[Music playing]
I would define the theme
"Break the Bias" as really an opportunity
for women to elevate other women.
We do a lot of really phenomenal
things, and it's on us to
really talk about those things.
"Break the Bias" to me is just a way
that we can all be significantly
more aware, and talk about, and
be open to learning and take action
on how we can break the gender biases.
We all have bias, right?
Whether it's unconscious or otherwise.
And I think bias is like a habit,
so all habits can be broken.
You know, there are times in my career
where I put myself in a category,
or I thought of certain ways
that I myself needed to behave,
or how I needed to lead, and then
later realized that was coming from
a bias of my expectation of what a
woman leader was supposed to be.
So, I had to break those biases
within myself, and then also in
terms of how I see the rest of the
world and the people I engage with.
I think about my mom growing up.
She held a senior management position
at a pretty large company, and she
told me the stories of how, when she
was pregnant with my younger sister,
baby #4, her manager told her,
"Oh, so you're finally going to retire and be
a stay-at-home mom." And she told him,
"No, why would I do that?""
I'm actually going for that promotion
for that senior-manager level.
And she got the job!
She's got kind of short hair,
short on the sides, tattoos exposed,
and she really was a genuine person,
to herself and what she perceived
as who she was.
And she didn't apologize for that.
She went into this very male-centric
office and owned analytics,
owned herself,
and any perception that
they had based on her look,
she tore down immediately with her skill set.
My wife and her sister developed a
program for promoting women in sports
broadcasting which has really broken down
all those barriers, and now when people
see and hear women voices
on the screens during sport,
they realize what they've
been missing out on before.
My father actually passed away, and
it left my mom just with me and my sister.
And she really just took it in stride.
She was incredibly strong, and
that really showed me that women
can do anything. And I hope that
now that I have two kids of my own,
I hope that my kids see that in me,
and that just because you're a
woman doesn't mean that you can't
do really hard things.
And I finally sort of had to have
a pretty serious talk with my boss at
the time about it, and what I said was
don't mistake my humility for weakness.
If we're not talking about it,
we're never going to grow
through it and see an impact
that we know is going
to be extremely valuable,
not only to individuals but our businesses, too.
I am so proud to be part of Robinson,
especially the last couple of years.
The strides we've taken with starting
our ERG programs, support from
our leadership in those areas
has been phenomenal. And I think that's
how we continue to develop our women
and strengthen our bench of leaders.
You know, whether we think we've
done things right or not,
unless we listen, we don't know.
We need to continue putting in
the structural changes, the things
that really make the difference.
I have two young daughters, and I think
about the strides that you guys are
making and how it's going to impact
them in the workplace.
And who's another important person in your life,
an important woman?
You. Oh, me?
It's time to break the bias.
You did it! Good job!