Here's what four tech industry leaders had to say about creating your path as a black executive

In February, LinkedIn partnered with Ernst & Young (EY) to host a Black History Month Executive Roundtable in San Francisco called, “The Business of Belonging”, which brought together diverse C-Suite executives and entrepreneurs to discuss their perspectives on Diversity & Inclusion as well as the keys to successfully advancing into the executive ranks.

We had an all-star panel—Warren Desouza, CFO of Aimmune Therapeutics; Hugh Molotsi, 20+ year veteran of Intuit, also Founder and CEO of Ujama, Inc.; Lori Allen, Director of Human Resources at LinkedIn; and Yvette Hollingworth Clark, Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for Wells Fargo. The panel was moderated by Innocent Shumba, an Assurance Partner in EY’s San Jose office.

I loved the energy of this event. It pulled together narratives of grit, professional excellence and resiliency. I found that the discussion not only honored our history, but focused on the present, and what everyone needed to be successful now. Three main themes stood out for me:

1. Embrace radical self-awareness.

All panelists had invested the time to become extremely self-aware and thus independent of the impact of the opinions of others. As African-Americans, we still encounter obvious and subtle microaggressions in the workplace. Hugh Molotsi stressed the cultural iceberg—knowing your deeply-held preferences and priorities—we must not let others define us. Embracing that your voice matters is essential. In her follow-up LinkedIn blog about the panel, Lori Allen also spoke about how once she took off her ‘mask’ and became her authentic self, her career blossomed.

2. Become an “essential employee” and own your narrative.

In addition to self-awareness, all panelists stressed the importance of knowing your value. All panelists had achieved incredible competitive advantages in their respective fields. Yvette H. Clark had developed such an expertise in foreign exchange markets that Wells Fargo identified her as an essential employee in the bank’s operation post the 9/11 attacks. Mastering the ability to deliver on your value and embed quickly in your organization is key.

3. Build a rockstar brand to attract sponsors and opportunities.

We all need our relationships to get to the next stage—in particular, someone who believes in your potential and is willing to advocate for your next raise or promotion. We must develop sponsorship relationships with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just other minority professionals. When Lori Allen expressed her desire to rise to the executive ranks, she recalled a senior leader having a frank conversation with her, saying “You are going to need someone that looks like me... I am going to share what happens behind the scenes.”

Using these insightful tips as inspiration, I invite you to make 2017 your year to make a career breakthrough year. Despite the nasty weather and horrible traffic that day, the event was oversubscribed. I believe that recent changes in the socio-political climate drove the popularity and sense of comfort that the event provided. One of the panelists, Warren Desouza even spoke about the need for business leaders to drive constructive dialogue about race in the workplace and its impact. It was clear that a safe space to frankly discuss these issues of race and career progression was needed and very well received.

Special thanks to Ty Heath, Caroline Fairchild, Nicole Felix, Matt Koren and our panelists for their contributions to this post. Photo credit: by Selena DS