stories, we are encouraging career development, highlighting the value of their authentic journey and showing our shared humanity.
Contact
Sheryl Battles
VP, Global Diversity, Inclusion and Employee Engagement
Quote
Our team is stronger and our decisions better when we have people with different backgrounds, different experiences and different points of view… Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and is the right thing to do, imperative for our business and core to who Pitney Bowes has been for almost 100 years.