94: Advancing the equity & inclusion agenda in 2023: In conversation with Leela Stake, Global Lead FH4Inclusion, Co-Lead True MOSAIC DE&I Practice

The Elephant in the Room

Shownotes:

One of the best things about hosting my podcast is that I get to spotlight some incredible people from across the world, especially people from previously underrepresented groups and communities. A couple of weeks back I spoke with @Leela Stake, Global Lead FH4Inclusion, Co-Lead True MOSAIC DE&I Practice. Out side of work she is Vice Chair of the Board of Stanford’s Haas Centre for Public Service.

In the course of our conversation we spoke about her influences, childhood, her identity as a multiracial woman, role models, her current role, the intersectionality between sustainability & equity & inclusion, her journey to leadership, leadership in general, what orgs can do to create equity inspired designs to building inclusive organisations, being an eternal optimist and many other things…….

Hearing people’s stories of lived experiences and resilience (it is a word I don’t like anymore) is humbling, and revealing. The stories we hear teach us, that it may be tough but we all have the power to define who we want to be, rise, reach for the stars and pave the way for those who follow in our wake.

Want to hear more, head to the podcast 👇🏾👇🏾

“So to me this is a key year as we are in 2023, and we think about some of the headwinds or economic uncertainties that we may be facing. This is a time to really hold leaders accountable for what they said that they would do and make sure that we're not either stalling progress or moving backwards.

We have to make sure we stay really united and lock arms with the people that we're working with. It's just tremendously important that women leaders support other women leaders, that people from under-resourced communities support each other and lift each other up. So that continues to be, I think, just so important to me personally and so important to moving this work forward.” Leela Stake

Memorable Passages from the podcast:

👉🏾 It's so nice to be with you, Sudha. Thank so much for having me..

👉🏾 Oh, there's so many. Well, I am currently a global lead for FH for Inclusion at Fleishman Hillard and Co-lead of True Mosaic, which is our global diversity, equity and inclusion practice. I'm also a multiracial woman, I am a parent of two amazing teenagers who are 13 and 15 years old. And happily married to the love of my life.

👉🏾 So those are a few of the influences in my life. As I think about influences, I really have to look into my past. Both of my parents, I'm a minister's daughter, a Unitarian minister's daughter, so my dad grew up in a small town in Kansas. My mother was an immigrant to the United States from India. And I had an amazing older brother growing up. So in our family of four, all three of those people influenced me very profoundly.

👉🏾 Yeah, it's incredibly important to me. I think that sometimes you can't know where you're going in the world, until you know very deeply where you've come from. So it's something that I think about a lot in terms of my identity. I think, it was maybe more common now to be multiracial, but growing up maybe it was less common.

👉🏾 And I think that there are both superpowers that come from it and also challenges. In one way, I feel like I could go to almost anywhere in the world and feel like I fit in. I have kind of olive-tanned skin and so there's many places I would go and people would wonder if I was from that place.

👉🏾 And there's something really beautiful and amazing about that. On the other hand, I think that it can be really challenging because in some ways you feel like you don't completely fit in anywhere. People will sort of say, oh, you're exotic, or, oh, isn't that unusual. And I would love the time that I spent in India, but I also didn't speak the language.

👉🏾 I studied Indian classical dance and felt very connected to my family there, but it was a little bit different for me in terms of the way that I grew up. And similarly at those times in the United States, there weren't a lot of people who looked like me. And in some ways that can be good. I think maybe because you're seen as unique and in other ways, I think you have to kind of even more than some other people, pave your own path.

👉🏾 Yes. I mean, I get to have the amazing privilege and opportunity to really help achieve our ambition to become the most inclusive global communications agency in the world. That was an ambition that our CEO John Saunders set out. Probably about five years ago. So before people were talking as much as they are now about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

👉🏾 And I get to wear a couple of different hats. So my role in FH for Inclusion is really leading a lot of our pro bono and volunteer efforts around the world. For our 70th anniversary, we launched a desire to unite all of our global offices in celebration of the 70th anniversary by joining together in volunteer and pro bono service to help nonprofit organisations around the world.

👉🏾 And to date, we've worked with more than 130 organisations, more than 35,000 hours of volunteer and pro bono service. So that's been really an incredible track record and it keeps on going which has been great. And as co-lead of True Mosaic, our global diversity, equity and inclusion practice, we're really working on how do we bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the center of our client work.

👉🏾 That's the work that drives us each and every day. And so really, I mean, our ambition is quite great. We hope to bring DE and I as a core service to all of the clients that we work with ultimately, and we're making really great in in roads to doing that. We've worked with more than a hundred clients to date and we've built a team of more than 160 counsellors around the world.

👉🏾 And I would say the one thing that's also kind of interesting about True Mosaic, cuz we're really talking about how do we bring people together who have not only, different kinds of professional expertise, but that we're really a true reflection of society that we live in. And we think about all of the different facets of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

👉🏾 So that might be culture, race, and ethnicity, but it might also be gender identity, sexual orientation, people with disabilities of different kinds. People who have had different backgrounds and different experiences, and we really feel like that enriches the work that we do.

👉🏾Thank you so much for asking that question Sudha, I couldn't agree more. And I think that it is really important to bring these pieces of experience together and I think unfortunately, I've even heard some trends in the opposite direction. I think now in times of economic uncertainty, like there's been more talk about these worlds maybe being pitted against each other or competition for resources.

👉🏾 And I think you're absolutely right if we're doing this right, we're working together and really these things are inextricably linked. As we move forward, we can't think about climate solutions without thinking about the communities that are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis that we're in.

👉🏾 And we have to think about solutions that truly work for everybody. And I think that there's so many ways in which diversity, equity, and inclusion, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand and I have really found it to be a great asset in my work that I have worked in both of these spaces and will continue to do so.

👉🏾 I think maybe the one way I'd like to answer this question is with just a concrete example. Because I think it's really easy to get stuck in sort of generalities about what are these different types of terms and how do we define them, and that's really important. But then I think we have to get down to what does that actually mean when the rubber hits the road. So I'll give an example at our own organisation or in our own industry So the communications industry and the agency world as like many industries historically not been very diverse. So if we're talking about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, there are few things we need to do from a talent perspective.

👉🏾 We need to start building the talent pipeline, starting with people who are beginning their careers, and that's really important. So we have an amazing fellowship program that helps to do just that for people who are early in career. If we just wait for people who are early in their career to rise up the ranks, we could be waiting even if people progress fairly fast. It's still a number of years down the road before those people become senior leaders. So we need to be thinking really proactively about how do we also bring people into our industry who are from other fields, and how does that enrich the work that we do? And whether those people are former journalists, whether they worked in-house or in government or with NGOs of different kinds.

👉🏾 And then, if we're bringing those people in, we have to recognise they are coming in with a wealth of experience. They have many gifts, but they haven't been working for the past two decades in the agency world like I have. And so equity is really about how do we recognise that some people may need additional support and deserve additional support to have a level playing field and to kind of create the world that we want to live in, the kind of profession that we want to live in. And so that's something we've been thinking a lot about is how do we make sure we create really successful on ramps, equitable on-ramps for people who didn't maybe have the same opportunities to thrive and become leaders in our industry.

👉🏾 And so I just think when we're talking about these different terms, it's helpful to really get into the programs and what are we actually trying to accomplish, and that's just one example.

👉🏾 Yes, and I think the journey continues, right? I mean, I hope that I'm at a point that I'm not even halfway through my career at this point. And so it's something that I have thought about most days of my career and will continue to think about as well. Yes. I do think that in some ways it has been more difficult.

👉🏾 And I think that there are probably a few examples of that. I think really early in my career I started working abroad in a number of different countries. And I remember I would sometimes go to meetings where I was the only woman in the room or one of just a few women in the room and that can be really challenging. And I think that you have to be kind of brave in a way and not be scared off by that and sometimes maybe work harder than others to kind of maybe get to the same place. I think that there's still a tremendous amount of sort of mommy tracking that can happen.

👉🏾 And sometimes I think people feel like they're doing that as a courtesy to you. Like, oh, I didn't even think about you for that job because I just assumed that you wouldn't want it. I remember that from some of the early years of having children and I think people didn't mean to do it maliciously, but I remember in one case I really wanted to put myself forward for a position cuz someone above me was leaving the organisation.

👉🏾 And I thought to myself, so it's really inopportune timing. I have two young kids at the time, and so it wasn't really ideal to be taking on a much more significant role, but I also thought to myself, it's either now or I might have to wait several years for another opportunity like this. And I remember very vividly making that call and sort of getting the response. Oh, like, I really think you could do this job, I just hadn't thought about you for it. And I ended up taking that position and ended up being a huge leap forward for me in my career. And it wasn't ideal timing, but it worked out great and it wasn't that others were closed off to the idea. It was just that I needed to advocate for myself to put my name in the running.

👉🏾 Absolutely. Yes. I mean, I think that there's probably a few things to this. One is just to make sure that we are holding leaders accountable. I think the interesting thing about where we've been over the past few years, you're right, diversity, equity and inclusion is nothing new.

👉🏾 However, it has reached a fever pitch and gained a lot more momentum in the past few years. And there's been a lot of talk as we kind of were in the depths of 2020 and coming out of it. This is a movement, not a moment, but now it's sort of like where we really get to take people to task if they're not leaning into that.

👉🏾 So to me this is a key year as we are in 2023, and we think about some of the headwinds or economic uncertainties that we may be facing. This is a time to really hold leaders accountable for what they said that they would do and make sure that we're not either stalling progress or moving backwards.

👉🏾 So I do think that this is a really, really critical period. And I think the other thing I would just say practically is, we have to make sure we stay really united and lock arms with the people that we're working with. And so it's just tremendously important that women leaders support other women leaders, that people from under-resourced communities support each other and lift each other up. So that continues to be, I think, just so important to me personally and so important to moving this work forward.

👉🏾 I think it's hard to generalise, I do think that there's a lot of studies that show that women tend to be more empathetic leaders. So I don't think that's true of every individual, but I think on the whole, that probably is true. I think being an active learner is really important. And also being able to admit sometimes when you're wrong is a really important trait.

👉🏾 I think that it's important to lead with confidence, but it's also important to be a really active learner. Every day I feel like I make mistakes and need to learn and improve from them. So I find that to be an incredibly important trait. And I also think being a really active listener, really being able to hear people and the conversations that I have. I get to manage many wonderful people and really making sure before I jump to a conclusion or a solution, reminding myself to take a moment to really be a good listener is so important.

👉🏾 Yes. I think that's really well sad. And there's a reason why we generalise as well because we have to follow the data points and really see where the trend lines are moving. I remember that was one of the things that was really striking to me, when I was at college at Stanford, I took a women's leadership course when I was doing my graduate work. And it was mostly with women from the business school and the statistics were really staggering. If you looked at all of the graduates of the business school there and just compared it by sort of gender identity, you really found that most women dropped out of the workforce. Even like extremely well educated women once they became parents and you don't wanna generalise because each person is different and people's leadership styles are different. But there is something to be said for, we have to see what the research shows too, because it may reveal some trend lines that we need to take a really hard look at.

👉🏾 Yeah, I think about this all the time. I mean, I had two amazing Indian women influences in my life, more than two. But two come to mind, I guess for this interview. My mother was, as I mentioned, an immigrant to the US from India. She was an economist, extremely smart, amazing woman. She passed away eight years ago. I miss her every day. But she decided that she didn't feel like she could continue her career and raise her children once we were born. And so she stayed at home and was an incredibly engaged, amazing mother. I always think about it, I wish she was still here to call and ask her for advice, especially now as I'm parenting two teenagers.

👉🏾 And then I had my Nani, my maternal grandmother was an amazing woman in so many ways. She was on the Mumbai City Council. She lost her husband tragically in a car accident when my mom was six years old. So she had three children and really paved her own path, which was really ahead of her time and quite extraordinary. I think about both of them a lot because I don't really want to make a trade off between being the kind of mother that I want to be and being the kind of professional that I want to be. And I have these two amazing influences of women from my past, but I don't think we talk about this enough. It is not easy.

👉🏾 It's really not easy to try to do it all, and I'm most of the way through having my children at home, and so I've been able to figure it out. But I think the adage, the days are long but the years are short, is really true. There are days that feel really challenging and so when some people say it goes by so quickly, I remember thinking, wait, this doesn't feel fast, what about when you're sleep deprived, and what about when you're just like, oh, is it worth it? Can I do it? But on the other hand, here I am, and now the kids are so much older and so the years have felt short and fast in that way.

👉🏾 So I think it's just a way of saying to your question I don't think the structures have been kind of built for people raising children and I think it continues to be a struggle. And I think we're starting to do a better job but I think that we have keep working on it. I had the real pleasure of working with Sheryl Sandberg on the launch of lean In and, it's interesting because it's in our common vernacular now to talk about kind of leaning into opportunities. But that's something that , has been talked about more over the course of my career.

👉🏾 And I think that's a good thing, and I think we have to continue to think about how we put the right structures in place to support people to get through the years of the parenting, years of their lives. Women and men for sure women. And because it's just true, like I know five years from now my kids will likely be out of the house and in college and I will have more time on my hands than I do now, and right now it's a matter of packing a lot of it in. So we need to continue to support each other to get through these years with gusto.

👉🏾 Yes. I mean...