How Tableau Leaders are Driving Gender Equality

Second, the only way to adjust my brand was to make daily choices of how I wanted to show up and create my own story. While I may not be able to control every facet of my environment, I could control my reaction and behavior to challenges. Since then, I’ve done my best to choose positivity over negativity and uplift those around me. My encouragement to those on their journey toward shaping their personal brand is to figure out who you are, what you want to be known for, and make daily choices to be that person.

Jackie: To your point Lauren, one of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Maya Angelou: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." The feelings you inspire and instill in others are your brand, something you've imparted to others whose lives you've impacted, sometimes in the seemingly smallest of ways. I am continually surprised to learn what people remember from an interaction we've had, years later.

One deliberate action you can take is to write out a personal brand statement. When you have the vision of what you wish for your brand, you can use it to guide your everyday behavior and ask yourself if you are living up to who you aspire to be. My statement has remained the same since 2006: "I am a caring and passionate advocate for people and possibilities — allowing others to achieve more than they ever thought they could."

Felicia: Speaking of advocating for people, we know that when employees feel a sense of belonging at work, they are more engaged and more productive. Lauren, what makes you personally feel a sense of belonging, and what are your thoughts on what more we can do collectively, to create a culture of belonging?

Lauren: Join the conversation! With 12 global ERG’s such as Salesforce Women’s Network, BOLDforce, OutForce, and Vetforce➚, Salesforce is fully supportive and committed to helping each individual employee feel a sense of belonging at work. As people leaders, we can encourage participation in Equality Groups, and create space to have 1:1 conversations with each team member to learn how they feel most connected and seen at work. To me, the desire to be an equality ally is a clear indicator of the commitment this company’s leaders have in creating a culture of belonging. My encouragement is to identify what you need in order to feel like you are bringing your full self to work every day, and then make space to have those conversations with people you trust. 

Felicia: That’s so great! Jackie, can you help us expand further on this topic of belonging and explain how you empower your teams to lead with equality?

Jackie: To Lauren’s reference of our ERG’s, I have to admit that as a US Air Force veteran, Vetforce➚ is near and dear to my heart. We often forget how difficult it can be to transition from the military to civilian life and work in ‘Corporate America.’ Vetforce➚ offers a supportive community for veterans, families of service members, and those who are passionate about supporting our military. I think it’s important that we provide veteran-friendly policies and practices—so our veteran employees can be their best selves at Salesforce.

Back to your question Felicia, first and foremost, I always bring my authentic self to work and celebrate others who do the same. But the truth is that in order to truly lead with equality, we need a far more diverse marketing team. We have made equality a cornerstone with specific underrepresented minority (URM) hiring goals and racial equality trainings at both the leadership and individual levels. We are also setting up Inclusive Leaders for Racial Justice Development roundtables quarterly. We center on concepts from the Inclusive Leadership Trailhead➚ module like practicing inclusive meetings, ensuring fair and equitable promotions, being an ally, supporting flexibility, and supporting the growth of your employees.

As these can be personally difficult issues for all of us and there is no easy playbook for how we adapt as an organization, I never have the expectation for anyone to have all the answers. What I do ask is for everyone to be unafraid to reach out to one another and ask for help if they’re unsure of what to do. 

Felicia: That’s the thing though, as Lauren mentioned earlier, people want to have discussions with people they trust. There can be a tendency to avoid difficult conversations because people are afraid to say the wrong thing. How can we create an environment where everyone feels psychologically safe to have courageous, authentic conversations?

Jackie: This is a difficult one. The truth is everyone defines psychological safety for themselves. As leaders, we need to be keenly aware of what type of environment and context provides safety for each person so that the conversations begin to open up. It is not a one-size-fits-all. We need to ensure our workplace is one where everyone can feel they can speak freely without retaliation and/or repercussion and that the conversations spur action. These are certainly challenging times. But we are going to come out the other side as better people — more reflective, open, vulnerable — with a better grasp on what truly matters.

My hope is that we can all be proud of how we show up every day but realize that can be hard as examples of racial and gender inequity continue to linger and systemic change comes slowly. As a leader, I concentrate on providing different avenues and opportunities for deep, important conversations to happen. I strive to be a role model of transparency, empathy, vulnerability, patience, and always try to listen deeply.

Lauren: I’d love to add a personal story as my sister, a first-grade teacher on the Race & Equity team at her elementary school, has encouraged me in a couple of ways. Five years ago, a University of Washington Race & Diversity Professor came to speak at her school about how to create space in the classroom where all children can feel seen and included. After the discussion, a teacher shared that they felt they were not qualified to have conversations about equality. Looking forlorn, the Professor responded, “Why does it always have to be me? I’m tired of it always being me, and I need help.” It brings me to a quote from Beverly Daniel Tatum, in her book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” She describes the “ongoing cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport. [...] Unless [we] are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor belt, unless they are actively anti-racist, they will find themselves carried along with the others.”

Both of these references encourage me to create the space to have conversations I was never taught to lead. I think about that UW Professor whenever I feel I’m not in my element, that it shouldn’t have to be people of color leading all conversations about Equality. I reflect on how easy it is to perpetuate systemic racism and decide daily that if it’s not something I am willing to be apart of, I need to move in the opposite direction. We can create an inclusive environment to have brave, authentic conversations when we ourselves are brave and authentic. When someone else’s experience or someone else’s starting line looks different from our own — our reaction should be to educate ourselves, listen, and understand that privilege is a reality and being an active advocate is the only pathway to change.