Allyship in Action

No organization is getting gender equality right all of the time. That is why we need safe places to talk about the real issues holding us back. That means taking chances and accepting risk and failure as part of the process. In this episode, you will learn from two leaders doing just that.

Don Wettrick is an educator and innovation expert. He thrives on increasing access to innovation for young people today. He believes in providing more choices through open sourced learning to meet young people where they are at. Noticing the lack of gender diversity in his classroom, he began an active campaign to bring young women into the innovation and technology spaces to grow and learn. Through achieving gender balance in his own learning environment, he reflects on his journey, sharing wisdom for all leaders to learn from. He instills the chance to fail and full transparency to his students, garnering trust and safety for novel ideas to thrive.

Aliya Janjua, senior technology leader, shares her own candid conversation about bias in the workplace. As a successful woman leader and women's Employee Resource Group (ERG) leader, she steps into hard conversations and utilizes them as tools to promote positive change for herself and her team. Her fearless passion for more women leaders in tech inspires others to do their best work and take more risks. Upon recognizing a void of Asian women's stories on podcasts, she took a risk and launched her own "Confessions of Successful Asian Women" podcast. From Aliya's own battle with overcoming imposter syndrome, we learn what it takes to sit at the table with men and hold our own, and contribute in ways you are an expert in.

Follow Aliyah and her podcast at Confessions of Successful Asian Women https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/confessions-of-successful-asian-women/id1089038606?mt=2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyajanjua/

Follow Don at http://www.startedupinnovation.com/.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

The finance and energy industries are not known for diversity. Despite their best efforts, gender equality remains stagnant inside many of these organizations. Meet two allies that are speaking up and leveraging their voices to do something about it – Stephen Figueroa and Bobbi Rebell.

Bobbi spreads the word of diverse voices on her podcast, the Financial Grownup. Through her own experience in the media covering financial news, she learned the power of advocacy and leveraging your voice. She believes that self-advocacy requires us to see beyond our knowledge today, and be willing to see ourselves as experts in our own right. Through her own experiences challenging women to speak up especially when they are not the expert, and to say "yes" more, she amplifies their voices through her podcast. She shares some key pearls of wisdom, asking herself, "what would a man do?" in various situations to take on more risks and say "yes" to things she might not normally do (that she wants to do). Bobbi challenges traditional gender norms and models positive behavior for rising women leaders.

As a senior leader, Stephen has given talks on "what is a male ally?" and recognizes that his own path to being an ally has been imperfect. Through recognizing that he was, in fact, part of the problem facing women today, he stepped into the conversation and became an advocate for change. His journey of learning how to be an ally and embracing his own vulnerability is one we can all learn from. He offers tangible tips for listeners to examine themselves as leaders to change behavior if they are part of the problem, address microaggressions in the moment with peers, and network beyond those that just look and think like you.

Follow Bobbi's Financial Grownup podcast at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rookie-startup-mistakes-dream-teams-author-contently/id1330774272?i=1000414016023&mt=2

and online at http://www.bobbirebell.com/.

Learn more about ACES and Stephen at https://www.linkedin.com/company/aces-excellence-in-energy/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-figueroa-2241b131/.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

Diversity is a dialogue. Those that are "non-diverse" and "diverse" need to have conversations together to close the gaps facing women in leadership today. Both Jeff and Nicole speak to the power of diversity beyond race and gender, defined rather in terms of experiences.

In this episode, Jeff Ton, CIO at Bluelock, and author of Amplify Your Value - Leading IT with Strategic Vision, shares the candid conversations he has had as a leader, including the failures of not acting quickly enough, and the journey to taking tough feedback from his team about diversity and taking swift, bold action. Today, he welcomes diverse perspectives into the dialogue with teams he leads, and calls on leaders to own their strengths, as well as their weaknesses. As he educates our listeners, it might be scary to be vulnerable, yet for leaders wanting to build diverse teams, there is no other choice.

On the flip side of this episode, Nicole Jansen, shares the female leadership perspective and speaks to the benefits of gender diversity. As a certified Business Breakthrough Coach, and the founder of Discover The Edge and the Leaders Of Transformation Podcast & Community, she collaborates with leaders to drive positive change through welcoming diverse perspectives. Through her own candid conversation, she learned, "do you want to be right, or do you want to be safe?" and chose to help that negative experience help her be even better as a leader. She speaks to the drive and flow men and women offer when working together and the balance of feminine and masculine connection. She chooses to be fascinated vs. frustrated with our current diversity challenges, and inspires more leaders to be more inclusive of those with different experiences than you own.

Follow Nicole at http://leadersoftransformation.com/, connect with her community at https://www.facebook.com/LeadersOfTransformation/ and learn more about her consulting work at http://www.discovertheedge.com/.

Get Jeff's book on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Amplify-Your-Value-Leading-Strategic-ebook/dp/B07FLKLST2, follow him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffton/ or at www.JeffreySTon.com.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

Our allies come in all forms. Some we are presented with, others we find through sheer happenstance. Erin and John are just that. Having worked together for four years, they did not start out as allies. They had to learn about each other's personalities and how to co-exist as peer leaders in a male-dominated environment. Through this, they have built a strong working relationship built on trust and mutual respect. They recognize one another's strengths, diverse personalities, and gender traits, and often act as the yin to the other's yang.

They provide a window into diversity in athletics. The NCAA's Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) designation requires that a diverse person is at the table for decision making. Erin has this designation, and is given the opportunity to serve on diverse committees, and provide input to important decisions outside of her role. This is a necessary step to close the gaps for women trailing in leadership roles. Their candid conversation reveals how when men and women work together as allies, we can close some of these gaps.

And, my favorite part, is when Erin says, "I want to recognized for what I say at the table, not for how I am dressed at the table."

Follow Erin and John's work at https://roadrunnersathletics.com/.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

For leaders focused on diversity, candid conversations happen all the time. It is part of business to step into difficult situations and deal with issues that prevent the team from being successful and inclusive. John and Audrey reflect on their own unique experiences, from confronting inappropriate behavior to proactively addressing gender stereotypes in the moment. As founders and leaders of successful tech companies, their unique perspectives have similarities, despite distinct vantage points and genders.

The future of the tech industry depends on diverse talent, and both organizations are employing unique strategies to engage and retain top diverse talent early and at mid-career. They share their proven strategies and what it will take to grow more women leaders in tech.

Follow John on Twitter @jpmcdon and Audrey at https://netlogx.com/.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

Barb Smith is Senior Vice President at Key Bank. Key Bank remains the first and only top 20 U.S. bank to have a female CEO, Beth Mooney, whom Barb reports to. She shares what it is like to work for a strong female leader and how their Key4Women program champions and advocates for women internally and externally for women in business. They strive to empower women as leaders and business owners, while engaging men as allies.

Barb also shares her candid conversation, affectionately coined the "coffee incident," which transformed her own career. She decided after being asked to serve a male peer coffee during a client meeting, that she would speak up and advocate for what was right for women in the workplace. She notes that her career, as for many women, has been like a jungle gym. She leverages her skill sets in different ways. Rather than focusing on checking all of the boxes, Barb has taken risks and pushed beyond her comfort zone, and now encourages other women leaders to do the same.

As Barb says, as women we need to "take the leap and build your wings on the way down." Follow Key4Women and Barb at: https://www.key.com/small-business/services/key4women/overview.jsp.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com.

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

You know the tough conversations we want to have, yet do not always have? As allies, it is critical we talk candidly to achieve equality together.

Duo technology leaders, Sena Hineline and Mike Kelly, share the candid conversation about gender that reinforced and set the tone for their workplace culture. Often leaders are not aware of how their decisions are perceived or the implications for cross-gender relationships. Their story illustrates how feedback is most valuable when given real-time and from a place of positive intent and trust. Because their culture is built on speaking your truth, and one to always be learning, it facilitated honest feedback in the moment, regardless of the power dynamic. Plus, they share their take on how to increase gender diversity in tech.

Learn more about DeveloperTown at https://www.facebook.com/developertown, https://twitter.com/developertown, and https://www.linkedin.com/company/developertown/.

Follow their other ventures on FullStack, Tenant Tracker, Startup Competitors, Startup Competitors podcast, and the Kelly Farms podcast.

And, check out Sena's books at https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Saga-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0070P98W4 and https://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Hunting-Saga-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00EM28E8W.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com. We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.

Learn from women business owner and leader, Christy Gormal, and #maleally, Josh Rattray.

In this episode, we will unpack the secrets to balancing gender roles at organizations (hint, hint: it is not a conscious behavior), and how to engage more male allies alongside strong #womenleaders.

This duo teaches us about work life commitment, the cultural fit for allies, and how to make strategic choices for your own career and how to guide your team to what is really important.

Garrett and Madeline share insight into what a healthy cross-gender working relationship looks like. They work alongside one another as allies.

As principal, Garrett shares what it feels like to be in a position of power and how gender dynamics affect working relationships. His journey from being a pastor in a conservative, female oppressed world to #maleallyship is one of real vulnerability.

Madeline gives us insight into what a healthy cross-gender working relationship looks like. Then, she issues a call to action for more men to speak up when they witness negative behavior towards #women by saying, "What makes you say that?" to turn a bad situation into a positive dialogue.

Former fortune 500 executive, radio host, and self-proclaimed imperfect #maleally, Tony Loyd joins us to discuss the vulnerability and bravery it takes to be a true male ally.

From asking questions like, "what is it like to be you?" to women in his life, to coaching, and acknowledging his own blind spots, Tony teaches us how to embrace the balance of masculine with feminine.

Learn from a leader that acknowledges his own imperfections in the pursuit of #equality, and his advice for men wanting to be more of a male ally to #womenleaders.