I have been doing video interviews with a number of C-level execs and practitioners about acrobatics they have been seeing in various vertical sectors during the COVID-19 crisis and the "New normal" they can expect as the economy wakes up. Here is the index to the growing list of interviews.
This time, it is Tony Prophet, Chief Equality and Recruiting Officer at Salesforce. Tony has had a remarkable career. I profiled him in one of my books optimizing HP's supply chain. He had also described China's meteoric surge in the early 2000s. I then profiled him in another book at Microsoft helping digitize the education sector. Now he is in an even more influential role at Salesforce, especially with the recent focus on BLM and other diversity issues.
Salesforce is a company which elevates equality as a core value and has been widely recognized as a company which is leading conversations on moving to a broader stakeholder, not just shareholder, focus. Given how well it has done for shareholders, the stakeholder goals are even more ambitious and Tony is clearly a key player in that effort and as he advises "aim high".
On Equality.com, Saleforce says "We aspire to have 50% of our U.S. workforce made up of Underrepresented Groups (Women, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Multiracial, LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, and Veterans) by 2023 and to continue building a workplace that reflects society around the globe." They are already at 43.9%. So, I was struck by his humility. He says a couple of times, Salesforce does not have all the answers and they still have a ways to go. But he names names of several colleagues and others who are leading the way when it comes to diversity awareness.
He has some great leadership advice - "in a crisis, the tendency for leaders is to be communicate less. Need to do just the opposite". He also advises more openness - not to be afraid to talk about race issues for fear of saying the wrong thing. He cites a colleague who quoted a version of "closed mouth gathers no feet"
Most of the videos in this series have focused on heroics around the health, operational and financial impacts of the pandemic, so I was glad to get a chance to talk to Tony about the diversity angle. It took a while for us to schedule the talk given so many other executives, panels and forums are also seeking his counsel in what he calls a "moment of reset".
Definitely worth the wait...very inspirational conversation.
