Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/343997
30 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N S u m m e r 2 0 1 4 d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m D oes this sound familiar? You are sitting in a meeting, and a male colleague commands the foor. He talks forcefully and eloquently about the topic at hand. When he fnishes, a female colleague ofers up her opinion. Te man who just fnished speak- ing doesn't interrupt her, but he doesn't give her his full attention, either. He may surreptitiously check his smartphone or get up to grab a cup of cofee. Steve Pemberton, divisional vice president and chief diversi- ty ofcer for Walgreens, has seen this played out many times. It used to be, he says, that this scenario would be ignored— business as usual. Nowadays, he says, this sort of behavior re- quires some gentle correction. M E N A S A L L I E S As Pemberton recalls, "When I saw this happening once, I went up to the man afterward and told him, 'I noticed that when you spoke, you did so with the command that required everybody to pay attention to you. But I noticed that when a woman is talking, you fnd the need to wind your watch. So your body language is saying that her opinion is not all that important.' He was surprised. But I did notice a genuine change in his behavior and in the functioning of that unit after that." Pemberton, as a member of his company's senior leadership team, was describing a dynamic that is now being recognized in Corporate America: gender inequality does not just hamper wom- en; men, too, sufer when a workplace is gender biased. "Te belief used to be that accepting and nurturing women was the right thing to do," says Pemberton. "But now people are realizing it goes beyond that—that this is about the health of the company. Te most efective and efcient way to run STEVE PEMBERTON: Divisional Vice President & Chief Diversity Offcer for Walgreens Steve Pemberton, Walgreens' first CDO in its 113-year history, is responsible for overseeing the company's efforts to create and maintain a diverse and inclusive environment that refects the culture, people, and perspectives of the company while refecting its current and future customers and communities. He and his team are specifcally focused on the following areas: strategic diversity management, diversity councils and business resource groups, disability initiatives, supplier diversity, and compliance objectives. Prior to assuming his role at Walgreens, Steve was chief diversity offcer and vice president of Diversity and Inclusion at Monster.com, the leading global online careers property, where he had end-to-end management responsibilities for the Diversity and Inclusion business unit, which focused on helping employers diversify their workforce. He is widely considered a subject-matter expert on matters of diversity and inclusion and its importance to the sustainability of organizations and the communities they serve. A graduate of Boston College, Steve was a ward of the state for much of his childhood. In 2012, he chronicled that experience in his best-selling memoir, A Chance in the World (Harper Collins). Steve's extraordinary life journey continues to inspire audiences across the world; his tireless advocacy has earned him national recognition from The Trumpet Foundation and the Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation. A resident of Chicago, Steve sits on several nonproft boards, including UCAN, The Home for Little Wanderers, and The United States Business Leadership Network.