Influential People

Judith McKenna: Resilience and Creating Community

Judith McKenna learned the importance of resilience and creating community on her road to becoming one of the Most Powerful Women of 2020, according to both Forbes and Fortune Magazine (in which she has appeared since 2015.) As the president and CEO of Walmart International, McKenna leads over 550,000 associates across 23 countries.

The CEO believes diversity is one of the company’s greatest strengths and is committed to working on matters of equity and inclusion. Building a community where people can not only feel comfortable but grow with and learn from. In 2020, while the world adjusted to COVID-19, McKenna led Walmart International by anticipating and preparing for what was to come during this exceptional crisis.

For relentlessly working towards full inclusion in Walmart International and their many partners around the world, Red Shoe Movement honors Judith McKenna with the 2021 Hall of Fame.

Judith McKenna Hall of Fame 2021 is all about resilience and creating community

Taking Risks and Knowing How to Bounce Back

Red Shoe Movement — Did you set out to be a CEO from the beginning of your career? What were some of the decisions you made along the way that put you on this career track?

Judith McKenna — I never set out to be a CEO. In fact, I’m not sure what I really set out to be, but I started in finance and as I developed my career, what I thought about was, ‘How do I develop skills that I enjoy using?’ And for me that was about people and I really enjoyed leading teams, and I enjoyed solving hard problems, and I enjoyed thinking about what the future would be and trying to design different ways of getting there. That led me down a path, firstly, to being a CFO.

And then later in my career, having done that for 10 years, I decided I would try something different. I always loved the stores and I loved operations and I had all sorts of different experiences alongside being a CFO. So, I made the switch to being a COO and ultimately that’s led me to the CEO job that I do today.

But the core skills are very similar, and I just expanded different experiences. I’m not the best person to take career planning advice from, but I’m glad I took some risks along the way and I’ve been privileged to do some great and varied jobs along the way.

Judith McKenna understands the value of resilience and creating community

RSM — What would you say are two or three of the most important lessons you’ve learned through the different career changes and challenges that brought you here? Is there anything you’d do differently?

JM — A couple of the most important ones are, number one: it’s all about people, and it’s all about your team, and it’s all about being a team player. You can’t do anything if you try to do it on your own, particularly when you get more senior in the organization. I once heard this great line, which was that “collaboration beats heroics every day,” and that’s absolutely true.

The second one is to build some resilience. Not everything is always going to go your way and you have to have the resilience to be able to bounce back, not take it personally; to think of ways around challenges and not to take knock-backs in a way that puts you off track. “Success isn’t final, and failure isn’t fatal, its courage to continue that counts,” is a good way to think about it.

Are there things I wish I’d done differently? Yes. I still wish I had taken more risks and I wish I had slightly more time off with my first daughter almost 30 year ago!

Pushing for inclusion in Academia- Dr. Alison Davis-Blake- Hall of Fame 2020

Judith McKenna seen at Shareholders 2019 meeting. She understands how critical resilience and creating community is all the time. And particularly during a global pandemic.

Resilience and Creating Community

RSM — What do you think is the importance of building a community within the workplace? How do you create an inclusive environment and ensure equal opportunities for more employees?

JM — This is a really interesting question, because we don’t often talk about building a community but of course that’s what it is as a lot of us spend more time at work than we do at home. Therefore, creating an environment where people are comfortable being there is absolutely critical. It’s not something that you do just because it’s a ‘nice’ thing to do. You do it because it’s the right thing to do, and actually it gets the best out of people and creates diversity – both diversity of thought and diversity of being – which makes it the best thing from the company’s perspective.

I’ve always said that diversity is our strength, but even as we celebrate what makes us unique, we know that there’s so much that connects us. I have worked in retail for a long time and I can tell you that the passion for creating inclusive environments in our stores and workplace is shared around the world. We’ve long been committed to building inclusive teams, but we know we can do more, and we are.

Judith McKenna is a 2021 Hall of Fame Awardee

RSM — You’ve said that resilience is key for modern leaders. How important has this been during a global pandemic? How do you keep a team’s spirits up when things ahead look so uncertain?

JM — I never thought I would be having so many conversations about resilience and hope, but we have seen this year that the ability to bounce back and to be able to see light at the end of the tunnel and help other people see it, too, is so important to what we do as leaders.

And how do we keep up spirits and create positivity? Well, we do a number of tiny noticeable things (we call them TNTs) like Zoom-free Wednesdays, making sure our leaders are talking about and modeling the importance of wellness. And, of course, do some things that are fun – like a Bollywood dancing video! But we are also more structured by making sure everybody understands what their goals are and the part they play in the company, so they have a sense of achievement in everything that we accomplish. We make sure that we celebrate and make people feel valued at every step of the way, but we also give honest and fair feedback so people can improve.

It’s not, however, all about the positives. Sometimes you have to take time to acknowledge the challenges and be happy to talk about them. We ran an “It’s Okay” campaign, which included “It’s okay to not be okay,” to encourage people to speak up and let someone know if they need help. That’s part of resilience, too.

Dissolving the glass ceiling: Cesar Cernuda- Hall of Fame 2020

Judith McKenna seen on a trip to India 2019

Judith McKenna and Female Empowerment

RSM — Tell us a little about the company’s Global Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative and the role education plays in it.

JM — That initiative began about ten years ago when we committed as a company to sourcing $20 billion from women-owned businesses and to training 1 million women who work on farms, in factories, and in retail. Since then, we have committed much more, and it’s become part of what we do. It’s about investing in people and creating opportunities for them to advance and grow their businesses. I saw this firsthand when I was in India a couple of years ago. We were standing in a field talking to farmers and there were a lot of women farmers there. And I’ll never forget, there was one woman and I asked her through the interpreter, “What can I do for you? What can we do for you?” And she said, “There’s no more you can do for me than you are doing, but what you are doing is helping me get an education for my daughter so she can be like you.” What we are doing is helping women rise to be able to help their families and others rise as well.

RSM — If you could suggest one action that organizations can take to accelerate the representation of women at the top, what would it be?

JM — Make sure people recognize and understand that there is a difference between sponsorship and mentorship. Women are often over mentored and under sponsored. And what I mean by that is mentorship is important because it gives somebody encouragement, but sponsorship is advocating for them in every meeting you’re in, suggesting them for jobs, introducing them to other people, and always having them on your mind as you hear about opportunities around the company. Sponsorship is truly one of the ways that you make a difference.

And companies have to be transparent. As a company, Walmart made a commitment on all of our inclusion and diversity metrics to be transparent, and we publish a report twice a year so that, throughout the organization, everybody can see where we stand. And, actually, that creates the platform for people to then do something about it because they can see where they’re making a difference.

RSM — If you could suggest an action that women could take to accelerate their career growth, what would it be?

JM — Use your voice and know that you’re in the room for a reason. Always do your homework so that you’re ready to speak up. And above all, be yourself – that’s the very best person you can be.

Diversity in Journalism: The Power of Inclusive Storytelling

If there’s something we’ve learned in the last few years is that diversity in journalism is key to a democratic society. It is only through a plurality of opinions, points of view and experiences that we can truly understand each other. The power of inclusive storytelling is at the center of a more equitable future.

For today’s article I talked to Teresa Mettela, a 21-year-old Indian American student whose passion for journalism has led her to build up a rather long resume at a very early age. Her story will inspire you to go for what you love as well!

When passion meets talent

“I’ve been working since I was maybe 16 or 17, so I’ve been around the job market for a little bit now.” Teresa is a full time student at City College New York, minoring in Journalism and majoring in International Studies, while she also works for two of her local newspapers: the Queens Daily Eagle and the Harlem View. But it doesn’t end there. She also works at Girls Write Now, a non-profit where she mentors younger girls and helps them develop their reading and writing skills. She got that job after having been a mentee at that program herself.

Teresa quickly goes on to highlight the importance of having male colleagues support us women in the workplace. “Something that’s really small that has helped me a lot, is when my male colleagues introduce me and give me credibility as a reporter.” “If I were to simply walk into a room, I don’t think that a lot of people would take me seriously, especially because I’m so young. Being a woman, plus being young, plus being of color.”

Teresa Mettela shares her story- diversity in journalism

SOL FELDSZTEJN— Do you think journalism is a diverse field?

TERESA METTELA— Absolutely not. It’s getting there, but right now when I sit in the newsrooms with editors and reporters and the bosses, there are not many women. And the women that are there are censored all the time. So if I present an idea, the chances of a male there either taking credit for it or speaking over me are very high.

I’ve always tried to focus on inclusivity and places that want to hear my voice. I’ve been lucky enough to work for smaller organizations, which is what I like doing. I really like local news, so I haven’t really been in a situation where people don’t respect me. I have definitely seen passive-aggressive comments though, but those are really small things that you can kind of brush off and get past.
SF– You say you’d rather just brush off these microaggressions, is there any particular reason people don’t choose to speak up?

TM– You never know what the repercussions are going to be, you don’t know if you’re going to lose your job or what’s going to happen. Especially for people of color, it can be really hard to speak up for ourselves or to be aggressive enough to get what we want. I don’t think that we’re not capable of doing it, I just think that we’ve been put down in so many scenarios that sometimes we might feel like we’re not worthy of some opportunities.

For example, I have a friend who struggles to ask for a raise. Then there’s also another friend of mine that works for a big company: He’s a black reporter, and he was told he couldn’t report on the Black Lives Matter protests. They said it was an issue of bias, which I think is so silly, because women report on women’s rights all the time. It was very clear that he was just being discriminated against. I don’t think he said anything. The thing is these protests lasted for like 2 months, so that whole time he was barely working, because he wasn’t given a big story. We’re both freelance, so if you’re not getting stories, you’re not getting paid.

On the contrary, Teresa’s identity plays a big role in her writing: “The first time I realized my heritage and my identity were important to me, was when I wrote about it. I write poetry and prose all the time as creative writing, yet I had never thought to explore my identity. But I’m Indian American: I’m not just American, I’m not just Indian, right? I never thought that that was a noteworthy subject to write about, and I didn’t think I had anything to say about it, until I did a photo essay in high school titled Indian Girl. I called a couple of my friends who are also South Asian, we dressed up in traditional Indian clothes, and did a whole photoshoot. It was supposed to represent the unfair customs and practices that are put on South Asian women, and especially South Asian female teens” This essay got Teresa a silver medal in a Scholastic national competition. “I feel like there’s such a lack of representation… When we talk about diversity, Asian Americans are rarely considered, and I think that me telling that story through that piece was very important to my own career and pushing it forward, because this is something that I want to talk about as well.”

Her enthusiasm transcends the screen, and she proves her determination with yet another amazing story: “For the job that I have right now at the Daily Eagle, I had to be very persistent. I had emailed the editor several times asking for an interview. One day I went to the office and asked to speak with him directly, then met him as he was leaving the building. So I approached him and introduced myself. Turns out he remembered me from the emails, and we had a meeting. But two years ago I would not have done that.”

SF– So what gave you the confidence?

TM– Two years ago I was actually pre-med. I always thought that I could keep writing on the side as a hobby, I don’t know why. So I went into college on a pre-med track, taking calculus, biology, chemistry. It wasn’t until I was failing all my calculus tests that I went to my guidance counselor and he looked at my resume, saw it was all writing, and said “why aren’t you doing this?” Sometimes you just have to be told these things to your face. When I saw that I was not only doing way better in this field but I was also happier, I felt confident enough to go and get a lot of the jobs that I have right now.

Diversity in journalism- Teresa Mettela on the importane of heritage

Diversity in Journalism: How far behind is the industry?

SF– Is journalism behind other areas in media on the way to inclusivity?

TM– I feel like there are definitely good people working to amplify our voices, who want you to have your own character and persona while you write, and I think that is becoming way more popularized. I do see within my own field that people are being encouraged to speak up, especially if you are a minority, if you are marginalized, reporters are seeking you out. I wanna be hopeful and say that the whole industry is moving towards that, but I don’t know. Generally I feel like the push for it is very good, though, and very necessary.

SF– Where does social media come in?

TM– It gives us the opportunity to connect with people, even if we don’t know who they are, through this one thing that we write about or that we share. Something that my professor used to say a lot is, “if you want to be a good writer, you’ve got to be a good reader”, and that’s so true. But I think that he forgot the part where you also have to be able to talk to people. You have to be able to share those ideas that you have. And I think that Social Media is that missing link that we all needed to share our experiences and combine our ideas.

Diversity in journalism- Teresa Mettela on the importance of diversity and allyship

What companies can do to foster diversity in the workplace

SF– What do you think companies could do to move towards a more inclusive work environment and agenda?
TM– Hire more women. Hire more people of color. Put them on your staff, put them on your board positions. They need to be in leadership positions, where they’re able to make a change, big or small. Because if we’re simply working under people that are giving us instructions, nothing is really going to happen. If I’m working for a big company, and I’m presenting my ideas but they’re not being heard because all these other employees are outshining me or being louder than me, it’s not going to work. Change is not going to happen with a board that looks the same. It’s going to happen with people who look different, who come from different experiences. We have to learn from each other to actually work towards change, because if we’re all thinking the same way, nothing will get done.

SF– Do you think women are empowering each other and working together towards a more diverse workplace? Towards more diversity in journalism?

TM– I do think that women are really supporting each other in news and media. But we still need to have more BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People Of Color] in leadership positions together with white women, so we can all talk about our experiences. Now that I am a journalist, I ask myself, “How can I empower other Indian women who want to be in this field? How can I create opportunities for them?” because now I know that it’s hard.

SF– How could the industry benefit from more inclusive storytelling?

TM– I think it’s about opening the door to so many conversations that have always been pushed back or just deemed like “not now, we’ll talk about that later.” By putting women in these roles of leadership and in a good work environment where they’re able to talk and write about their experiences, you’re finally giving them the opportunity to be heard. And I guarantee you they won’t disappoint you.

If you need help creating a more inclusive workplace or helping your female talent grow, let’s talk. That’s what we do.

Diversity in Science: Making a Difference on Aging Brain Research

June 16, 2020/0 Comments/in Influential People /by Red Shoe Movement

Discover how aging brain research benefits from diversity in science. And help address disparities in health by taking the MindCrowd online test.

When we learned about Dr. Huentelman’s MindCrowd project and his team of scientists, two things caught our attention. First, he achieved diversity in science. His team consists of more women than men with a variety of backgrounds. Next, his cognitive function and aging brain research study was designed to allow everybody to participate.

Achieving diversity in science is no simple feat. Science can benefit from the varied perspectives brought about by a diverse team. Each team member contributes different approaches to problem-solving and research analysis.

Not only has this team achieved diversity in science in their workplace, they also want to engage the largest and most diverse group of people to take part in the MindCrowd study. Many demographic groups (including women and Latinos) are often absent from clinical trials and scientific research studies. Minorities’ lifestyles, genetics and environmental factors are not studied or taken into account. This lack of representation has serious consequences like inaccurate findings and/or healthcare disparities.

Table of Contents

MindCrowd is the largest online scientific research of the aging process. Backed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in collaboration with the Universities of Arizona, Miami, Emory and John Hopkins.

Its goal is to find out how to extend quality of life by helping people keep their cognitive abilities in old age. In simple terms, they are trying to help us keep our thinking, learning, understanding skills and working memory for as long as we live.

Given the impact of the study, we sat down with Dr. Matt Huentelman, TGen’s Professor of Neurogenomics and Dr. Carol Barnes, Regents Professor and Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona, to learn about this powerful project and to listen to some of their insights on achieving diversity in science.

Bonus for those who read to the very end. These two scientists share their recommendations on dealing with COVID-19.

If you want to take part in the study, grab your laptop, desktop or tablet and visit mindcrowd.org. The test takes about 10 minutes, it’s like a video game and you will find out how your brain compares to others like you.

MindCrowd, the Most Diverse Aging Brain Research Online Study

Dr. Matt Huentelman envisions a future where successful aging prevents age-related disease.

RSM – Matt, what led you to study the aging brain?

MH – Aging has always fascinated me because of its complexity. Our differences in aging are due to our genetics, our lifestyle choices, the diseases we have, and even diseases we may have had and recovered from. The long-time frame of aging in the human being is such a tough thing to study… and I have always been attracted to that. The process of time – aging – amplifies our individual differences, which is both interesting and difficult to study at the same time.

RSM – Carol, are there similarities between the animals you have studied and the human aging brain?

CB – Yes, there are actually many similarities between them. I have been studying memory and the aging brain for over 4 decades in rats and monkeys. And there is one kind of memory we can test across animals – spatial memory.

That’s the kind of memory that allows you to remember your way home or where an object is in relation to another. Something you may have noticed people with Alzheimer’s dementia have trouble with.

Spatial memory worsens with age across every examined species, including humans. Of course, a rat is old at 2 years of age, monkeys at 22, and humans at 65. So far, the fundamental biological process of “brain aging” is similar across species, but sped up in other animals compared to humans.

RSM – What is the difference between normal brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease?

CB – Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias are not part of normal aging. Furthermore, only humans develop Alzheimer’s disease – other animals do not. Thanks to this difference we are able to use these other animals to define what to expect for normal aging.

There are two consistent changes in normal brain aging. A lower number and reduced function of connections between brain cells or synapses. And a reduced ability to strengthen the connections made between cells that are thought to be the biological basis of memory.

So, in normal brain aging you may forget which word to use, you may lose things or make a bad decision once in a while. You may even forget what day it is but remember it later.

While Alzheimer’s usually occurs in an aging brain, its changes happen in a cell type that is well preserved in normal aging. Some warning signs of dementia are life disrupting memory loss, confusion with time and place, difficulty having a conversation or completing familiar tasks. The good new for us is that, only 14% of people over 70 have dementia symptoms.

Latinos are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. And they are severely under represented in scientific research studies for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Taking the MindCrowd memory and reaction time test can help scientists find out how to slow down brain aging.

And they are severely under represented in scientific research studies for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Help scientists learn more about the aging brain by taking a short memory game at MindCrowd.org

The MindCrowd Project: A Scientific Study of the Aging Brain

RSM – What is MindCrowd and what is it trying to achieve?

MH – MindCrowd is an online scientific research study of the brain whose ultimate goal is to learn how to slow down brain aging. That way, people can preserve their memory for their entire life. And by doing so, avoid diseases of learning and memory like Alzheimer’s.

To achieve this goal we need to engage one million participants with the most diverse backgrounds in the United States and the world.

RSM – Who should take the MindCrowd memory and attention test? Why?

MH – Everybody who wants to be represented in scientific research or is curious and would like to know how their brain compares to others like them. All they need to take the memory and reaction time test is to visit mindcrowd.org on a laptop, desktop or tablet.

Lack of representation in medical research often translates into health care disparities. Quite often, scientific research is done in person. That is not convenient for those who work full-time jobs, have more than one job, or live far away from a University. This results in a lack of scientific and medical information for these underrepresented groups of people. This can then translate into poorer medical care.

In short – the discoveries made in science and medicine are most specific for those groups who take part in scientific studies. We recognize that this is a problem, that some groups of our United States “melting pot” are being left out of research.

We hope that by conducting a study online, we can encourage everybody to be part of our human brain research and help end disparities in healthcare.

Participating in scientific research is a step towards addressing disparities in healthcare. Test your brain and be counted!

CB – We want to expand MindCrowd to include studies of people across the United States that are representative of the population. Most studies of cognitive health in aging have been small, cross-sectional, and geographically and ethnically constrained. We need to study more people so we can understand what groups will benefit most from what types of treatments.

A so-called Precision Medicine approach such as used in cancer research, is a must to understand how to avoid age related cognitive decline. We want to be in a position to guide public policy and health decisions, and to take the next steps to personalize intervention strategies. When we apply these approaches to the process of aging we call it Precision Aging.

How to Achieve Diversity in Science

RSM – What do you believe it takes to achieve diversity in science?

MH – I strongly believe that diversity in science is driven by actions that encourage participation by young students. We have to begin to encourage grade and high schoolers to consider science as a career. Help them understand that they can be leaders in high tech fields. So, I believe it starts with a focus on the young minds out there.

It is critical to develop and support programs that have a focus on the recruitment of diversity into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math-based fields). Support the teachers who foster and represent diversity in the grades and high schools. Help students of all types understand that their future is their own and that they can overcome any perceived pre-destiny.

I admit that it is a tall order. That our society for all of its opportunities has competing stereotypes that serve to push certain groups away from some careers. However, in science, we thrive on creativity and differing viewpoints and world views… so I really view a lack of diversity as a disservice to science and medicine.

CB – I served in many service capacities at the Society for Neuroscience, including President. One of the working groups I was involved in was tasked to try to figure out why there are so few female Full Professors in Neuroscience. At that time it was about 11%. While there are about 50% women graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, somewhere after that we start to lose women – the classic “leaky pipeline.”

No one has a good answer, of course – other than active mentoring, and developing support groups.

The situation is even more severe with respect to achieving ethnic diversity in science – where the numbers are even more extreme. Most now think we need to start at early ages to show kids how amazing STEM can be. Getting them to actively participate and realize they can be ‘good at science.’ But first, we need to tackle as a nation health and wealth disparities that need not exist.

Diversity in science: Making a Difference on Aging Brain Research

RSM – What would be your message for women who are considering a career into STEM?

CB – Find out what really keeps your attention – find something you are passionate about – and, if it is in the STEM field – I say go for it!! There will be challenges to overcome as in any area of life – but I believe the key is to follow your heart with respect to where your passion is.

Every day I feel lucky to be in a position to ‘go in and learn and discover something new.’ My determination to understand brain aging and memory so that I can help people maintain their brain health is truly sustaining. To be sure, there are obstacles to overcome for women in STEM – but if we don’t fight to do and excel at what we love – we all lose.

I’ve gotten many awards for my work and have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. But the award I treasure most is the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award for mentoring women in neuroscience. So, a final word – once you find your stride in STEM – encourage others.

COVID-19 Recommendations for Dementia Caregivers

RSM – What are your recommendations for people who live and care for others with age related memory issues during this quarantine?

MH – For the caregivers, life during stay-at-home orders and quarantine can be especially challenging. Here are some suggestions that are important to consider.

Keep yourself well: This is the time for the caregiver to pay special attention to themselves. Follow the basic precautions, such as hand washing, physical distancing, don’t touch your face, and clean high touch surfaces (like doorknobs) frequently, and follow the guidelines about face coverings.

Keep others well: Remember that you can carry the virus and not show symptoms. So, when you are in public you should wear a mask.

Think of others, think of the people those you encounter will be in contact with and make sure you protect them. After all, it’s not only about you. This is a pandemic.

Keep physical distance but don’t socially isolate: It is critical to protect the most vulnerable by observing physical distancing guidelines, but we cannot let this slip into social isolation. We know that a lack of social interactions has a negative effect on the brain. Humans, by nature, are social animals and this aspect of the pandemic is perhaps one of the most significant.

Be creative about ways to keep in touch with loved ones. Each case is different, but consider video visits, phone calls, and writing letters. There are many games that can be played online with a loved one. And sometimes listening to music together or sharing a meal on a video call can be calming.

COVID-19 Recommendations for Dementia Caregivers.

Carol A. Barnes, Ph.D.

Regents Professor, Psychology, Neurology and Neuroscience
Evelyn F. McKnight Chair for Learning and Memory in Aging
Director, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
Director, Division of Neural Systems, Memory and Aging
University of Arizona

Matt Huentelman Ph.D.

Professor, Neurogenomics Division
Scientific Director, Center for Rare Childhood Disorders
Head, Neurobehavioral Research Unit
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)

What will we and the world be like when this is over?

June 2, 2020/0 Comments/in Influential People, Women Empowerment Articles /by Aline Cerdan Verástegui

Gustavo Carvajal is the #IDEAcatalyst, an open-hearted and open-minded thinker with a passion for dreaming ideas and sharing them with a world that he wants to improve and make more flexible. Today he tells us what we will be like when this is over.

Gustavo Carvajal- Winner of 2019 Red Shoe Leader Award

Gustavo Carvajal, one of the winners of the Red Shoe Leader Award 2019, and the creative mind behind some of our most successful communication campaigns, is a coolhunter and anti-marketer born in Bogotá who has resided in New York for many years. From the Big Apple, he shares his unique, fresh, and multicultural perspective through #IdeaTherapy consulting sessions.

Briefly: this is his story. The #IDEAcatalyst shares his passion for ideas through #IdeaTherapy: creative consulting sessions for marketing and communication. Gustavo has contributed his qualitative experience in advertising agencies, thus promoting his Coolhunting platform. He specializes in marketing and communications for lifestyle and social causes.

Before settling in New York, he worked in the film and television industries. He was part of the international marketing teams at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Disney. Gustavo is the International Cultural Ambassador of the Patronage Ruta de la Amistad – World Monuments Watch 2012.

Lover of dynamic ideas, Gustavo believes in the importance of being empathetic in the ways in which we communicate with each other, especially in a world that feels vulnerable as a result of the new normal. We are, the IDEACatalyst says, in an era where emotional intelligence needs the effective use of our “EQ” (emotional quotient) for necessary societal changes to take place.

We spoke with Gustavo about the way the world is changing, the repercussion of these changes on each one of us and how things will be when this is over.

We have to work together to create a better future. An inspirational quote by Gustavo Carvajal #IDEAcatalyst

Anti-Marketing: An Important Tool for When This Is Over

Aline Cerdán – Please tell us about anti-marketing? What is it and how does it work?

Gustavo Carvajal –Innovating, frequently means to step out of our ‘comfort zone’, which affects costs, production processes and interaction dynamics. It also requires an open-minded leadership and causes an increased risk for the operation.

Today, forced confinement has promoted introspection as a vehicle to search for trails leading to the light at the end of the tunnel. This healthy exercise is not frequently applied within work teams, even less so at the level of companies and their ecosystems.

The starting point of anti-marketing must be at least a certain ignorance about the new product or service. This way, the team can discover it as a consumer as well as define the type of communication matrix that is most appropriate for launch or sustainability campaigns.

Part of the creativity must be applied to the renewal of marketing strategies, so that communication about products and services is not just aesthetic ‘noise’. Anti-marketing can definitely stimulate a jump-start and the visualization of how we are going to position ourselves within the ‘new normal’ world that is already happening.

AC – How do you think life will be transformed as a result of the restrictions brought by the global pandemic? How will things be when this is over?

GC–We will live at a distance. With events that will be impossible to attend physically, but that we will be attend virtually. There probably won’t be a shortage of virtual therapy sessions when someone discovers that they’ve been left out of a Zoom party. People won’t be able to claim that the invitation was lost in the mail and an entire digital etiquette manual will be built on the fly, just as new pathologies will be added to the catalog. Instead of “spiritual” retreats, more and more digital detoxes will have to be made available.

At the other end of the equation, there will be classes to rescue the art of interacting in real-time with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. We’ll all have to learn to ‘digest’ losses, where the feelings of mourning will be even more intimate, since the absence of social rituals will not allow us to face them as a group. There is a risk of becoming colder in difficult situations, but hopefully not indolent.

Creativity will rescue us when this is over- Photo Credit- Sharon Mccutcheon-Unsplash

When This is Over: No More Business as Usual

AC– What is “GloCal” and what part will it play in our lives when this is over? How do you think we’re already being redefined by this concept?

GC – The social distancing that’s bound to continue and the more widespread adoption of home office setting will lead to the impracticality of the use of mass transit services. This will determine the existence of demographic groups that won’t be able to leave their communities, in addition to the highly vulnerable groups and the most cautious sectors that will not be able to travel.

I have always known that the more ‘local’ you are, the more ‘global’ you can resonate. This applies to both rural and urban settings. This concept is a tool that we could use with our friends and neighbors to be more aware of the resources at hand.

Today, great talent inserted in the community can find possibilities of expression in existing organizations or new groups so that unsuspected collaborations can blossom at a global level. This will be new support networks that create community and at the same time interact with the networks that each member currently has.

When this is over- Photo Credit- Annie Spratt-Unsplash

Entertainment and Our “New Essentials”

AC – How will new essentials be defined? How will consumption change when this is over?

GC – Lifestyles are evolving rapidly. In the recent past, the fascination with a brand was based on the wide variety it offered. The “New Normal”, as the prevailing reality, can mark the return to a more generic product, both due to the production capacity, price, availability of supplies and the desire to buy local to rebuild communities.

During their quarantine, a revealing number of consumers have discovered a series of expenditures that were inserted into their daily agenda in a mechanical way, like a routine. This circumstance opens the opportunity to discover ourselves beyond being “Objects for Consumption” and to review how we invest our time and resources. Our real choices.

With more people telecommuting, it will be vital to find more pioneers and promoters who are focused on promoting stores and small business. Individuals integrated into the neighborhood for consumers to explore in more intimate and controlled spaces. This format would refute the ‘Destination Store’ that has been promoted so aggressively and which we have repeatedly turned to. This moment is an opportunity to adjust our “essentials”.

AC – How do you feel areas like entertainment and tourism will be transformed when this is over?

GC – Currently multiple platforms have been delivering content for free. But behind each piece of content there are creators. When it comes to culture, it’s important to stop to think that the talent behind the creations has also been impacted by this. The operating models of companies and organizations must include this factor even more when planning for various future scenarios.

The availability of tons of content promoted to “kill time” does not help the solution. This is all the more paradoxical when audiences, now truly captive, discover that many of the content forms are not designed to be consumed in‘ loop ’24/7.

Media overstimulation requires periods of silence. It is imperative that we all learn to spend more time with ourselves. As a personal opportunity for reflection and human recharge.

Likewise, there are examples of active citizens who provide well-being to communities that come together around particular interests. This is the case of a young Iberian poet who just in March was scheduled to launch her book in South America. For obvious reasons, this was postponed. However, in conversations with friends, they came up with a very poetic solution … #PoesiaEnTuSofa (#PoetryFromYourCouch) via Instagram.

In the end, we have all been affected in one way or another by this global circumstance. Perhaps the way to face vulnerability is through the force of hope and the multiple manifestations it has…in my case, in the form of poetry that emerges in the spring.

Ideas for when this is over

Imagination to the Rescue!

AC – You believe creativity will be the basis of productivity, can you elaborate a little?

GC – The average marketing professional has had a “One-Size-Fits-All” approach when it comes to providing answers to consumers. Over time, we have found that this approach is too limiting.

In a way, we have to understand that we are all creative and that we can make creativity intrinsic to everyday moments. It would be beneficial if we understood the creative process as an integral part of productivity and not exclusively as a playful exercise.

We can only build a “new future” if we have an “out-of-the-past” attitude to be part of the solution, we all have to put our hearts, minds and hands to work. Feel, think and DO.

AC – How can we go from reactive to proactive?

GC – Although such an unexpected circumstance initially implies a natural attitude of reaction, we as a community must have an aptitude for action. It is a call to use the sense of ingenuity for community well-being and thus build ties, lasting bonds that design and forge the future.

It is time to take advantage of flexible, future-oriented thinking – with the ability to adjust the sails to the wind, to challenges – and exercising a leadership which includes empathy. It is a time to experiment solutions and get “modest big” common achievements.

In the end, all of us have simultaneously learned during these weeks to live without some things that we previously considered absolutely essential. It is time to focus on the “On/Off” interaction with our surrounding environment. And above all, it’s time for a much-needed personal, family, community, and business introspection. So, as a group, we can make life a little bit better.

Follow Gustavo Carvajal’s #IDEAcatalyst #IdeaTherapy

Instagram: @IdeaCatalyst

Twitter: @IdeaCatalyst1

Inclusion: Pushing for Real Results in Academia

March 16, 2020/0 Comments/in Influential People, Women Empowerment Articles /by Red Shoe Movement

If there’s someone pushing for real results in diversity and inclusion at all levels of academia, that’s Dr. Alison Davis-Blake, the eight president of Bentley University.

RSM #IWDleader Hall of Fame

Before this role, Dr. Davis-Blake was the Dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (2011-2016) where she positioned the school globally for its new mission to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world. Prior to Ross she was the Dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota (2006-2011.)

Dr Davis-Blake was the first female dean at both Carlson and Ross and is Bentley’s second woman president. She is a talented scholar with expertise in strategic human resource management and organizational design for effective management of human capital.

For breaking the glass ceiling in a historically male-dominated sector, and for relentlessly pushing for real results when it comes to full inclusion in academia, we honor Dr. Alison Davis-Blake with the 2020 Hall of Fame.

The influence of great women leaders

Red Shoe Movement—Why do women make great leaders?

Alison Davis-Blake —In a recent study published by Harvard Business Review, researchers found that women in leadership positions are rated equally or more competent than men in leadership positions. I am not surprised by this data which also show that in particular, across thousands of the 360-reviews used for the research, women leaders were highly rated as “excelling” in “taking initiative, acting with resilience, practicing self-development, driving for results, and displaying high integrity and honesty.” I have personally found that women are more likely to engage in integrative (both parties win) negotiations than distributive (win-lose) negotiations in the workplace. It is also my feeling that due to personal experiences of exclusion women can often be more sensitive to the need for diversity and inclusion, thus unleashing organizational potential for creative and innovative solutions.

RSM— How have women helped you along your career?

ADB—Women have been essential to my career as sponsors, mentors, collaborators, and supporters. While the importance of sponsors and mentors is well understood, I think we overlook the vital role of collaborators and supporters. My female collaborators have provided a space where it was safe for me to be myself, to vet concepts, and to test ideas. A space where it is safe to express incomplete thoughts in private with a collaborator or a supporter is vital because so often women face a smaller margin for error in public. I have also been the beneficiary of a great many women who were working on the front lines but who went out of their way to tell me that they were supporting me as a female leader and wanted to see me succeed. Their votes of confidence kept me going during some of my most difficult days.

President Alison Davis-Blake pushes for real results

RSM— You were the first female dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and at the time that made you the highest-ranking dean at any U.S. business school. Why did it take so long to have a woman in that position? What changes were you able to implement during your tenure there?

Business schools and fields of study have historically been male dominated. And there is a very, very long road to the deanship. One must obtain a Ph.D., get a good academic job, obtain tenure, become a full professor, and get some administrative experience. That can easily be a 20-year process. And, research is clear that just like the corporate pipeline data reported by McKinsey & Company each year, the academic pipeline is extremely leaky at every stage with fewer women than men (proportionally) advancing to the next stage. Thus, there is a pipeline issue with regards to women achieving the highest ranks of academia, from which administrators are typically chosen.

When I became dean, it was not uncommon for only 10-15% of the full professors in a business school to be women, and, based on that, one would expect very few women to be in senior administrative roles and even fewer to be deans.

While at Ross, I led strategic efforts to increase global study opportunities for MBA and Bachelor of Business Administration students and formed new partnerships with universities around the world. Through this work we expanded activities in India, Japan and South Korea. Domestically we expanded our Executive MBA program to Los Angeles and introduced the Master of Management and Minor in Business programs.

We also completely revamped our undergraduate curriculum to make it more experiential and more integrated, better meeting the needs of today’s learners.

Iris Bohnet, Dean, Harvard Kennedy School shares how to get real results in gender inclusion.

What can be done to get real results?

President Alison Davis-Blake

RSM—54% of university professors who work full time in degree-granting postsecondary institutions are White males while 27% are White females. Only 2% of the following groups are full time professors: Black males, Black females, Hispanic Males and Hispanic females. What is the reason for this disparity in both gender ethnicity and race?

ADB—If doctoral programs don’t begin with a diverse group of students, subsequent stages of the pipeline will continue to be less and less diverse. The long and leaky pipeline is the underlying reason for all of these disparities. This is why efforts such as the Ph.D. Project, which focus on increasing diversity among doctoral students in business, are so critical to generating a diverse set of faculty and administrators for the future.

RSM—Can you share the story of a male champion who supported your ambitions along the way?

ADB—When I was an associate department chair, my chair (who I was in line to replace in several years) spent time introducing me to every key leader on campus and telling those leaders how much they would enjoy working with me. He was an extremely well-connected and well-respected person on campus. Those introductions, which took quite a bit of time to accomplish, were invaluable when I later became a department chair and then senior associate dean.

Want real results? Set the example!

RSM—As a leader, what are you specifically doing to level the playing field for women in academia and elsewhere?

ADB— “Diversity & Inclusion” is a key feature in Bentley University’s strategic plan. We have put hiring practices in place at the university to ensure that we are developing a strong pool of gender, ethnic and racially diverse candidates for every faculty and staff position. I believe that setting the example starts at the top. When making my own personnel decisions, I’ve mandated that all executive searches feature a broad slate of highly qualified candidates. And the results have been very positive. My Provost is a woman of color, my CFO is female, and my Cabinet (the people who report directly to me) has a roughly equal number of women and men. As we work together every day, we demonstrate that the contributions of men and women are equally valued and that both women and men can be successful at the highest levels of Bentley University.

Board diversity is also a top priority for both Bentley’s Board of Trustees and me. We are actively working to add women from all industry sectors and, importantly, women from academia to our Board.

RSM—What has been the most difficult lesson you’ve had to learn to get to where you are?

ADB—Earlier in my career, I imagined that by this point in my life, the playing field would be more level than it is. So, the hardest lesson I have had to learn is that the playing field is not level and will not be level during my lifetime. I sometimes joke that women of my generation have to work twice as hard to get half the credit. While that may not be exactly true, it has been my experience that women still have to produce better and cleaner results to be recognized. And we know that it is true that women are less likely to be paid equitably. While I believe the world is improving and that many leaders, both male and female, are working to change these dynamics, the work world I hoped for when I was younger has not yet materialized.

President Alison Davis Blake always looking to bring real results around inclusion to academia

Judith McKenna: Resilience and Creating Community

Taking Risks and Knowing How to Bounce Back

Resilience and Creating Community

Judith McKenna and Female Empowerment

Diversity in Journalism: The Power of Inclusive Storytelling

When passion meets talent

Diversity in Journalism: How far behind is the industry?

What companies can do to foster diversity in the workplace

Diversity in Science: Making a Difference on Aging Brain Research

MindCrowd, the Most Diverse Aging Brain Research Online Study

RSM – Matt, what led you to study the aging brain?

RSM – Carol, are there similarities between the animals you have studied and the human aging brain?

RSM – What is the difference between normal brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease?

The MindCrowd Project: A Scientific Study of the Aging Brain

RSM – What is MindCrowd and what is it trying to achieve?

RSM – Who should take the MindCrowd memory and attention test? Why?

How to Achieve Diversity in Science

RSM – What do you believe it takes to achieve diversity in science?

RSM – What would be your message for women who are considering a career into STEM?

COVID-19 Recommendations for Dementia Caregivers

RSM – What are your recommendations for people who live and care for others with age related memory issues during this quarantine?

Carol A. Barnes, Ph.D.

Matt Huentelman Ph.D.

What will we and the world be like when this is over?

Anti-Marketing: An Important Tool for When This Is Over

When This is Over: No More Business as Usual

Entertainment and Our “New Essentials”

Imagination to the Rescue!

Inclusion: Pushing for Real Results in Academia

The influence of great women leaders

What can be done to get real results?

Want real results? Set the example!

RSM Product Categories

Categories

Follow us on Social Media!

Archive for category: Influential People

Taking Risks and Knowing How to Bounce Back

Resilience and Creating Community

Judith McKenna and Female Empowerment

When passion meets talent

Diversity in Journalism: How far behind is the industry?

What companies can do to foster diversity in the workplace

MindCrowd, the Most Diverse Aging Brain Research Online Study

RSM – Matt, what led you to study the aging brain?

RSM – Carol, are there similarities between the animals you have studied and the human aging brain?

RSM – What is the difference between normal brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease?

The MindCrowd Project: A Scientific Study of the Aging Brain

RSM – What is MindCrowd and what is it trying to achieve?

RSM – Who should take the MindCrowd memory and attention test? Why?

How to Achieve Diversity in Science

RSM – What do you believe it takes to achieve diversity in science?

RSM – What would be your message for women who are considering a career into STEM?

COVID-19 Recommendations for Dementia Caregivers

RSM – What are your recommendations for people who live and care for others with age related memory issues during this quarantine?

Carol A. Barnes, Ph.D.

Matt Huentelman Ph.D.

Anti-Marketing: An Important Tool for When This Is Over

When This is Over: No More Business as Usual

Entertainment and Our “New Essentials”

Imagination to the Rescue!

The influence of great women leaders

What can be done to get real results?

Want real results? Set the example!

RSM Product Categories

Categories

Follow us on Social Media!