Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/510478
We Mean Business > 20 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m Tat was when I had my frst diversity moment of courage. Tat's the frst time I came face-to-face with prejudice. But I knew I was right, and I had to stand up for what was right. It was a personal awakening. DW: Your professional experience in D&I; came much later. How did you get into the field? SB: Kicking and screaming! At the time, I was the director of human resources for global marketing at Coke. In 1999 and 2000, Coke went through the largest class- action lawsuit in history. Shortly after the lawsuit was settled in November 2000, I was approached by our senior leaders, who said, "We want you to fx things." "Fix things" was the job description. I said no. I even said, "I'm a white guy, I'm not sure how to do this." I was literally drafted into the role. But it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in my pro- fessional career. D&I; found me. DW: What an undertaking! How did you get up to speed? SB: We had a court order that listed a thou- sand things we had to do for the settle- ment. We also had to work with a court- appointed task force. I knew we had a lot to accomplish very quickly. So I spent the frst 60 days talking to everyone I could, to get perspective on what I should focus on. I had been at Coke for 10 years and had good brand equity within the African American community there. I spent a lot of time with people who would tell me the truth about the situation on the ground. It became nec- essary to get key perspectives, then move forward with what needed to change. DW: What were some successful initia- tives at Coke? SB: I'm extremely proud of Coke's Global Women's Initiative, which we started in 2007. It was fairly kamikaze—we decid- ed we would put forward a global wom- en's network in all 207 countries we oper- ate in simultaneously. Tat's never been done by any company ever. At the time, the company's product- purchasing decisions were infuenced 70 percent of the time by women. But only 23 percent of our leadership across the globe was female, primarily driven by numbers in the United States. So we didn't look like the consumers we were serving, at the leadership levels. We knew that had to change. We had incredibly strong support from our CEO, Muhtar Kent. Now, eight years later, Coke has made incredible strides forward. It was a great achievement to win the Catalyst Award [for empowering women] in 2013. DW: Can you talk about any of your diversity successes internationally? SB: Te #5by20 program [aiming to en- able the economic empowerment of 5 million women entrepreneurs across Coke's global value chain by 2020] has been incredible. I have talked to wom- en in some of the poorest places in the world, who have been part of the pro- gram. When you listen to them tell the story of how successful they are and how we have changed the trajectory of their lives and the lives of everyone in their cir- cle, you cannot help but be overwhelmed. It's an amazing feeling. DW: What advice do you have for orga- nizations that want to make D&I; part of their agenda? SB: An organization has to decide why it's interested in diversity. You have to ask, "What's the beneft to us?" Tat's what helps it go from "fuzzy talk" that's purely academic. I believe in metrics. Tere's no way we could have operationalized equal- ity in the most global company on the planet without measuring where we were and where we were headed. One of the last things I focused on be- fore I left Coke was an initiative called "diversity drives innovation." Tat's the next strategic horizon. If we are able to leverage all of everybody's background, we would be much better at problem- solving. With diversity driving inno- vation, we could all be so much more innovative, and quicker, and think of solutions we would never have thought of before. DW: What are some big trends you see in D&I; going forward? SB: Work around generations is going to be even more critical moving forward. Gen Y thinks very diferently from Gen X and baby boomers. Companies will have to look at how to attract, recruit, develop, and retain a workforce that thinks very diferently and has diferent desires than what's been the norm. I also think the LGBT space will con- tinue to explode. Our country and many others are moving in the right direction. I believe we can never go back to where we were—love is love, period. End of statement. We have to continue to take a stand, because we still have a lot of work in front of us in this space. DW: So what's next for you? SB: I'm 56, and it's time for me to move on to the next chapter in my life. I still feel very committed to D&I; and fairness. I also believe I have a lot to ofer, after being in Corporate America for 34 years. I'm setting up my own diversity consult- ing practice and working with organiza- tions that are looking to start or acceler- ate diversity programs. DW Ruchika Tulshyan is a Seattle-based journalist and content strategist. If we are able to leverage all of everybody's background, we would be much better at problem-solving.