(upbeat music)
- Hello everyone and
welcome to Boss Talks,
a series featuring candid career advice
from some of the best in the business.
Today's episode is focused on a topic
near and dear to my heart.
And that's leading with purpose.
Leading with purpose is about so much more
than just doing what
you're passionate about.
Although that's certainly a part of it.
It's about discovering
the why behind the work.
Maybe it's a cause you care about
or a product that you
can just really get behind.
Then leading from that place of purpose.
To help me unpack this topic,
I've invited someone with
an incredible track record
in leading with purpose.
Helena Foulkes is the former
CEO of Hudson's Bay Company
and president of CVS Pharmacy.
She also is an active board member,
including the board overseers
at Harvard University.
This woman is doing it all.
Helena, welcome to Boss Talks.
- Hi, Ebony.
It's so fun to be with you.
Thank you for having me.
- Now, you know today's episode is all
about leading with purpose.
So can you tell us what it
means to be purpose-led
and leading with purpose in your opinion?
- Yeah, I started on this
journey really thinking
about this at CVS in about 2008.
And it really started as a journey to say,
why do you do what you
do from a work perspective?
What gives you meaning?
What is your individual purpose?
And we interviewed hundreds
of people all over the company,
but it really started
with an understanding
of what motivates you to come to work?
And connected to that was an idea
that we had around something
we framed as who is your who?
And we had everyone bring
in pictures to their stores
or their home offices
of the person in their life
that they work for, that motivates them.
And so, as you can imagine
it was oftentimes children
or parents or siblings.
And so, when I started to store visit,
I would always ask people
to share their who with me.
And it really broke
down a lot of barriers.
I got to know people,
they're amazing people who work at retail.
And so, that was really
how we brought this
purpose-driven conversation
to the front lines of our organization.
- I wanna ask you a question
that we get a lot here on Boss Talks
and it's about climbing
the corporate ladder.
And it's such a tricky thing to navigate.
Because sometimes corporate
politics, not sometimes,
corporate politics can be challenging,
(laughs) period.
They are, yes.
- So what are your tips for folks
looking to climb that corporate ladder?
I imagine as you were
checking in with yourself
and life is happening,
your career is advancing,
what tips do you have for folks?
- Yeah, the thing I always think
is a good way to think about it,
especially early in your career.
And now, my four
kids are in their twenties
so I'm starting to have these
conversations with them.
It's the idea of showing
up and really thinking hard
about how you can help your boss.
We're doing Boss Talks here,
but I think instead of saying,
"How am I growing? What am I learning?"
It's really saying,
"How can I be of service
to the person I'm working
for, the team I'm working with?"
And I think if and when
you become that person
who's always able to deliver
for your boss or your team,
great things happen.
I had a really smart
mentor in my life say to me,
"Helena, you gotta give to get."
And if you come in with a
spirit of giving and generosity,
I think amazing things
can happen in your career.
So, that is one very
important lesson that I learned
about climbing the corporate ladder.
I think another one is
having lots of sponsors.
So, not just your boss,
but people in the
organization that you find.
And reminding yourself
that you're not just
asking for their help,
you're helping them.
You're bringing them a
perspective on the organization
that they may not have.
And what you wanna remember
is when big decisions are
being made about careers
or who to put in a new role,
you want allies in the room.
You want people saying,
"I've worked with Helena
and she really did a great job
and I trust her."
And so, you wanna be thinking
about how you build
that reputation of trust
based on how you're showing up.
And so, those are a
couple things I would say.
So let's switch gears for a moment
and talk a little bit about
being underestimated.
Now, for me,
it's very hard to picture
anyone underestimating you ever
(giggles) just knowing you,
but I know we all have our
moments. It definitely happens.
And I know for me,
when I sense that I'm
being underestimated,
I actually love that.
That's when I dig in
and I get really motivated
to prove everyone wrong.
So, what is your secret?
How do you overcome being underestimated?
- Yeah, you're right. I love
being underestimated too.
Leadership skills apply
no matter where you go.
And one of the things I've learned,
even in this last six months,
is to trust my own
instincts and follow my gut
because the things I've learned in my past
really can apply to right now.
So, I think it is reminding yourself
to check in with your gut.
And if you have a funny feeling
that something's not going right,
if you're in a brand new
world, really
listen hard to that.
Because I think that sometimes
there's other people underestimating you,
but there's also sometimes
you underestimating yourself.
That's right.
And so I would say
that latter piece,
you really have to have
confidence in yourself to say,
No, I got here for a reason.
I know how to do something
that maybe was different,
but really does apply
to what I'm doing now.
- I love that.
Our team's mantra for the
year is trust
your gut. (giggles)
And it just is so applicable.
And I love that you
trust your gut as well.
I love that you don't shy
away from a challenge.
So what are your tips for people looking
to challenge the status
quo at their company?
- Look, this is a very hard thing to do.
I had been at CVS for about
20 years when that happened
and every single year we'd
have company meetings
and we would talk about our mission
and our vision and our values.
And someone very brave,
usually in the back of the room,
would raise their hand and say,
"Well, why do we still sell cigarettes?"
And it was usually, if we were honest,
because we did a lot
of sales in cigarettes
so it was a very hard thing to do.
I think that in that particular case,
the reason we were successful
was it was a massive team effort.
I don't think you can make
change at that level alone.
I think that when you
get the opportunity in life,
you've just gotta really
step back and say,
"How do I create a
team effort around this?"
It's not about taking credit yourself,
it's about really figuring out
how you can do something
that the whole organization
will be really proud of.
And who's critical to get on
the bus to make it happen.
- Oh, I'm so glad you
said that last thing.
I just wanna go back to it and ask you
the appointed question.
Is purpose about credit?
- No, it is not.
I think credit gets in the
way of purpose oftentimes,
I really do.
- All the time.
Almost all the time.
- I mean, it's a very interesting thing
because I don't feel that
it is mine to take credit for.
We had all these other
people I just described
that the decision wouldn't
be made without them.
And I think also it
relates to people feeling
like they can trust you.
Because when you see
people in your organization
who are grabbing for credit,
that usually lowers the
trust factor in the organization
and people are wondering
what the true motives are.
So, I think that the best experiences
and people you work
with are people you trust
to be doing things that are
right for the organization,
not for themselves.
I'm sure you've had that experience.
- Oh, very much so. (laughs)
And why it just resonated with me
was in this entire conversation,
what stood out to me is
that you talked about team,
you gave credit to other people
and this was about purpose.
And a lot of times people
think it's my purpose,
but it's shared, right?
Especially when you're
working in an organization,
your three questions were not about you
and what you could gain.
It was about what can you offer?
What can you give?
And I think that that's a
really important nuance
when you're talking
about leading with purpose
or finding your purpose.
They can be mutually beneficial,
but you have to make sure
that the motivation is in the right place.
- Yep, absolutely.
But it's so fun when you can do that
because you could serve
people at a whole new level.
- Yeah. That's right.
It's become so much more
valuable and rewarding.
So unfortunately, this has come to an end,
but I get to ask you my
favorite and final question
and I'm really excited (giggles)
that I get to ask you this.
So, Helena, what is your superpower?
- Oh, my superpower.
I think my greatest superpower
is my ability to listen deeply
and really understand
where people are coming from
so that whether they're excited
about something I'm trying
to do or really resisting it,
I understand where they are
and I can tap into
their greatest strengths.
I think that's what I'm good at.
And it allows me to bring
out the best in people.
And as we've been talking about,
build teams that really
produce great things for people,
whether they're organizations
or groups you're part of.
- Well, thank you so much.
I really love what you
shared with us today.
And I think we're all gonna walk away
from this conversation
really more prepared
to lead with purpose.
I thank you for joining
us today on Boss Talks.
- Thank you, Ebony.
I'm such a fan of yours
and thanks for having me on.
(Ebony giggling)
I hope you all enjoyed
today's conversation
and to watch more episodes of Boss Talks,
check out the new Salesforce+.
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head on over to trailblazer.salesforce.com
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With that, thank you
for tuning to Boss Talks
and I'll see you all next time.
(upbeat music)