Marilyn Nagel: Championing Diversity and Communication for the Modern Workplace | S2 Ep. 148

Summary

Founder's Story: Marilyn Nagel – Championing Diversity and Communication for the Modern Workplace

Episode: S2 Ep. 148
Release Date: November 5, 2024
Host: IBH Media

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Introduction

In the 148th episode of Founder's Story, IBH Media welcomes Marilyn Nagel, the Co-Founder and Chief Advocacy Officer of Rise Equity. Marilyn is a distinguished advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, bringing a wealth of experience from her tenure as Chief Diversity Officer at Cisco Systems. This episode delves into Marilyn's journey, her profound insights on diversity, effective communication, and the evolving dynamics of modern workplaces.

The Genesis of Rise Equity

Host: [02:32]
Marilyn Nagel shares the foundational motivations behind Rise Equity. The organization was established several years ago with a core belief: a diverse workforce and leadership team lead to superior decision-making and overall company performance.

Marilyn:
"We believe and have been proven to find that the more diverse a company is and the more diverse leadership teams are, the better decisions are." [02:38]

She emphasizes that diversity extends beyond gender, race, and ethnicity. It encompasses varied thought processes, backgrounds, and experiences, fostering an environment where different perspectives drive innovation and resilience.

Defining Diversity Beyond the Surface

Marilyn elucidates that true diversity involves leveraging different ways of thinking. She states:

"Diversity is not just things like gender, race, and ethnicity. Diversity is different ways of thinking. It's everything we bring to the table." [02:50]

This holistic approach ensures that companies harness the full potential of their workforce, leading to richer collaboration and more effective problem-solving.

Rise Equity’s Clientele and Impact

Host: [04:17]
Marilyn discusses the diverse range of companies Rise Equity collaborates with, spanning various industries including consumer goods, fast food, technology, STEM, and healthcare. These organizations prioritize their employees, communities, and products, striving to create meaningful and engaging work environments.

Marilyn:
"The common element is these are companies who care about their employees, the communities in which they work, and the product." [04:37]

She highlights that such companies seek to provide enriching experiences that foster career growth and employee retention, especially crucial in an era where younger generations frequently switch jobs.

Leveraging Strengths Over Weaknesses

A significant portion of the conversation centers on the importance of recognizing and utilizing employees' strengths. Marilyn shares a personal anecdote from her time at Cisco Systems:

Marilyn:
"We emphasize people's strengths, not their weaknesses. Look for what people are good at, find a role that plays to their strengths and let them go." [06:25]

She illustrates the effectiveness of this approach by recounting how reassigning a struggling employee to a role better suited to their strengths transformed them into a top performer within the company.

Embracing the Four-Day Workweek

The discussion transitions to innovative workplace practices, particularly the four-day workweek. Marilyn advocates for this model, provided it is implemented alongside measures to eliminate non-productive activities.

Marilyn:
"The goal is to say what are we doing that isn't adding value? And let's eliminate those things." [08:43]

She underscores the necessity of reducing unnecessary meetings and streamlining communication to ensure that a shorter workweek results in increased productivity and reduced burnout, rather than mere compression of work hours.

Balancing Generational Expectations and Work Culture

Marilyn addresses the evolving expectations across different generations in the workforce. She emphasizes the need for organizations to adapt to these changes by fostering a culture that values work-life balance and discourages the expectation of constant availability.

Marilyn:
"Organizations have to be more efficient and more effective and look at what's needed, who is needed in the room... People are not working at their best when they're always on." [11:51]

This approach not only enhances employee well-being but also promotes sustained creativity and innovation within teams.

Effective Communication in Diverse and Polarized Environments

In the latter part of the episode, Marilyn discusses the critical role of communication in navigating diverse and often polarized workplace environments. She announces an upcoming webinar focused on civility in communication during turbulent times.

Marilyn:
"How do we work with people who have very different perspectives than we do as we become more polarized and as things have become a little more turbulent?" [16:18]

The webinar, scheduled for November 12th at noon Pacific Time, aims to equip attendees with strategies to handle difficult conversations and foster a respectful and collaborative work atmosphere.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Marilyn Nagel’s insights offer a comprehensive roadmap for modern organizations striving to enhance diversity, leverage employee strengths, and foster effective communication. Her advocacy for innovative workplace practices like the four-day workweek underscores the importance of adapting to contemporary workforce needs to sustain growth and innovation.

Host:
"As we become more and more diverse in the workplace, we need to learn how to communicate better and communicate with each other and that's how we get things done. The world is a better place if we learn how to communicate." [18:26]

Marilyn’s contributions to Rise Equity and the broader conversation on workplace diversity and communication underscore the pivotal role these elements play in building resilient and forward-thinking organizations.

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Key Takeaways

• Holistic Diversity: Embracing diverse thought processes and backgrounds leads to better decision-making and innovation.

• Strength-Based Management: Focusing on employees' strengths rather than their weaknesses enhances performance and retention.

• Efficient Work Practices: Implementing a four-day workweek requires eliminating non-productive activities to maintain or boost productivity.

• Generational Adaptation: Modern workplaces must balance differing generational expectations to foster a sustainable and creative environment.

• Effective Communication: Developing robust communication strategies is essential for navigating diverse and polarized workplace dynamics.

Notable Quotes

• Marilyn Nagel:
  "We emphasize people's strengths, not their weaknesses. Look for what people are good at, find a role that plays to their strengths and let them go." [06:25]

• Marilyn Nagel:
  "The goal is to say what are we doing that isn't adding value? And let's eliminate those things." [08:43]

• Host:
  "The world is a better place if we learn how to communicate." [18:26]

Upcoming Events

Webinar: Communicating: Civility in the Workplace in Turbulent Times
Date: November 12th
Time: Noon Pacific Time
Hosts: Marilyn Nagel and Sherry Browning
Registration: Email Marilyn at [e-mail] or visit the Rise Equity website to sign up.

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Tune in to discover more inspiring stories and invaluable insights from industry leaders on Founder's Story by IBH Media.

Transcript

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[Host]

Welcome back everyone to Founders Story. Today we have Marilyn Nagel who is the co founder and Chief Advocacy Officer of Rise Equity. There's been a lot of talks around dei. Marilyn as well as a mentor of mine told me many years ago that a diverse working group will outperform a non diverse working group in any type of work environment and that has stuck.

[Co-Host]

With me since then.

[Host]

But I'm really excited to learn about why right now did you start Rise Equity?

[Marilyn Nagel]

Well, we actually started several years ago and the reason we began this effort is because we believe and have been proven to find that the more diverse a company is and the more diverse leadership teams are, the better decisions are. So we used to joke and say that if it was Lehman Brothers and Sisters, it probably would still be around and that doesn't mean that if it's all women, it's a better thing or all men. It means that when we get a mix, women ask different questions than men. People with a background that they're new to a field ask different questions than people who have been in a field a long time. So diversity is not just things like gender, race and ethnicity. Diversity is different ways of thinking. It's everything we bring to the table. And we know that companies that leverage everyone who works there, all of the talent, do a better job. I've been doing this work for a very long time. But rise equity has come into. It's come into being really. We launched our company in order to meet the needs of companies today. Companies that are dealing with AI in the workplace, companies that are dealing with multiple generations in the workplace who are looking for a way to succeed in their careers. And that's what we help them do.

[Co-Host]

Thank you for clarifying that.

[Host]

I really like how you've defined diversity as different thought process, not just one specific thing. Can you share with me the companies that are coming to you that you're helping? Do they share something similar as to the ones that are really looking to ramp this up or get better at it?

[Marilyn Nagel]

We work with companies from all industries. We have consumer goods, we have a fast food product, we have tech companies, we have STEM healthcare companies. We have small and large small firms, large multinational, global multinationals. The common element is these are companies who care about their employees, the communities in which they work, and the product. They want to ensure that their product resonates with the people who buy it, whether that's B2B or B2C. They're companies that care about the employees, want to make sure that the employees have a rich experience and can grow their careers, want to stay with them because we know that younger and newer employees, the newer generations in the workforce, tend to switch jobs every two years. But it's possible to switch jobs and stay within the same company if you give people a rich experience. So companies are coming to us to say, how do we provide that rich experience? How do we provide an experience that gives people an opportunity to stay with us and grow their career, career.

[Host]

I'm really glad you bring that up because that's something, when I was a leader, I always struggled with in the, in the corporate environment because they, they didn't really look at strengths and putting you somewhere in your strength and let's say you were struggling in your role. They just did, you know, performance improvement plan to get you out of the Company versus finding you somewhere that maybe fit better into the strengths that you have. How do you look at this here in terms of, like you said, a person doesn't need to leave a company to change roles.

[Marilyn Nagel]

Absolutely. I had a wonderful experience back when I was the Chief diversity officer at Cisco Systems. I was struggling to find, to expand my team as so many people are, because we're always doing more with less. This is not the first era when, when leaders are asked to do that and someone said to me, I have someone who's struggling on my team, not performing well. I'm willing to give them to you. And I believe we play, emphasize people's strengths, not their weaknesses. Look for what people are good at, Find a role that plays to their strengths and let them go. So I took on this person and this was back probably in 2005. They're still at the company, they're a super performer now. They were just in the wrong role. I think it's incumbent on us as leaders to look at what are people good at, find ways to leverage those strengths. We use Strength Finders, the book. It's a great tool for folks. We all have strengths, we all have areas of opportunity. Don't focus on where your opportunities are. Focus on what you're strong at, what you're good at. Play to that. Add people who are good at the areas that you're not good at and let them do those things together. That's teamwork, that's collaboration. That's what makes the team work.

[Co-Host]

I love strength Finders, by the way.

[Host]

And obviously it worked, right? Like, could you imagine if you didn't take that person on, they might have been fired or they might have quit because it just, it didn't fit how they're, you know, I was reading recently about how Iceland had implemented a four day work week and how a lot of generations now are looking at things in terms of working less, you know, not not wanting to do the 50, 60, 80 hour grind that, you know, we all thought we had to do, which I think is maybe creating a little bit of a clash with, you know, older managers who were brought up in, you know, working a huge amount of time and working every day, you.

[Co-Host]

Know, on a salary.

[Host]

How do you, how are you seeing this in the workplace with how these generations are looking at things?

[Marilyn Nagel]

I love the four day workweek concept, frankly. And we share, we brought in a speaker to meet with the Chr, a CHRO community and share with them the benefits of four day workweek. But you have to couple that with Getting rid of things that are taking up leaders and employees time that doesn't add value. How many hours a week are we spending in meetings where we rehash the same information over and over again and come out, you know, we, we talk about it but we don't do the take the action that comes out of the meeting and then we meet again to talk about it again. And so the only way a four day work week can work is if you cut down on things that are not productive in the workplace. And that doesn't mean working 50 hours in four days. That's not the goal. The goal is to say what are we doing that isn't adding value? And let's eliminate those things. If there are 10 people sitting in a meeting and only really three or four of those people are needed for making a decision, then let's only have three or four people sit in on that meeting. Let's not have the rest of the people sitting there on their phones or on their laptops trying to get, you know, surreptitiously do emails or do other things. Let's not copy the world on an email that doesn't need to be copied. But by the same token, let's make sure we communicate transparently with people that need information and not hold it as ransom for power. So both things have to happen. Organizations have to be more efficient and more effective and look at what's, you know, what is needed, who is needed in the room, do we have the right people in the room? And how can we save time and energy and not expect people to work 24. 7 that 24. 7 on culture is not sustainable. People are not working at their best when they're always on. Needing to respond to an email on Saturday afternoon or Tuesday at midnight doesn't work even when we're working in global scenarios. I worked with a global team for years, but that didn't mean that I had to be available all hours or that my team needed to be. And you have to model those behaviors as a leader. You have to model that you don't expect people to respond to you on the weekend or in the middle of the night. I've talked to too many people who say meetings are called and I have to be there and it's 3am my time and you know, it's a global multinational and the US folks schedule a meeting and they expect me to be there and it's just, you know, and then I have to work all day my time. So we have to be more thoughtful.

[Host]

I can't help but laugh because I remember when I had gotten promoted and I all of a sudden had like 12 managers underneath me and I would send emails at 3am because I just woke up and they were all very stressed by the time that they got to work because they're I didn't know they were reading the email.

[Co-Host]

I said, don't read the email.

[Host]

But they're like, we can't not read your email, right? And I had to say, okay, I will never send an email from like 10pm to 8am or whatever it was.

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[Host]

I appreciate you going through that. I can't wait for the four day workweek to be everywhere and to everyone to be less burnt out than they are right now.

[Marilyn Nagel]

Yeah, well, because if we want our best and brightest thinkers and we want the best and brightest thoughts from everyone who works, then we need to not burn people out. And we need to know that if you, if you don't get a break from work, you're not going to bring creative thoughts and innovation to the forefront. And we want innovation.

[Co-Host]

So.

[Host]

Well Marilyn, this has been amazing. I know you have a webinar coming up which I think is going to be absolutely necessarily for all of us to to attend. So if you can tell everyone, how can they check out the webinar and how can they find out more information about you and the company?

[Marilyn Nagel]

Absolutely. Well you can email me at marilynquity1word Rise Equity Co not and our webinar is with Sherry Browning who's brilliant and her specialization is communication and this webinar is Communicating. It's on civility in the workplace in turbulent times. And I can't think of a more turbulent time than that which we are currently experiencing. But in particular we thought we'd do this on November 12th. It'll be noon Pacific time, so you can email me if you'd like to attend. And I will make sure that you get registered before your Thanksgiving dinner. As I was mentioning to you, if you have that weird uncle or strange neighbor who's going to be at your Thanksgiving table and you want to know how to navigate those dicey conversations about is climate change real or whatever, this is a good webinar for you. Also, just what do you address in terms of communicating in the workplace? How do we work with people who have very different perspectives than we do as we become more polarized and as things have become a little more turbulent? I believe in AI. I don't believe in AI. All kinds of things have come up and so come here. Sherry Browning on November 12th at noon. Email me at riseequity co or just go to the Rise Equity website and you can sign up for it.

[Host]

Well Marilyn, this has been great. I think as we become more and more diverse in the workplace, we need to learn how to communicate better and communicate with each other and that's how we get things done. The world is a better place if we learn how to communicate. So thank you so much though for joining us. I can't wait for the webinar. I hope everyone checks that out and I'm really appreciative and thankful for you joining us today on Founders Story.

[Marilyn Nagel]

My pleasure.

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