and I’m going to start with a personal
confession that I’ve never said anywhere
in public any time in my life when I was
eight years old I was a real flop as an
entrepreneur I tried to start a little
business based on what I knew I had
business cards printed I think I’d
probably hand printed them that said
child psychologist the only child
psychologist who is also a child you
know I thought that was a winning
proposition but actually it was a big
flop and so from that moment on I have
dedicated my life to the meaning of
success to having people succeed at
realizing their potential
I would include children in that too but
certainly people who are often excluded
from the dominant culture but even those
in the dominant culture I want no one
left behind and so regardless of the
kind of careers people have they are no
longer linear they are no longer up a
ladder although there are some people
who are in line for the next promotion
waiting 20 or 25 years to reach the
pinnacle that isn’t how it is for many
people now people are entrepreneurs
people have portfolios they dabble here
they dabble there they move on it’s a
very different kind of career so how do
we talk about that in a way that’s going
to be meaningful to people and that they
will know what it takes to succeed and
I’ve concluded from all my years of
advising on success whether it’s sports
teams some on winning streaks how to
continue that streak versus losing
streaks how to make the change
whether it’s corporate executives
whether it’s politicians people in
public office whether it’s community
leaders I concluded
there are only three career steps that
matter and the first is in fact
inclusion inclusion getting in the door
the second is influence getting at the
table and the third is impact getting
outside the building to change the world
and so I’m going to talk about those a
little what goes into them why it’s
sometimes harder for women or less
represented minorities or people who are
different in any way to do it but also
what the keys are at each stage so for
inclusion in the first place my just
getting in the door getting in the door
is a matter heavily of technical skills
things that are easily demonstrated you
either have the skills or you don’t
credentials and in fact recent research
has shown that when credentials can be
clearly demonstrated there are fewer
selection biases even if there are still
some preferences for cronies of her
people that look like me
the question is cut and dried can you or
can’t you perform this means that at
early stages of careers any job any
position any endeavor that’s highly
routinized that’s clearly measurable
where we can see is it done or not done
is open sometimes disproportionately
open to women and underrepresented
minority so it’s interesting that when
coding was considered really routine
clerical work we had black women coding
now that it’s a really hot topic for
techies we have only young men seemed to
be getting into the coding circles
except for all the schools and the
informal groups that are now helping
people learn how to code if you can show
it you can do it so inclusion is heavily
a matter of the credentials the
technical skills and in fact a black
entrepreneur that I know very well be
for he went to venture capitalists for
money to start his own facial
recognition technology company he worked
at Apple and Apple was his credential
entry into the door because that was
clearly something he had done so
inclusion in the door credentials but
you can get stuck at that stage because
it’s routinized and because it’s easier
to put people who are different in jobs
where it’s easily measurable where it’s
not a measure manner of judgment because
of that it’s easy to get stuck in those
technical jobs and routinized jobs and
so for example a woman lawyer wanted a
promotion and she was in a very
technical aspect of the law in a
corporation she wanted a promotion and
she was lucky to have a mentor that said
to her no you don’t want that job
because if you take that job you’re
going to be stuck in this sidetrack
where all you’ll do is continue to do
the same thing over and over again
although you might do it at a higher
level and that was smart and that was
right and she ultimately became the
general counsel of the whole company
because she did another path but
inclusion is something that can also get
kind of boring entrepreneurs sometimes
start something and then when it becomes
routinized they get bored with it and
want to move on and do something else
because the next stage is influenced
being at the table being able to
influence the direction of an industry
or a community or the company and
getting into that next stage of
influence is where one begins to have
some power to shape events shape other
people’s lives and I think women and
underrepresented minorities can do that
as well as anybody else except that they
come with a few handicaps one is the
ability to get at the table doesn’t have
a lot to do with how well you do your
job
that keeps you included but to really
belong and be a member of the
decision-making circles is more than the
technical parts of the jobs
it’s the extras and the extras come in
two forms one form of extras are the
network’s people bring to work the
network’s they have and you know it’s
interesting because at work we’re all
alike at work people are more alike than
different even if though we see lots of
differences it’s at home back in the
community that people are often very
different at work people often dress in
similar ways use similar language if the
food is if they’re lucky that the food
is supplied at the workplace they eat
they eat similar food it’s at home in
fact in the community that we express
ourselves in terms of our difference
that we’re connected to other people
that we grew up with like us and one of
the issues for underrepresented
minorities often or for people from
lower income populations is that the
people back home don’t necessarily
support them in this new life they have
trying to get a seat at the table they
don’t often understand that life they
sometimes try to pull people back to the
neighborhood and so they are not
supporting the kinds of extras that
people could bring to the workplace like
Network contacts like being able to make
great introductions like being able to
get people special tickets to the
theater or a sports event and so the
nature of networks because the influence
stage is all about relationships
if inclusion is about the technical
skills influences about relationships
and for women the extras are something
that takes time sitting on an outside
board getting to know people and there
are two things I will say about that one
is that research shows that women’s
networks a little bit more than men’s
the differences are disappearing but
women’s networks
to be more social and a matter of
support and while I think it’s
incredibly important that people have a
support system out of work absolutely
important that doesn’t necessarily build
the tools for influencer better to have
networks and include support but also
include the kinds of issues that we’re
talking about here the one the
astronauts Network for a woman astronaut
and not just the women’s support network
and so that’s one additional handicap
the other is time in order to do the
extras you need time and one thing that
has not budged for women in our economy
is the household division of labor the
household division of labor still means
that women do a disproportionate share
of what’s been called the second shift
and are therefore not available to
cultivate the networks to be on the
boards to have the favors to come in and
trade with their colleagues at work so
that they’re seen as important and
influential and get a seat at the table
I spoke at a conference a few years ago
that was titled what men can do to
advance women’s careers and I got up and
I said the laundry
until we make changes in the household
division of labor it’s going to be
harder for people who take care who left
caretaking duties and that could be men
as well as women that could be people
with aging parents that could be
childcare whatever it is it’s harder to
get a seat at the table if you have to
spend your time outside of work so
getting at the table is very important
for this second career stage where you
have influence and you can control
events rather than being controlled by
them and that’s incredibly important
because there’s less stress in work when
you feel a sense of control but
influence by itself I don’t know we
could be content with that for a long
time I think but I really want to move
us all to the third career step which is
impact outside the building doing
something in the wider world for the
organization the community or the world
very important for the people who rise
to the top the people who get at to the
top of hierarchies are often people with
the big view they’re not people just
with a functional skill and they’re not
just people who sit in the decision
making meetings they have the big view
of that world out there and what we do
to move it
it’s called vision vision is the asset
for this career step I know that’s kind
of interesting because who has vision
while I’m standing up here before you I
keep saying I without notes talking to
you that’s courageous we all have to
learn how to just convey our vision of
what the world could and should be to
other people and count on ourselves but
research also tells us that when we look
at appraisals of performance of people
in the workplace women tend to
outperform men
in some of the 21st century skills such
as collaboration and teamwork fantastic
I don’t want anybody to be outperforming
anybody I just want them to get a chance
but the one thing where women don’t get
judged in the same way with high marks
is the vision thing that women are not
necessarily the ones that are going to
be trusted to set forth the grand plan
for the organization for the world for
what we might do and that is what we all
need to cultivate now in turbulent
troubled times is the vision thing is
the ability to step outside of the
building and by that I mean more than
outside the box I mean literally outside
the building get to the street get to
the community around you get to the
context the industry what’s changing out
there that we need to master and bring
back to our organizations to do it
better impact how many lives are we
going to touch how many people are we
going to affect and not just do our jobs
and not even sit in the decision-making
circles alone but how are we going to
change the world and make the world a
better place
I lead a program at Harvard called
advanced leadership where we actually
work with top professionals in every
field at the very top who are now going
to transition from their income earning
years to their next years of service and
we have them step outside the building
outside their profession professions
careers often narrow people people often
learn the technical side and know more
and more about less and less but to step
outside and think about the impact one’s
having on the world outside is the
powerful third career step that really
matters so those are the three steps we
should be thinking about not runs on a
ladder we’re no longer climbing or
waiting in line we can put together a
portfolio of activities but think of
those three steps
first is inclusion getting in the door a
matter of mastery mastering technical
skills the second is influence getting a
seat at the table relationships
belonging I’m here I will deserve to be
here but the third to me is the most
important and that’s impact that’s a
vision of how we make the world a better
place and as far as I’m concerned that’s
what our career journey should be all
about ensuring that we have more and
more impact outside the current
structures to make the world a better
place thank you
[Applause]
confession that I’ve never said anywhere
in public any time in my life when I was
eight years old I was a real flop as an
entrepreneur I tried to start a little
business based on what I knew I had
business cards printed I think I’d
probably hand printed them that said
child psychologist the only child
psychologist who is also a child you
know I thought that was a winning
proposition but actually it was a big
flop and so from that moment on I have
dedicated my life to the meaning of
success to having people succeed at
realizing their potential
I would include children in that too but
certainly people who are often excluded
from the dominant culture but even those
in the dominant culture I want no one
left behind and so regardless of the
kind of careers people have they are no
longer linear they are no longer up a
ladder although there are some people
who are in line for the next promotion
waiting 20 or 25 years to reach the
pinnacle that isn’t how it is for many
people now people are entrepreneurs
people have portfolios they dabble here
they dabble there they move on it’s a
very different kind of career so how do
we talk about that in a way that’s going
to be meaningful to people and that they
will know what it takes to succeed and
I’ve concluded from all my years of
advising on success whether it’s sports
teams some on winning streaks how to
continue that streak versus losing
streaks how to make the change
whether it’s corporate executives
whether it’s politicians people in
public office whether it’s community
leaders I concluded
there are only three career steps that
matter and the first is in fact
inclusion inclusion getting in the door
the second is influence getting at the
table and the third is impact getting
outside the building to change the world
and so I’m going to talk about those a
little what goes into them why it’s
sometimes harder for women or less
represented minorities or people who are
different in any way to do it but also
what the keys are at each stage so for
inclusion in the first place my just
getting in the door getting in the door
is a matter heavily of technical skills
things that are easily demonstrated you
either have the skills or you don’t
credentials and in fact recent research
has shown that when credentials can be
clearly demonstrated there are fewer
selection biases even if there are still
some preferences for cronies of her
people that look like me
the question is cut and dried can you or
can’t you perform this means that at
early stages of careers any job any
position any endeavor that’s highly
routinized that’s clearly measurable
where we can see is it done or not done
is open sometimes disproportionately
open to women and underrepresented
minority so it’s interesting that when
coding was considered really routine
clerical work we had black women coding
now that it’s a really hot topic for
techies we have only young men seemed to
be getting into the coding circles
except for all the schools and the
informal groups that are now helping
people learn how to code if you can show
it you can do it so inclusion is heavily
a matter of the credentials the
technical skills and in fact a black
entrepreneur that I know very well be
for he went to venture capitalists for
money to start his own facial
recognition technology company he worked
at Apple and Apple was his credential
entry into the door because that was
clearly something he had done so
inclusion in the door credentials but
you can get stuck at that stage because
it’s routinized and because it’s easier
to put people who are different in jobs
where it’s easily measurable where it’s
not a measure manner of judgment because
of that it’s easy to get stuck in those
technical jobs and routinized jobs and
so for example a woman lawyer wanted a
promotion and she was in a very
technical aspect of the law in a
corporation she wanted a promotion and
she was lucky to have a mentor that said
to her no you don’t want that job
because if you take that job you’re
going to be stuck in this sidetrack
where all you’ll do is continue to do
the same thing over and over again
although you might do it at a higher
level and that was smart and that was
right and she ultimately became the
general counsel of the whole company
because she did another path but
inclusion is something that can also get
kind of boring entrepreneurs sometimes
start something and then when it becomes
routinized they get bored with it and
want to move on and do something else
because the next stage is influenced
being at the table being able to
influence the direction of an industry
or a community or the company and
getting into that next stage of
influence is where one begins to have
some power to shape events shape other
people’s lives and I think women and
underrepresented minorities can do that
as well as anybody else except that they
come with a few handicaps one is the
ability to get at the table doesn’t have
a lot to do with how well you do your
job
that keeps you included but to really
belong and be a member of the
decision-making circles is more than the
technical parts of the jobs
it’s the extras and the extras come in
two forms one form of extras are the
network’s people bring to work the
network’s they have and you know it’s
interesting because at work we’re all
alike at work people are more alike than
different even if though we see lots of
differences it’s at home back in the
community that people are often very
different at work people often dress in
similar ways use similar language if the
food is if they’re lucky that the food
is supplied at the workplace they eat
they eat similar food it’s at home in
fact in the community that we express
ourselves in terms of our difference
that we’re connected to other people
that we grew up with like us and one of
the issues for underrepresented
minorities often or for people from
lower income populations is that the
people back home don’t necessarily
support them in this new life they have
trying to get a seat at the table they
don’t often understand that life they
sometimes try to pull people back to the
neighborhood and so they are not
supporting the kinds of extras that
people could bring to the workplace like
Network contacts like being able to make
great introductions like being able to
get people special tickets to the
theater or a sports event and so the
nature of networks because the influence
stage is all about relationships
if inclusion is about the technical
skills influences about relationships
and for women the extras are something
that takes time sitting on an outside
board getting to know people and there
are two things I will say about that one
is that research shows that women’s
networks a little bit more than men’s
the differences are disappearing but
women’s networks
to be more social and a matter of
support and while I think it’s
incredibly important that people have a
support system out of work absolutely
important that doesn’t necessarily build
the tools for influencer better to have
networks and include support but also
include the kinds of issues that we’re
talking about here the one the
astronauts Network for a woman astronaut
and not just the women’s support network
and so that’s one additional handicap
the other is time in order to do the
extras you need time and one thing that
has not budged for women in our economy
is the household division of labor the
household division of labor still means
that women do a disproportionate share
of what’s been called the second shift
and are therefore not available to
cultivate the networks to be on the
boards to have the favors to come in and
trade with their colleagues at work so
that they’re seen as important and
influential and get a seat at the table
I spoke at a conference a few years ago
that was titled what men can do to
advance women’s careers and I got up and
I said the laundry
until we make changes in the household
division of labor it’s going to be
harder for people who take care who left
caretaking duties and that could be men
as well as women that could be people
with aging parents that could be
childcare whatever it is it’s harder to
get a seat at the table if you have to
spend your time outside of work so
getting at the table is very important
for this second career stage where you
have influence and you can control
events rather than being controlled by
them and that’s incredibly important
because there’s less stress in work when
you feel a sense of control but
influence by itself I don’t know we
could be content with that for a long
time I think but I really want to move
us all to the third career step which is
impact outside the building doing
something in the wider world for the
organization the community or the world
very important for the people who rise
to the top the people who get at to the
top of hierarchies are often people with
the big view they’re not people just
with a functional skill and they’re not
just people who sit in the decision
making meetings they have the big view
of that world out there and what we do
to move it
it’s called vision vision is the asset
for this career step I know that’s kind
of interesting because who has vision
while I’m standing up here before you I
keep saying I without notes talking to
you that’s courageous we all have to
learn how to just convey our vision of
what the world could and should be to
other people and count on ourselves but
research also tells us that when we look
at appraisals of performance of people
in the workplace women tend to
outperform men
in some of the 21st century skills such
as collaboration and teamwork fantastic
I don’t want anybody to be outperforming
anybody I just want them to get a chance
but the one thing where women don’t get
judged in the same way with high marks
is the vision thing that women are not
necessarily the ones that are going to
be trusted to set forth the grand plan
for the organization for the world for
what we might do and that is what we all
need to cultivate now in turbulent
troubled times is the vision thing is
the ability to step outside of the
building and by that I mean more than
outside the box I mean literally outside
the building get to the street get to
the community around you get to the
context the industry what’s changing out
there that we need to master and bring
back to our organizations to do it
better impact how many lives are we
going to touch how many people are we
going to affect and not just do our jobs
and not even sit in the decision-making
circles alone but how are we going to
change the world and make the world a
better place
I lead a program at Harvard called
advanced leadership where we actually
work with top professionals in every
field at the very top who are now going
to transition from their income earning
years to their next years of service and
we have them step outside the building
outside their profession professions
careers often narrow people people often
learn the technical side and know more
and more about less and less but to step
outside and think about the impact one’s
having on the world outside is the
powerful third career step that really
matters so those are the three steps we
should be thinking about not runs on a
ladder we’re no longer climbing or
waiting in line we can put together a
portfolio of activities but think of
those three steps
first is inclusion getting in the door a
matter of mastery mastering technical
skills the second is influence getting a
seat at the table relationships
belonging I’m here I will deserve to be
here but the third to me is the most
important and that’s impact that’s a
vision of how we make the world a better
place and as far as I’m concerned that’s
what our career journey should be all
about ensuring that we have more and
more impact outside the current
structures to make the world a better
place thank you
[Applause]
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