We all seek comfort in what we do.  Who we talk with, and what we talk about.  Today’s guests challenge that norm in a big way.  They share their stories of how they have leaned into the candid conversations.  A must-have for successful leaders and allies of diversity.

As a senior Human Resources leader in technology, Emily Wolfington removes obstacles for her team to do their best work.  Having experienced her own obstacles wrestling with visibility in a male-dominated environment, she now focuses on engaging allies in her career to ensure she is seen and heard.  Leading a culture of allies, she highlights how to engage men as allies and show them how can they be more of an ally.  Simply starting the conversation with, “here’s one thing I am struggling with, can you help me?” opens the door to allies to step in.  Through finding her own voice and embracing self-advocacy, Emily shows women leaders what good looks like, and offers tangible tips for men to be allies.

Jason Barnaby is a former educator and senior leader in corporate America.  He now is Chief Firestarter at Firestarters Inc.  There, he specializes in solutions for leaders to find and tend to their tribe.  His work connects and expands people’s tribes beyond their own comfort zones.  Through embracing curiosity, we never stop learning.  He lives by the mantra, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” which has been helpful as an ally.  When confronted with his own ally learning of the term “mansplaining,” he embraced it as a learning moment and listened to his female colleagues.  As he shares, on the other side of discomfort is positive change.

Follow Emily at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilywolfington/ and at https://www.sigstr.com/.

Follow Jason at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-barnaby-252a68/ and https://firestarterstribe.com/.

Follow us @nextpivotpoint on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and connect with us 1:1 at www.NextPivotPoint.com. 

We post daily about leadership, equality, and career development on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekratz/.