It's rare to find a company that celebrates who you are, not just what you can do for them.
Last week marked my first work anniversary at Gartner. As someone working in the fraught field of DEI, I spend a large part of my days thinking about how to make workplaces fairer & safer in an increasingly volatile context. Upon reflection, the key reason I feel safe where I work, is because my values and needs are validated and nurtured by my role, and the brilliant people I work with. Here's how.
- Curiosity.
A large part of my job is to continuously learn and adapt my advice. A year in, there's an alchemy brewing when the collective wisdom - from client calls, colleague brainstorming, training, podcasts & reading - starts becoming greater than the sum of its parts.
- Pragmatic altruism.
This role allows me to provide strategic advice to senior leaders at the world's best companies, helping solve some of their trickiest DEI and talent challenges. Deeply satisfying to scale my positive impact by helping people who are helping people.
- Pursue excellence, with boundaries.
I am empowered (with a balance of support and autonomy) to do my best in my core role AND pursue relevant shiny side quests (I'm your resident gen AI hype woman). But I also clock off at a reasonable hour to enjoy a full life outside work.
Ironically, de-centring work from my personal identity, has allowed me to pursue work with renewed vigour - approaching it as an integral, but not the only part of an abundant, fulfilling life.
In the current climate, stories of disconnect at work are often louder than ones of validation, and rightly so. But to keep the energy for the good work going, care to share a story of when you felt celebrated for who you were, at work?
