
Trio of new programs takes NBA’s diversity and inclusion efforts to greater heights
The NBA has launched a trio of new efforts to prioritize recruiting, developing and retaining diverse talent.
Below is an article originally written by Brian Martin and published on May 9, 2021. This article is about PowerToFly Partner NBA. Go to NBA' Corporation company page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Each year, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) publishes its Racial and Gender Report Card for professional and collegiate sports leagues and institutions to grade each organization on the diversity of its workforce. These grades not only provide a snapshot of where each organization is at a particular moment, but looks at year-over-year trends to find areas where each organization is performing well and where improvements can be made.
In 2020, the NBA received a grade of A+ when it came to race, a grade of B for gender and an overall grade of A-. Although the marks were good by any industry standard, the NBA, who regularly tracks this data independent of TIDES to ensure diversity across the league and create more inclusive programs and processes, wasn't satisfied. Instead, the league recognized that there is still more work to be done and launched a trio of new efforts – the Future Sales Stars Program, the Executive Highlighting Initiative and the NBA Mentorship Program – to continue to prioritize recruiting, developing and retaining diverse talent.
"Collectively, these programs are part of an ongoing, comprehensive process to increase the diversity of our talent across our entire league," said Oris Stuart, Executive Vice President, Chief People & Inclusion Officer at the NBA.
When it comes to having a diverse work force not only in the league office but across the league's 30 teams, Stuart says it's not only an advantage, but a necessity, and essential to the NBA's overall success.
"We are in a business and a game, that No. 1 requires understanding our fans. That means as an organization, we have to have people in the organization that represent the diversity and complexity of those fans so that we can understand and build relationships with them," he said. "No. 2, we work for a league in a business that requires innovation; we're in our 75th year, and one of the reasons that we've not only survived but succeeded and thrived is because we're constantly looking at opportunities to grow the game, looking at opportunities to do things differently, challenging ourselves, and striving to reinvent ourselves on a regular basis.
"What are the ingredients for innovation: diversity and inclusion – different experiences, different backgrounds, different ways of thinking, different ways of solving problems. Because we're in a complex business, it's essential for us to have diversity and it's essential for that diverse talent to be positioned where their ideas are included."
That overarching philosophy led the league to launch these three programs to find new candidates at the entry level (Future Sales Stars Program), nurture existing employees and provide opportunities for growth (NBA Mentorship Program) and seek out qualified candidates for opportunities at the executive level (Executive Highlighting Initiative).
In case those goals weren't lofty enough, the NBA decided not to wait, and launch these programs even though it was in the middle of a global pandemic that essentially shut down the traditional business of basketball and halted hiring nearly across the board for months.
While there was much uncertainty regarding when and how fans would return to arenas, teams were going to need talented sales representatives, marketers and leaders to get them back in the building and be innovative in reimagining the future of the game.
FUTURE STARS SALES PROGRAM
While the games paused this past year, the recruitment efforts did not. The first-ever Future Sales Stars Program tipped off in October 2020 and welcomed 50 participants who are early in their careers in corporate partnerships and ticket sales, with a goal of providing real-world sales training and a fundamental understanding of how the NBA generates revenue.
The six-month virtual program gave the participants access to mentorship, networking, and development opportunities, as well as real-world insights. It also connected the participants with current leaders in these fields with representatives from over 20 NBA teams serving as guest speakers and trainers.
Sergio Martinez, the Director of Talent Acquisition with the Golden State Warriors, was one of the first team representatives to get involved with the program as he embraced the vision of the program and what it was trying to accomplish.
"I was very interested in the program because it was a new idea, a new program, something I hadn't seen before, and the purpose where it's targeting women and people of color not only within the context of a historically white male dominated industry, but also within revenue generating roles," Martinez said. "I think that's a challenge for every team in that we definitely have limited people of color in those roles, so why not just address that challenge head on and say that this program is for you."
Martinez led multiple training sessions with the candidates and shared his experiences in talent acquisition, giving them tips on what could make them stand out from others, but also what common mistakes to avoid during the job-seeking process.
"I want to share learnings that I've had throughout my career working toward this position, and also talk about the mistakes that I personally have made in my job searches early in my career," he said. "Learn from my mistakes, and also learn from the mistakes that I see people continuously make, who are either entry level or very senior and experienced in their careers."
John Ferguson, Vice President of People & Culture for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Washington Wizards and Mystics, Capital City Go-Go), was another of the many team leaders eager to participate in the program.
"My passion is working with the young people, because I once was in their seat, I moved to DC with no job, first generation to attend college, so I didn't have that sort of base of life, someone saying these are your next steps," he said. "So anything that I've learned, if I can give it away for free to make their time and their path easier, I definitely want to do it."
Ferguson said the fact that the program was virtual made it easier for him to participate and give of his time. He envisioned that in a pre-pandemic world the participants would have likely convened in New York for a week-long training and the number of team executives in a position to be away for that long in order to participate would be limited.
"To me it's the silver lining of the pandemic because it allowed us to see that physical distance and location does not have to determine our ability to connect, teach, engage and share information," he said. "Now we can do it virtually. I can get online from home at 8 p.m. to talk to the students and we can go through these recruiting best practices and steps and give them all the information that we want to share."
An example of the Futures Sales Stars Program spotlight shared with teams to promote the participants in the program.
Paul Bee, Vice President of Ticket Sales with the Milwaukee Bucks, was impressed by the level of engagement that he saw from the participants despite that training was being done virtually and there was much still unknown due to the pandemic.
"It was just making sure they understood, there's going to be a point, whether it's next month, whether it's four months, six months down the road, that we should be getting back to where the new normal is going to be, and the whole preparation of the course was to make sure they were ready and prepared," he said. "I told them kudos to you for still preparing yourself, because how many people kind of pause because the rest of the world did, but you were still plowing forward, you were still trying to make yourself better, make yourself more marketable."
The students took that message to heart and when restrictions began to be lifted and fans were once again allowed into arenas on a limited capacity, Bee was able to hire four participants from the Future Stars Sales Program to join his team in Milwaukee. And the Bucks aren't the only team that has been hiring; at the time of publication, 18 participants from the initial Future Sales Stars Program class have been hired by NBA teams.
With the success of the inaugural Future Stars Sales Program, the NBA is already looking to expand this future stars concept to other pillars of the business of basketball – such as analytics, basketball operations and more – in the coming months.
NBA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
While the Future Stars Sales Program focuses on finding entry-level talent, the NBA Mentorship Program was established in late August 2020 as a way to develop diverse talent by connecting young professionals with mentors across the league to offer advice and share experiences.
Mentees were nominated to participate by senior leadership from each of the NBA's 30 teams and were then matched with the right mentor. Over 175 leaders across the league volunteered to serve as mentors, including Ticketing, Partnership, Marketing and Business Operations executives as well as all 30 NBA Team Presidents.
Once the mentor/mentee connections were made, there would be three conversations between them over the course of four months to share knowledge and help the mentee grow in their career.
One of those connections was between Leah Emmons (Vice President, Partnership Engagement, Detroit Pistons) and Gillian Zucker (President of Business Operations, LA Clippers), and both found the experience incredibly valuable and rewarding.
"I wouldn't be where I am today, if it weren't for other people guiding my career and sharing their experience and knowledge with me in a really honest way," said Zucker about her desire to serve as a mentor in this program. "That helped me see the things that I needed to do, to improve in order to continue to advance my career. And I feel like if I'm in a position to offer that to someone else, I want to do it."
Zucker took a circuitous path to the NBA. After applying to the NBA while she was in college and not being accepted, Zucker began a 25-year career in professional sports before joining the LA Clippers in 2014, with experience in Minor League Baseball and NASCAR.
"I feel like a good mentor/mentee relationship has a level of honesty and trust that you can't find anywhere else," Zucker said. "It's someone who really has no other ulterior motive other than helping the mentee to become better. And if that's the case, and you're really open to hearing honest feedback about things that you can do differently or areas where you can continue to improve or advance or reposition yourself, there's an enormous opportunity for you to advance your career in remarkable ways."
Emmons fit in a professional tier where she qualified to both serve as a mentor to younger talent, but also as a mentee and jumped at the opportunity to be paired with one of the five female Presidents in the NBA in Zucker.
"I'm lucky to have a few mentors in my life, both male and female, but somebody like Gillian, who sort of has been on the same path and be able to learn and hear about her experiences, has been such a blessing," said Emmons.
"Being able to see somebody in a career that you want and how they got there, and being able to listen to those experiences helps build that competence within yourself. Gillian is such a great mentor in the sense that she asks a lot of the questions that I think people don't think of, and she's shared some personal stories with me that relate to what I'm going through day to day. A lot of times when those things are happening to me or I'm doubting myself, I can hear her voice in my head. And if something comes up, I know I can lean on her. And that's not something that everybody gets, and I think seeing that and knowing that it's possible is so great for the NBA and for women in the NBA."
In the first conversation between Zucker and Emmons, the first question that Zucker asked was "How honest do you want me to be?" Emmons did not want Zucker to hold back and was ready for her mentor to be brutally honest with her when needed.
"I appreciated that she took that approach, because sometimes when you meet people for the first time, there's a get to know you phase and she sort of led with like, 'Alright, what do you want me to tell you?' And hearing her opinions and then helping me figure out how I was going to grow in those areas is something that I wouldn't have thought of, as I mentor people that has been such a great experience."
EXECUTIVE HIGHLIGHTING INITIATIVE
When the NBA launched these three programs, the goal was to engage and promote candidates at all levels of a career in professional sports – from the entry level, to the mid-tier and eventually to the executive level.
"It's really touching every stage of the talent life cycle," said Stuart, "From those entry level positions, where people are starting their careers all the way up through and including more senior talent that's had experiences elsewhere, and can bring those skills into our business and into our league."
The Executive Highlighting Initiative began in August 2020 when the NBA published the first bi-monthly executive talent newsletter. Each newsletter features around five external executives that have expressed interest in working with the NBA across business disciplines, including revenue, marketing, digital, strategy and analytics, and more.
In addition to highlighting their career accomplishments and skills, the newsletter also contains contact information for each executive and teams are encouraged to engage these executives for possibly employment and networking opportunities. And the calls have happened as approximately two-thirds of the candidates highlighted so far have interviewed either with the league office or with teams since the initiative launched.
In his July 2020 report, Richard Lapchick, the Director of TIDES, stated, "The NBA has found a way to continue to lead the way when it comes to diverse and inclusive hiring amongst men's professional sports leagues."
With the launch of the Future Stars Sales Program, NBA Mentoring Program and Executive Highlighting Initiative, the NBA has expanded on those ways in 2021 and beyond.
"The good news is that there is already evidence, even in a challenging hiring environment, that these programs are delivering value and that teams are identifying talent and they're excited about bringing them into the organization" said Stuart. "So, our expectations were lofty, but they're being exceeded."
Want to join the engineering teams at Workiva? Learn more about them!
💎Want to know what engineering teams are like at Workiva? Watch the video to the end to find out!
📼 Engineering teams at Workiva are constantly hiring. Marie Yue, Senior Engineering Manager at the company, tells you what they look for in a candidate and what the dynamics of teamwork are like.
📼 The typical path in the engineering teams at Workiva is that you grow into a senior, and then you move into a lead role. From there, there are a few different tracks that you can take depending on your interest. You can become a staff engineer, an architect, or even an engineering manager. What are you waiting for to apply?
📼In the engineering teams at Workiva every member should feel empowered to do their job effectively. For this, each has to understand how the work they do day to day solves customers’ problems. Managers will always seek to be aware of members’ career path aspirations so that they can look for opportunities and projects to help each person reach the next step in their career.
Engineering Teams At Workiva: A Safe Space
Marie Yue’s team is a safe space for people to make mistakes and ask for help, and each member feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. She wants to make sure that everyone is individually empowered to lead and make decisions. For this, the team has regular meetings where they do fun things like play virtual games or eat lunch together, and they also like to re-review and add to their team working agreement once a quarter.
🧑💼 Are you interested in joining Workiva? They have open positions! To learn more, click here.
Get to Know Marie Yue
If you are interested in a career at Workiva, you can connect with Marie Yue on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to mention this video!
More About Workiva
Workiva was founded to transform the way people manage and report business data with various collaborators, data sources, documents, and spreadsheets. Today, people all over the world use their platform to seamlessly orchestrate data among their systems and applications for transparent and trusted connected reporting and compliance. At Workiva, they are innovative in everything they do—from how they build their software, to how they serve their customers, to how they treat their employees.
Careers in Web Development: Which One's For You?
We all have our favorite websites– the ones we frequent, bookmark, and recommend to others. You might even enjoy some website features so much that you’ve found yourself wondering why they aren’t more popular. Or maybe you’ve experienced times where you were frustrated with a website and wished you could add features or even design your own!
If you’ve ever found yourself intrigued at the prospect of designing and developing your own websites, then a career as a web developer might be just for you!
As a web developer you would be responsible for coding, designing, optimizing, and maintaining websites. Today, there are over 1.7 billion websites in the world and, in turn, the demand for web developers is on the rise. In order to figure out what kind of web development work best suits you let’s start with an introduction to the three main roles in web development that you can choose from.
The Three Types of Web Development Jobs
Front-End Web Development: The Creative Side
Think of front-end development as the décor of a house. The color scheme, furniture, manicured lawns, and overall aesthetic. In terms of a website, front-end development is laser-focused on the appearance of a website and its presentation on different devices. If you’re considering a role in front-end development, it’s important to learn programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These three languages go hand-in-hand. HTML allows you to create user interface elements, CSS helps you with stylistic elements, and JavaScript allows you to incorporate online tools and connect your website to back-end functions.
In addition to programming skills, front-end developers need to be detail oriented, creative, willing to keep up with the latest trends in web development, cyber security conscious, and geared toward user-friendly designs. The median salary for a front-end developer can reach well into the $90,000 to $100,000 range.
Back-End Web Development: The Logical Counterpart
While a house can be beautifully decorated, it’s incomplete without a solid foundation and efficient infrastructure. Similarly, a well-designed website depends on logical and functional code to power the features of that website. Back-end web development is code-heavy and focused on the specifics of how a website works. If you enjoy the analytical challenge of creating the behind-the-scenes code that powers a website, then back-end development is for you.
Since this role is more code-heavy, it’s important that you learn numerous programming languages and understand algorithms and data structures. Some languages that are essential to back-end development are Ruby, Python, SQL, and JavaScript. Back-end developers also ensure that users can successfully retrieve and access data. This requires creating and using APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which act as messengers that relay data related requests. Additionally, developing the code for the inner workings of a website also requires back-end developers to be conscious of the user interface features designed by front-end developers and to internally mitigate potential security risks. Due to the increased technical aspect of this position, back-end developers normally earn higher salaries than front-end developers. The average median salary for this role is around $118,000 per year.
Full-Stack Web Development: A Little Bit of Everything
A full-stack developer is essentially the Jack (or Jill)-of-all-trades in web development. Full-stack developers need to be knowledgeable about both front-end and back-end roles. This does not necessarily imply that you would need to be an expert in both roles, but you should fully understand the different applications and synergies they each imply. In order to work in this position, you will need to know the programming languages used by front-end and back-end developers. In addition to these languages, full-stack developers also specialize in databases, storage, HTTP, REST, and web architecture.
Full-stack developers are often required to act as liaisons between front-end and back-end developers. Full-stack developers need to be both problem solvers and great communicators. The end goal for a full-stack developer is to ensure that the user’s experience is seamless, both on the front-end and on the back-end. In return, you can expect to earn a median salary of $100,000 – $115,000 a year for this role.
Taking the Next Step
Web development is both in-demand and lucrative! All three roles described above contribute to specific aspects of web development and the scope of each one can be customized to the industries and positions you feel best suit you. Regardless of which role you choose, all of them need a foundation in programming.
To gain the programming skills needed in each role, you can enroll in courses or learn independently. Coding bootcamps are a great way to boost your skillset quickly and efficiently.
Click here for some of our highly rated programming bootcamp options! Make sure to check out the discounts available to PowerToFly members.
Clyde’s Joseph Arquillo on the 6 Things Leaders Need to Do to Build Inclusive Spaces
Joseph Arquillo doesn’t work in Human Resources — he works in People Operations. And the distinction matters.
“It was named ‘human resources’ because it saw humans as resources, utilized for certain tasks or behaviors. But that’s not really what it’s about,” says Joseph, who is a Senior Manager of People Ops at Clyde.
“Calling it ‘people ops’ adds back what you lose with ‘HR.’ My philosophy is that I am there to support you. I am there to work with you, empower you, and enable you so you can be your best self.”
For Joseph, a key element of helping employees become their best selves is making sure that the workplace, whether in-person or virtual, is an inclusive space for all. That doesn’t happen by accident — it requires a dedicated DEIB strategy and leaders who are committed to asking hard questions of themselves and others.
We sat down with Joseph to hear more about his professional journey, and the practices of leaders who create environments where everyone feels included.
More Than Just a Number
As a college freshman, Joseph planned on sticking with liberal arts when it came to choosing a major. But then he took a class in Boston College’s School of Education, and loved its holistic approach to applied psychology.
This inspired him to switch his major to psychology and human development, and select minors in political science, and management and leadership, where he enjoyed learning about organizational psychology.
After graduation, he explored the consulting space to put theory into practice, but found out during an internship at a multinational consulting firm that finance or accounting weren’t the places he wanted to build his career.
“Since Big Four companies have 250,000 employees, you become just a number,” he says of the experience. “It wasn’t my cup of tea. Too corporatized.”
That kicked off Joseph’s interest in startups.
“It’s always fun to get in the weeds! One thing that’s very interesting to me is a challenge,” he says. “When you’re helping a company like Clyde grow and scale, joining when they’re at a Series B and helping them get to the next level, you really get to focus on the interaction between people, process, and product,” explains Joseph. “You need to hire the right people to work towards increasing efficiencies in all areas, but also make sure that we’re enabling them to create a strong product.”
6 Keys To Building Inclusive Spaces as a Leader
Across the different industries and companies that Joseph has worked in, he’s identified the behaviors that create truly inclusive environments — as well as those that discourage them.
Here’s what he’s seen:
- First, recognize your own privilege. “If you’re a man, you have privilege, even if you’re a gay male. If you are a white woman, you have racial privilege. It’s really important that you’re cognizant while you interact with somebody how they might interpret the interaction based on your identity.”
- Leaders should always speak last. This is important always, but especially in in-person spaces, where it might seem even more nerve-wracking to speak up in a crowd, says Joseph. “You want to make sure you’re creating that space for employees who aren’t as senior to feel comfortable voicing their thoughts.”
- And, leaders should use check-ins liberally. “You need to ask yourself how you’re supporting your employees. Are you checking in on them as people before you ask about certain tasks? You want to foster a workplace where employees from all walks of life can feel supported,” he says.
- DEIB isn’t just about adding new initiatives — sometimes it’s about removing barriers. “You need to remove unnecessary bias,” explains Joseph. “That can mean making sure you have appropriate policies and practices that don’t hinder people depending on who they are or where they live.”
- Maximizing participation requires planning with a diversity lens. Joseph has helped the Clyde team gather together and bond as a group. Along the way, he’s been careful to consider physical and psychological safety for everyone involved. “For instance, if you’re doing an event, do you have someone who’s not drinking? Have you set up the environment for people who might have a physical disability, or carefully planned the flow of activities for people who might be neurodivergent?”
- Saying you want to be better isn’t enough — articulate actions you will take. “Pride is a great example,” explains Joseph. “Yes, June is a time to celebrate. But it’s also a time to march. And beyond that, how do you show up and celebrate with the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the year?”
Embracing the Unknown
If you visit Joseph’s LinkedIn profile, you’ll see his personal motto: “Without challenge, change, and a bunch of unknowns, it’s no fun.”
That belief has led him to study what he’s passionate about, to take on new and exciting roles at growing startups, and now, at Clyde, to help formalize what world-class people operations looks like at a fast-growing company.
“I view myself as a connector that really empowers people, challenges teams, and helps drive us towards what I consider to be an improved future,” he says. “I feel like it’s my responsibility to be the chief advocate for each of our employees, and remove any barriers in the way of their growth.”
Want to learn more about what opportunities Clyde offers? Check out their open roles!
Navigating Mid-Career Pivots and Finding a Company Where You Can Show Up Authentically
Insight from SoftwareONE’s Jeff Cannon and Chris Lecosia
SoftwareONE’s Jeff Cannon Business Development Executive US) and Christopher Lecosia (Senior Consultant) share a similar adventurous and brave spirit, which has led to a long trajectory of creative experiences for both of them. From taking care of two new puppies to backpacking across Europe — neither of them back down from a challenge.
As members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Jeff and Chris spent a large portion of their careers fighting for inclusive workplaces where they feel a sense of belonging, and opportunities to use their experiences to serve people, no matter what career stage they’re in. And they’ve both recently found that in the global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions SoftwareONE.
We sat down with Jeff and Chris to hear their stories on how they navigated mid and late career changes and their journey to finding a company where they felt valued. Keep reading to the end for four major tips on how to successfully pivot careers.
The Journey to SoftwareONE
Jeff Cannon was born in Tacoma, Washington, but considers both Texas and Georgeia his home. After graduating from college with a bachelor's degree in English and History, “I wanted to go to graduate school for history,” he explains. But upon arrival, he realized graduate school was not the right path for him, so he packed his backpack and set out for a trip through Europe instead.
This adventurous spirit led him back home to pursue exciting challenges, such as opening a hotel in Austin, working as a flight attendant in New York and Hawaii, and eventually pursuing a sales career at Dell. “I was an account executive for large university systems and large K-12 systems providing information technology to students to be able to further their education. It really fit in with my mantra around how important education is in society,” Jeff explains.”It's kind of my thing.” But after nearly 20 years at the company, he decided to look for new opportunities. “I was tired of doing the same thing all the time.” Enter SoftwareONE.
“This was an opportunity to do something completely different and take the information that I learned and use it to help build a practice that can accomplish some of the same things,” Jeff explains. He joined the company as a Business Development Executive Executive where he works to build the company’s education practice within the public sector in the United States.
SoftwareONE is a company where Jeff can thrive professionally and personally. He specifically cites the company to be people-first, which his coworker Christopher Lecosia agrees with. “SoftwareONE is a place where you can thrive as an employee, and where your creativity can flourish,” says Chris.
SoftwareONE is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, with headquarters in Switzerland. The company itself prioritizes people as their “greatest asset” and advocates for life-work harmony. Their company’s core values are Employee Satisfaction, Customer Focused, Speed, Passionate, Integrity, Humble and Discipline, to name a few, and they ensure that they have “a welcoming – and constantly evolving – work environment for all”, no matter the racial, ethnic, religious, sexual or other preferences.
Christopher works as Senior Consultant for SoftwareONE. He entered the field of IT in 1974. “Back then it was called data processing,” he jokes. “But I kind of fell into IT consulting.” He enrolled in college as an accounting major, but quickly realized that was not the path for him. “I drove into the parking lot of this college for the first day and I got very scared,” explains Chris. “I turned around and went home and I found a job.” And he was able to pursue jobs that allowed him room to change and grow with the market. He began as a systems programer and, progressively, he scaled to managerial data processing roles at multiple software companies, including IBM. He played a key role in leading and growing software asset management programs, directing support for configuration and asset management, and serving as a senior project manager for multiple teams in his previous companies.
His successful 40+ year-long career led to the start of a well-deserved retirement. “I turned 65 last October, and I thought, ‘okay, I think I’ve had enough,’ and I decided to retire in full.” But his retirement was short-lived. “A few months before I retired, [my company] had put out an RFP to the street, which SoftwareONE responded to, and I'll never forget,” says Chris. “I was hearing them respond to me and I thought, ‘Wow, these people know what they're talking about. They're really sharp and I really believed in the value that they could bring.’” So when he was offered a position as a Senior Consultant, he didn’t think twice about coming out of retirement. “In November, a recruiter from SoftwareONE called, and I started in January of 2022.”
All-Around Authenticity
Changing jobs after working for a company long-term can be risky, especially later in your career. But both Jeff and Chris agree that the benefits of working at a company like SoftwareONE are well worth the risk. And for the first time, they’ve felt like they can show up as their full, authentic selves at work.
Jeff recalls past workplaces that, when push came to shove, “had an undercurrent of non-acceptance.” This undercurrent brought many challenges, but he credits them for his confidence today. “I have no issues whatsoever showing up originally as myself. And at SoftwareONE, everybody's been really lovely.” Even remotely, he finds ways to connect with his coworkers, and he feels like he can do so authentically.
Chris reiterates this in his own trajectory at SoftwareONE. “When I started, my Regional VP asked me for a bio. In my bio, I talked about my husband and my two dogs and how long we've been together. That got sent out to everybody in the organization. So when I onboarded, everybody already knew,” he explains. “It was the first time in 65 years that, right from the get go, there was no pretense at all as to being something different than I am. And that's how I came out at SoftwareONE. It was good to do that. I feel truly authentic.”
Advice for Mid-Career Pivoters
Both Jeff and Chris have successfully pivoted roles and companies later in their careers. They offer four tips to consider before making the jump to a new role or joining a new company.
1. Find a place that values service to the client. “Have the mindset of service,” says Chris. “ I'm a service oriented person and part of being of service is to share my experience, strengths, and hope with other people. Whether that's on a, social, spiritual, mental level, or on a professional technical level, this helps bring growth to you, and to the company you’ll work for.” Jeff shares that, “with this mindset, we see the challenges that customers face, so we're able to better articulate to customers what our value proposition is. We can help clients achieve their goals, and everything comes a lot more easily and naturally.”
2. Believe in what you have to offer. Chris and Jeff share that aligning with the company’s mission is another key aspect to consider before changing companies. “I never thought that anybody would want to hire me at 65 years old,” Chris shares. “I had been in my former job where I saw many opportunities that I thought I was perfect for, in terms of advancement, but I wasn't given those opportunities because of my age. I started to feel dried up a little bit. When I got the offer at SoftwareONE, I felt I really wanted to come back, be of service, keep my brain sharp, and do something. I do believe I have something to offer to many clients, as well as colleagues. And that's what made me make the move.”
3. Think of the experiences you bring to the table. Jeff shares how he transferred his knowledge to his new role. “I was able to take everything that I had learned about building an organization and bring it over to a company that needed that expertise specific to the United States. Being able to have the opportunity to do some of that background work and build on alliances has been, and continues to be, a great opportunity.”
4. Find a workplace that prioritizes diversity. “Each one of us brings a certain set of characteristics with us that sit well with our clients,” explains Chris. “The diversity we bring to the company — whether it be age, gender, color, educational background, intellectual capacity — all of that color makes us more relatable to our clients and our customers.” This leads to the company’s overall success.
SoftwareONE is constantly looking for dynamic employees like Chris and Jeff. Check out their company page to find out more about their roles!