- 7 months ago
Leadership is a powerful platform for change, and leaders of color are making remarkable strides despite the unique challenges they face. This conversation will delve into the complexities of leadership and its profound impact on leaders of color. Join us as we discuss how leaders from our community navigate the pressures of their roles, the invaluable lessons they have learned along the way, and practical strategies for thriving while paving the way for others.
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00:00Good afternoon everyone. Can you all hear me okay? Alrighty. Good afternoon. I'm so
00:08excited to be here today. Today we're going to talk about leading with purpose
00:13and gaining insights from these amazing leaders of color. My name is Nicole
00:18Stovall. I am the vice president of Merck's Global Diversity and Inclusion
00:23Center of Excellence. So when we think about leadership, we know that leadership
00:28is not just about titles. If you think about our communities, the schools, our
00:34churches, think about the people who are really making a difference. Who's really
00:39making an impact? Who's fostering progress? They don't always have to have the
00:44biggest titles. These are people who are really moving and shaking. And when I
00:49think about my dad, he used to always say, when you want something done, ask a
00:55black woman. Because I think we know black women, no matter what we do, where
00:59we are, we tend to want to make a difference and make an impact. So when it
01:05comes to leaders of color, it's really about making sure that we are finding a
01:09pathway to, and our path is really shaped by purpose and persistence. And so today's
01:18conversation, we're going to talk about looking behind the titles and thinking
01:23about the stories, the real stories that we have, the challenges, the breakthroughs, and
01:29the lessons that shape how we lead and how we uplift others. So I'm really, really
01:35excited to be joined today by these trailblazing leaders. These women are
01:41accomplished women. They have the titles, but they also have an amazing journey and
01:45many lessons to impart. And I'll ask them to share more about their journeys as we talk.
01:51They're going to really share how they have been able to make meaningful impact in their
01:57respective fields and how they continue to lead with intention, authenticity, and with
02:03a deep commitment to community as well. So please join me in welcoming these amazing
02:09trailblazing leaders to the panel today.
02:13So first, I want to ask all of the panelists here to talk about your journey. You all have
02:24these amazing titles, these amazing positions, and are very accomplished in all that you've
02:29done. But if you could talk about how you got there, what was your journey? What were
02:34the pivotal moments that got you to where you are today? And if I could start with you,
02:40Markita, please, thank you.
02:41Absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you so much, Nicole, for hosting this really important
02:47panel and thank all of you for being here. Really excited to be here today. So I am a psychiatrist
02:54by background and training. But after I finished my residency, my training in psychiatry, I knew
03:02that I wanted to make a broader impact on mental health in our country beyond the one-on-one patient
03:11encounters, which I love, too. Don't get me wrong. I love those interactions with my patients.
03:18And so after training, I decided to go back and get formal training in business leadership.
03:25And that was really a pivotal moment for me. Many of my mentors were like, why would you do that?
03:31Even my father was confused at the time. But I knew that I wanted more advanced training in
03:39leadership. And so went and got it. And from there, every step along the way has been a pivotal
03:47moment learning different leadership lessons. I've worked in public health. I've worked in clinical
03:53medicine. I've worked in the insurance company industry. And now have the true privilege
04:00and honor of leading the American Psychiatric Association, which is our nation's oldest medical
04:08professional society, 180 years old. And I am the first black American and first woman to hold that
04:16role in 180 years, which is a true honor, a true honor. And so that would be how I would explain my
04:25story and some of the key pivotal moments. I'm excited to hear from the other panelists as well.
04:29Thank you so much for that. And congratulations. That's an amazing accomplishment.
04:34Chiquita, could you share your story?
04:35I would be happy to. And let me also say what a privilege and pleasure it is to be with you all,
04:41especially to such a wonderful panel. I started my career in government as what we call a civil servant,
04:49which means not a political appointee. I started at what we call the Office of Management and Budget at the
04:57end of the Clinton administration. And one of the first things that I worked on was children's health
05:02insurance. It had just passed Congress. And so it was a baby program. And I got to travel around the
05:09country and really look in the eyes of parents who were so excited that their children were now going to
05:18have affordable health coverage. It really changed me. And I became very passionate about making sure that
05:27everybody in this country had access to affordable care. I also, I stayed through the first couple of years of the
05:35Bush administration. And I mentioned that to say that one of the things I really learned during my time there was how to
05:44talk to people who don't think exactly the same way that you do. I had just come out of the Clinton
05:50administration. People all left and they love the children's health insurance program. It was their baby.
05:56And then my boss, I had to explain to him why we needed to do some of these things. Then September 11th
06:02happened and the administration wanted to cover, give insurance to people who were dislocated workers,
06:10people who had lost their jobs. And so they did work on health insurance. And it looked very different
06:17than the way Democrats would go about it. But those things that I learned helped me in the future.
06:25So fast forward, I worked in the private sector, and then I come to the Ways and Means Committee,
06:31Congress, and work on health care. And we work on the Affordable Care Act. And some of those insights
06:40that I learned during the Bush administration helped me during that period of time. I had the privilege
06:47of really learning from some remarkable leaders, both leaders who gave me opportunities, even though I
06:55was young in my career, and let me step forward. One of my favorite days was being in the room when
07:02President Obama and all of our bosses were negotiating on the Affordable Care Act. My boss had given me her
07:09seat in the White House, she said, just stand really tall next to the curtains. I stood for four hours to
07:17be in that room. But it was an amazing experience. And I learned a great deal about how to be a leader,
07:24how to get things done, and spent time in the Obama administration. And those were wonderful years
07:31working on the Affordable Care Act. Then some time in the private sector. And then now, just recently,
07:39out of the Biden administration, where we had an incredible, incredible four years.
07:45That's great. And we're still benefiting from the impact today. Thank you.
07:51Aaliyah, can you share your story, please?
07:53Absolutely. And thank you again for hosting this panel, and to all of you for being here.
07:59As it was mentioned, I'm in the leadership development space, and it's something that I
08:03absolutely love. But when I think about my leadership journey, it actually started when I was very, very
08:09young. To be honest with you, my family would tell you that I was born bossy. Okay? And why that's
08:16important is because what my parents saw in me was cultivated. It was encouraged. I was encouraged to
08:22sit at the front of the classroom. I was encouraged to take more responsibility. I was encouraged to
08:28speak up for people who couldn't necessarily speak up for themselves. And all along, I was building those
08:33leadership qualities through the support of my family. When I got into college, when I got into
08:40the workplace, and I too started in government in Prince George's County, Maryland, I was also encouraged
08:46by my mentors and people who I worked with to continue to lead, to take the leadership course,
08:52to go represent this, to go represent that. So there were opportunities that were presented
08:58for presented to me that I kept leaning into. And when I had the opportunity to manage people,
09:03I said, of course I will. Because I knew that I could treat people the way that I wanted to be
09:09treated, and I could help to bring out the best in them. And it was a rocky road at the beginning of
09:13my leadership tenure or leadership career. But I learned those lessons. Oh, I kept learning them over and
09:19over again until I felt like I became a better leader. So it really was about accepting responsibility.
09:25It was about the different principles being cultivated in me very young. And also, I happened
09:33into leadership development. I actually started my career in health and human services. I was at
09:37Department of Family Service in Prince George's County Health Department. And when I came, I moved to
09:43Texas and I was at UT Southwestern Medical working in HIV-AIDS. And I encountered one of a challenging
09:50boss. I won't say it because this is being streamed, so I won't go too far. I encountered a challenging
09:55boss. And it was then that I realized that people who are in leadership positions really need help and they
10:01need to be cultivated. And when I happened into leadership development, I said, oh my goodness,
10:06this is a way that you can truly create change in the world when we create leaders who are better.
10:13Excellent. Thank you. And continuing to make an impact there through your leadership development
10:18and coaching executives all around the country. So thank you for that. So I want to talk a bit about
10:24navigating challenges. As leaders of color, we tend to bear a bit more responsibility for our
10:32communities as a whole. And that can carry a certain level of weight in the workplace and in organizations
10:40that we lead. Because we often feel like we have to represent our community, but we're also trying to
10:45lead at the same time. So can you talk, Chiquita and Markita, can you talk a little bit about how you
10:52balance that type of responsibility and shoulder that particular burden that sometimes gets placed on
10:59you as a leader of color? Yeah, so I'll start just by saying how is CMS, the programs that we operate,
11:07Medicare, Medicaid, they are the financing part of health care. And there are not a lot of people of color
11:15who end up in that sphere of the space. I mean, CMS manages, I would have responsibility for over 1.4 trillion
11:25dollars. That's where the money is. But there were not people in the room that looked like me for
11:31for two decades, really. It was very rare for me to be in a room with another person of color. And so I
11:40had to learn how to navigate that space. When I became CMS administrator, I really was
11:48caught off guard in a wonderful way of how meaningful it was to so many people, so many women,
11:59with so many African Americans. I am the first black person who has been the CMS administrator.
12:10And when I was a kid, I wanted to be, I would read these biographies and said, oh, all the barriers are
12:16going to be broken by the time I grow up. I'm not going to get to be a first, but I was. I would say
12:22for the most part, I felt the privilege that comes with being in that role, as opposed to it feeling
12:32overwhelming and pressure. Because I felt like my community had lifted me up and helped, and that by
12:39my just being, just being who I was, was meaningful and helpful. And I really tried to lean into that.
12:47I was at a, um, at a, I was speaking at an event and someone came up to me and she said,
12:53your name is complicated. And I just feel, she was so happy. She said to me, and you didn't go by C in
13:01your middle name. And I realized like making this decision, I am being a leader for these women who are
13:08like me with a complicated name that people say. Um, I had staff who would get in tears that they,
13:16they never thought they would have a black leader. And so I tried to channel all of the pressure
13:23into seeing this is a positive thing. And I am getting more positive than the negative pressure
13:32that comes from getting a side eye in the room or, um, you know, the things that come with being the
13:39only, um, and really tried to focus on there is way more positive than negative.
13:45Thank you. Great answer Chiquita. That's very impressive. Um, for me, um, I think earlier on in my career,
13:54um, there, um, there were times when as a woman and as a black American, I would be in the room,
14:02every other doctor would be called Dr. Such and such, Dr. Such and such, Dr. Such and such,
14:06and then Markita. And that would always be very dispiriting. Yes. Yes. I see Dr. Lawson right there
14:14who really understands that. Um, and you know, you, you take that personally. Um, but then you also have
14:21to figure out a way to rise above it. And the way I Jedi mind tricked it was that I'm an eponym. I'm
14:28like Beyonce. They call me Markita because I stand out that much. And that's how we're going to carry
14:33that. So every time someone would come with a sideswipe, I would just try to find a way to find
14:42goodness in it. Um, and my commitment to myself, and I know Chiquita feels this way too, is I may be the
14:49first, but it is very important to me to make sure that I'm not the last. Um, and so I'm creating spaces,
14:57creating spaces wherever I am to mentor, sponsor, um, give information. I think that's something else.
15:06Just sometimes we don't have access to the information, give information about some of the
15:11unwritten rules about some of the, uh, along the edges and fringes and try to pass that along,
15:17um, to anyone. I mentor anyone, but certainly, uh, black Americans and black women in particular.
15:24Great. Thank you. Thank you for that. And I love how you're opening doors for others as you're moving
15:29up. And I appreciate that very much. And I'm sure we all do. So I want to turn to now talking a bit
15:34about leading with purpose. That is actually the title for this particular panel, leading with purpose.
15:39Uh, and so Aliyah, can you talk a bit about how you lead with purpose and really thinking about
15:46not just from an aspirational perspective, but really incorporating that into your day-to-day work,
15:52your behaviors, your actions? How do you lead with purpose? Thank you for that question. The first
15:58part of that is really understanding what your core values are. What are your, your, your, the things that
16:05guide you? What are your guiding principles? When you have that, you can then get more closely
16:10connected with purpose. I went through my own leadership development journey. I'm a lifelong learner.
16:15And back in 2014, I went through a year long leadership development program. In that program,
16:21we had to figure out our core values and guiding principles as well as our purpose. And I wanted to
16:26make it super complicated. I'm the architect of dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. I wanted to get real flowery with
16:31everything and it never quite fit right. And then it came to me one morning I woke up and it's, and I,
16:38I heard your purpose is to be of service period. And when I got that clarity, when I have a difficult
16:46decision, when I've got to, you know, hire or fire, whatever it is, does this align with my purpose?
16:53But the clarity of your purpose is what helps you to get to that place where you can always
16:58check in. You can always go back to it. And it's not necessarily easy to get there, but it's necessary.
17:05And there's lots of different tools, lots of different processes that you can use. And some
17:09people just know this is my purpose, which is wonderful, but it's about having that self,
17:13that check-in and that self-talk and that connection to say, does this align to, to my purpose? Am I
17:19walking in it every day? And I know that when I'm taking certain actions, I'm like, I'm very well
17:24aligned. And when you're out of alignment, you know as well. Absolutely. And tying it to your values,
17:30I'm sure it makes a huge difference. So, um, I, I do want to be my, I want to make sure that we are
17:37able to talk a little bit about some advice that we would give to the emerging leaders in the audience.
17:43As you think about, um, your journey and some hard lessons that you may have had navigating your
17:50career, uh, Chiquita, could you talk about, uh, some lessons that you learned and advice that you
17:56would share to emerging leaders in the audience? Yes. I would say one of the things people ask me
18:02all the time, how did you get to be where you are? And there is no magic formula to becoming
18:09whatever it is that you want to be. But one thing that I think is key to that is really
18:18some of these two golden rules, treat others as you want to be treated and remember that how people
18:25feel about you, that's what they're going to remember. And that's a misquote of Maya Angelou.
18:32But I would say that DC is a very transactional town. Sometimes people will size you up when you go
18:39in a meeting, like, do I need to talk to them? Do it at a party? Who do they? And so often,
18:45I don't understand why people don't learn this lesson, but power comes and goes. And the person
18:52who is the intern can be your boss in a couple of years. I, when I was in the private sector,
18:59hired several people and then two years, you know, two jobs later, they were able to hire me because
19:06they were at companies. It is so important that you not be focused only on achieving your goal,
19:13but bringing people along with you, listening to other perspectives. All of us, no matter what our
19:19experience is, we only see in part. And we need to have openness to getting criticized, to bringing
19:27other people to the table. One of the things about me is I will explain to you if I'm not taking your
19:33recommendation. And sometimes, you know, you'll make a mistake and you need to have somebody on
19:38your team that will say, I know you don't want to do this, but you gotta. My former chief of staff
19:45is hearing me say, yes, that's, that was me. You know, of really having people in your life that can
19:52say, you need to keep this perspective. But that is just something in that I would just really encourage
19:58people to make sure you have some truth tellers in your circle and make sure you are treating people
20:05really, really well all the way up the process because you never know who's going to be part
20:11of that decision-making process. Thank you so much. So I know we're at time,
20:16but I just, if you just give one word each of you, how you, how you would describe leadership.
20:22Leadership with purpose is what? What does it mean to you? One word. Presence. Thank you.
20:28One word. You go. I can't do a word. Leadership is about the ability to bring out the best in
20:35everyone. Great. Thank you. I'd like to how you started knowing your, knowing your values
20:43and living your values. Excellent. On that note, we'd like to wrap up. Thank you so much
20:49audience for being here today. And thank you for these esteemed panelists for your words of wisdom.
20:56Very much appreciate it. Thank you.
21:09We'll see you next time.
21:10We'll see you then.
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