Source: and iStockphoto ... › assets › 2018_CALIBR... · University, the “design thinking”...

Traci M. DunnN.A. Inclusion & Diversity Lead Accenture

Hy PomeranceChief Human Resources Officer New York Life

Dmitri StocktonPresident and CEOGE Asset Management

Dan HeathKeynote Speaker and Best Selling Author

Bernard TysonChief Executive OfficerKaiser Permanente

Judge Glenda Hatchett Television Personality and Former Juvenile Court Judge

WWW.MYCALIBR.COMFALL 2013 ISSUE

Conference EditionSummer Meeting Edition

Summer 2018

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

WHY LEAN IS NOT JUST FOR STARTUPS . . . . . . . . . . . 4

UNLOCKING THE POWER OF DIGITAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

USING DESIGN THINKING TO LEAD THE LAW FIRM OF THE FUTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

NEW MEMBER SNAPSHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

READING TO LEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Leading Design ThinkingSource: https://dschool.stanford.edu/ and iStockphoto

2 THE GENERATOR www.mycalibr.com Summer 2018, Issue 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message From The President ............................................................................. 3

Why LEAN is Not Just for Startups ..................................................................... 4

INDUSTRY X.0: Combine And Conquer: Unlocking the Power of Digital ......... 7

Using Design Thinking to Lead the Law Firm of the Future .............................. 9

New Member Snapshot ................................................................................... 13

Reading To Lead: Grow Your Leadership Skills By Making Time to Read ..... 15

CALIBR Profile: Dennis Deonarine ................................................................... 19

CALIBR Profile: Viveca Fairbanks-Henderson .................................................. 20

Members on the Move ...................................................................................... 22

SUMMER 2018 EDITION

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PARTNER AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEEURBANOMICS CONSULTING GROUP

DAVID GREENEChief Program Officer

ERIC WINGOProgram Manager

OFFICERSPRESIDENT Monique Jef fersonHead of HR Business Ser v ices - Americas and Global IT HR Business Par tnerHogan Lovel ls

VICE PRESIDENTTim Foy Chief Strategy Of f icerNEXTGAMETIME Spor ts Market ing

TREASURERGresford GrayDirector of F inanceACA Compl iance Group

SECRETARYFRANKLIN REYNOLDSGlobal Relat ioship ManagerGENPACT

BOARD OF DIRECTORSMONIQUE JEFFERSONHead of HR Business Services - Americas and Global IT HR Business PartnerHogan Lovells

DELE OLADAPOVice President, Information SystemsPrudential Financial

MICHELLE GREENEVice PresidentInformation SystemsMasco Corporation

MARIO LEWISSenior Bank ExaminerFederal Reserve Bank of New York

ORAL MUIRVice President, Global Distribution & Cross-Channel StrategyMarriott International

LATOYA LANGState Legislative DirectorThe Marketing Research Association (MRA)

PRINTING AND DESIGNDAS GRAPHICS AND PRINTING, INC.

About CALIBRCALIBR is a leadership development association dedicated to accelerating senior leadership readiness for mid-to senior level managers and executives of African descent. CALIBR provides leadership development training, mentoring, and specialized networking opportunities in order to give all network members access to the best practices that drive business success. Our rapidly growing membership is committed to the values of Character, Agility, Leadership, Integrity, Breadth and Reputation in both their business and professional lives.

For more information, visit www.mycalibr.com

Summer 2018, Issue 3 www.mycalibr.com THE GENERATOR 3

Dear CALIBR Members and Sponsors,

As we prepare for four days of relationship-building activities in Seattle, Washington, I want to welcome our twenty-six new members and our newest sponsor, Microsoft, to the CALIBR family. To our longstanding members and sponsors, thank you for your unwavering support of our mission and for entrusting CALIBR as your leadership development partner. CALIBR’s commitment to accelerating the careers of mid to senior level managers isn’t possible without you, and we look forward to your participation in the 2018 Summer Leadership Development Meeting as well as future events and activities.

I’m very excited about this year’s theme Leading Design Thinking because of how important the strategy is in today’s ever-changing

business climate. The best leaders, regardless of their profession or industry, are agile thinkers. They identify solutions to complex business problems. And they ignite their teams to ‘take action even when the challenge is difficult and the path is unclear.’

CALIBR’s 2018 curriculum includes frameworks designed to teach you how to use design thinking techniques to strengthen your leadership acumen in these areas. It will also improve your ability to develop innovative products and services to meet your core customers’ needs and position your company as a disruptor in its industry.

As President of CALIBR Global Leadership Network, I, too, am refreshing my knowledge of design-thinking techniques to ensure I understand our organization’s value to you as members and sponsors. And I am hopeful that by year’s end, the relationships we continue to develop and the knowledge we share with one another will not only help us improve as leaders, but also position CALIBR for sustainable growth in the future.

Sincerely,

Monique JeffersonPresidentCALIBR Global Leadership Network

Message From The President

T he world seems to have suddenly stumbled into the nirvana of a new approach to problem-solving. Some call it human-centered design or design thinking, others

say lean or lean startup, and you may even hear reference to agile or scrum. Whatever the name, the core message is the same: stop trying to build an idea (a business plan, product, marketing message) to perfection. Instead, conduct small experiments with your stakeholders to learn and improve.

Several leading companies have formally adopted this agile-design approach. If your company has not yet, it probably will soon. But there are several broadly held misconceptions that

risk limiting you and your company’s ability to extract its true value. Chief among those are the assumptions that this is a new approach (its roots actually are decades deep) and that it spawns from product and technology innovation.

My interviews with more than 150 corporate innovators show that regardless of your role or tenure, even if you’re positioned far from R&D or marketing, understanding how to attack problems by following an agile design approach will prove a powerful addition to your toolkit. We can think of it as a confluence of three ideas: cycles of adaptation, human-centered design, and agile development.

4 THE GENERATOR www.mycalibr.com Spring 2018, Issue 3

Why LEAN is Not Just for Startups by Kaihan Krippendorff, Author, Outthink the Competition: How a New Generation of Strategists See Options Others Ignore

Cycles of adaptation (instead of linear progressions)

In the mid-1970s, a fighter pilot named John Boyd proposed a radical new approach to warfare. Instead of viewing battles as linear progressions, he sug-gested we should view them as com-posed of loops in which each opponent cycles through four phases: observing the environment, orienting themselves to what is happening, deciding what to do, acting, and then repeating the process by observing the results their new decision produces. This “OODA Loop” has proven highly influential, shaping military strategy and, to a lesser extent, business strategy. I dug fairly deeply into the OODA Loop’s application to business strategy in my book The Way of Innovation.

Soon after the OODA Loop’s introduction, in the early 1980s, Toyota began embrac-ing a new approach to manufacturing that was soon adopted by the rest of the world in the form of “kanban,” a method for managing the supply chain to achieve what became known as “Just in Time” manufacturing. By the late 1980s, manu-facturers around the world were embrac-ing a philosophy of continual improve-ment inspired by the kanban approach. Later called “total quality management,” this philosophy would become most closely associated with the term “lean” or “lean manufacturing.”

The OODA Loop inspired the “lean startup” movement. Steve Blank, an entrepreneur, author, and Stanford lecturer known as the founder of the “lean startup” approach, popularized by one of his students, Eric Ries, through his The Lean Startup book series, points to the OODA Loop as the inspiration for the “lean startup” philosophy: “While the Customer Development model with its iterative loops/pivots may sound like a new idea for entrepreneurs, it shares many features with a U.S. war-fighting strategy known as the ‘OODA Loop’”

The OODA Loop also gave birth to “scrum,” an approach to software development co-created by prolific innovator Jeff Sutherland. This way of breaking down complex work plans into short, frantic sprints has become the standard for software development. It is also finding its way into a variety of other fields from strategy to scientific research.

Jeff learned the OODA Loop while serving in the military and credits it as one of the foundational underpinnings of scrum. He says, “Scrum is not an ideology. Scrum comes from fighter aviation and hardware manufacturing.”

It has also influenced how companies do strategic planning. The term “discovery-driven planning,” for example, introduced by Ian MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath in the 2000s, suggests

companies track leading indicators for their strategic ideas so that they can learn whether the strategies are working and then adapt. Instead of building a new business, for example, you identify the key uncertainties, launch a small initiative to track those uncertainties, then invest more if the uncertainties point to your idea being a good one.

Human-centered design (instead of technology-centered)

In the late 1970s, a new idea was sur-facing in the areas of urban planning and architecture. Designers began embracing an idea that had been proposed a decade earlier called “satisficing” (see Herbert A. Simon’s The Sciences of the Artificial), the idea that rather than analyzing data and making the right decision, one might view decision-making as exploring avail-able alternatives until an acceptable threshold is reached. Instead of looking for an optimal solution, you are continu-ally looking for a good-enough decision.

This concept may not seem earth-shattering on its surface, but ask yourself if the business models you have learned through books or in school attempt to lead you to the optimal solution or a good-enough one. This concept is credited with really propelling design into what we now call “design thinking.” Through the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to a great extent to a series of design thinkers in Stanford


University, the “design thinking” concept matured and was made popular by David Kelley, the founder of IDEO.

A core idea of design thinking contrib-uting to what we now call lean/agile/prototyping is that this search of a good-enough answer must involve the user. As you design a product, knowing if it’s meet-ing threshold performance requires that you observe how users react to it.

Agile development (instead of “waterfalls”)

In the mid to late 1990s, software programmers began realizing the value of abandoning the old “waterfall” approach (in which you program in a sequence of work streams, one leading to the other) and instead using a more agile approach. The idea of “design patterns,” introduced in 1994, perhaps began a movement which was spurred forward by the concept of “extreme programming,” introduced by Kent Beck in 1999, which led to the name “scrum” in the early 2000s.

Software developers took the cyclical, continual improvement approach of “lean,” combined with the human- centeredness of design, and culti-vated a large community of followers, conferences, and carefully structured methodologies.

Arguably the most influential methodol-ogy developed by software developers was the “Spiral Model,” proposed and made popular by Barry W. Boehm in the 2000s. This model suggested that you should follow cycles of development, spi-raling outward, each composed of four steps: determining the conditions of suc-cess of the success-critical stakeholders for the software; identifying and evaluat-ing alternative approaches for satisfying those conditions; developing and verify-ing the next level of development; then gaining approval from success-critical stakeholders to continue to the next stage of development.

Pulling it all together

If we pull these three concepts together – cycles of adaptation + human-centered design + exploration – we see the key

foundational elements of an approach to problem solving that is now changing how we advance areas ranging from technology and science to society and governance and, of course, to business.

Until now, these concepts have existed as separate ideas belonging to different, mostly unrelated, domains (urban planning, warfare, software development, etc.). The idea that such approaches are appropriate only for certain types of applications has contributed to the myth that agile approaches cannot work, that they are contradictory to the fundamental orientation of large organizations.

But more forward-looking thinkers recognize this agile philosophy is far more versatile and applicable. And forward-looking, large companies are figuring out ways to embrace it.

• GE, for example, has worked with Eric Ries to formalize a “lean startup” approach that works within the context of a $150 billion business. Called “FastWorks,” the methodology shows managers how to conduct structured experiments with clients composed of four steps: define a problem with your customer, identify leaps of faith (or assumptions), build minimum viable products (MVPs) to test the assumptions, and identify and track learning metrics. They then pivot or persevere based on the outcome.

• Intuit, a $4 billion technology firm, has embraced its own version of lean, converting a fairly complex design process into three steps and principles it calls the “Design for Delight” (or D4D) model: (1) know your customer, (2) go broad to go narrow, and (3) iterate with customers, frequently. According to Intuit, this lean approach has already lead to several valuable innovations, including an app that enables customers to file their taxes in less than 10 minutes, using only their smartphones, by taking a picture of their employer’s tax form.

• ING, the Dutch financial conglomerate, has experienced success reconfiguring large swaths of its organization into nine-person teams called “squads.” Groups of squads are part of larger teams called

“tribes.” This allows them to iterate more rapidly to adopt an agile, design-driven approach.

• When the US government built its healthcare.gov website, it did so follow-ing a lean approach. Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer of the United States at the time, met with Eric Ries to understand what a lean approach would look like. The government launched the first version of health-care.gov, with minimal functionality, in just 90 days and at a fraction of what the government typically spends on such efforts.

Conclusion: Making agile design work for you

An agile design approach is not a purely novel concept. It has roots decades long. It is not just for products or technology but applicable to any organizational or strategic effort, and, most importantly, it is not just for technology or startups.

To apply it to whatever challenge you are facing today, consider going back to its roots, the OODA loop, and take four steps:

1. Observe: Gather data and insights related to the problem. Pull insights that may seem tangential or even unrelated to the problem. I like to pack a folder with whatever documents and data I can find and then create a list of the “Top 10” insights we can draw.

2. Orient: Review that “Top 10” list and look for unexpected connections (i.e., what is really going on?). Think about the core user or customer at the center of the problem and ask, what problems are they having?

3. Decide: Think of some potential solutions, then pick one you want to test.

4. Act: Build a low-cost experiment – maybe a mock-up of an interface or brochure – and put it in front of users to see how they react.

5. Observe and repeat: Observe how people react and then loop the process again, orienting yourself to what is happening, making new decisions (either advancing your idea or abandoning it for a new idea), then acting again with another experiment.

Spring 2018, Issue 3 www.mycalibr.com THE GENERATOR 7

INDUSTRY X.0COMBINE AND CONQUER: Unlocking the Power of Digital

Dave Abood, Aidan Quilligan and Raghav Narsalay

Most, however, are not leveraging these technologies effectively enough to enhance the efficiency of their core businesses while simultaneously growing new ones: what we call “leading in the new”.

Our recent research—an extensive sample survey, combined with econometric modeling —reveals that only 13% are getting both cost saving efficiencies and business growth from their digital investments.

Why are so many companies failing to optimize their digital investments?

Because most are still deploying digital technologies piecemeal. If, instead, companies were to take a combinatorial approach, our research shows they could drive both significant additional savings per employee and higher market capitalization.

It’s All in the CombinationCombining digital technologies isn’t just a simple game of mix-and-match.

The right technology combinations will vary across industries, and will change over time as technologies evolve. What’s more, the mix required to lower costs differs from the mix best suited to driving top-line growth.

Our cross-industry research shows, for example, that by combining five digital technologies in particular—autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, big data, machine learning, and mobile computing—companies could achieve additional average savings of more than $85,000 USD per employee. A slightly different mix—autonomous robots, mobile computing, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, and machine learning—could result in additional average market capitalization of just over $6 billion USD (these gains vary across the eight industries we surveyed).

The Industry X.0 AdvantageTo create value with digital, companies must completely reinvent their operating models, production and value chains, becoming what we call Industry X.0 businesses.

Industry X.0 businesses embrace constant technological change and profit from it. They successfully combine digital technologies to drive both top-line and bottom-line growth.

Smart, Connected, Living, LearningIndustry X.0 businesses not only leverage digital to drive continuous core operational efficiencies, they also leverage combinations of advanced digital technologies to create new, hyper-personalized customer experiences.

They achieve this by being:• Smart: Every product and production process

is self-monitoring, data-generating, and aware of its ever-evolving business context.

• Connected: Communications are end-to-end and multi-directional, while data-sharing among people, products, systems, assets and machines happens in real time.

• Living: There is an enterprise-wide cultural capability to act with speed, focus, and agility, to meet needs and seize opportunities.

• Learning: Adaptive interactions help create increasingly relevant and valuable user experiences over time.

Our research shows that Industry X.0 business-es address six digital imperatives to become smart, connected, living, and learning.

1. Transform the coreIndustry X.0 companies build their core engineering and production systems around digital to drive new levels of efficiency. They ensure that physical machines and software systems are synchronized to unlock previously unseen cost efficiencies—thus driving up investment capacity. Consider, for example, how Caterpillar has boosted equipment uptime and almost halved fuel costs for itself and its clients by making smart use of the data generated from connected machines.

2. Focus on experiences and outcomesIndustry X.0 companies use their investment capacity to drive new, hyper-personalized experience for customers, via multiple “smart touchpoints.” This helps grow core businesses by enhancing customer engagement. Consider, for example, how Huawei has leveraged an automated network traffic control system to cut the time it takes to meet key performance indicators from 5 hours to just 6 minutes.

3. Innovate new business modelsIndustry X.0 companies ideate and create new business models to drive differentiated value for their clients and new revenue streams for themselves. Consider, for example, how Hita-chi’s open platform model has helped partner companies in a range of industries boost key efficiencies while significantly improving its own market capitalization.

4. Build a digital-ready workforceIndustry X.0 companies source, train, and retain talent with digital-ready skills and encourage active collaboration between people and machines. Consider, for example, how wearable technologies have helped Airbus’ workforce reduce the error rate when designing aircraft-cabin seating to zero and improved its productivity by 500%.

5. Re-architect new ecosystemsIndustry X.0 companies create a robust ecosystem of suppliers, distributors, start-ups, and customers that allows them to rapidly scale new business models across the digital value chain. Consider, for example, how Siemens’ open, cloud-based operating system connects leading start-ups with established players and infrastructure providers to drive innovation.

6. Pivot wiselyIndustry X.0 companies continually balance investment and resource allocation between the core business and the new business to synchronize innovation and growth. Consider, for example, how Google’s parent Alphabet continues to invest in promising early-stage businesses while sustaining the success of its best-selling solutions.

About the ResearchIn spring 2017, Accenture surveyed 931 senior executives from large companies across 12 industries and 21 leading industrial countries. Accenture’s goal was to understand how companies deploy digital technologies and the benefits they derive from them. We identified a set of 10 critical technologies and used both survey data and company financial data to perform an Economic Value Modelling (EVM) exercise designed to identify the technological combinations with the biggest impact on top-line and bottom-line value release, as measured by market capitalization and cost-per-employee. We identified the optimum mix of technologies by combining results from machine learning and principal component analysis.

Many companies in multiple sectors, B2B, B2C and B2B2C, have been investing heavily in leading-edge digital technologies to drive growth.

ReferencesAll accessed on July 21, 2017 1. CAT Connect: Combining equipment, technology and services

to help build your success, Caterpillar. 2. Boost productivity through technology integration, Caterpillar. 3. Tackle your everyday challenges with technology, Caterpillar. 4. Increase efficiency: Cat connect technology and services are

helping our customers save time, fuel and money, Caterpillar. 5. Huawei Announces Network Mind Research Results Aimed at

Achieving Network Control Automation, Huawei (October 27, 2016).

6. Hitachi Unveils Lumada Internet of Things Core Platform, Hitachi (May 10, 2016).

7. Lumada Enables the World of Energy IoT to Leap Forward with Greater Intelligence, Hitachi.

8. Lumada Equips Manufacturers for the Future with Predictive Quality Capability, Hitachi.

9. 2018 Mid-term Management Plans: Progress and Prospects, Hitachi (Page 9).

10. Airbus soars with wearables, Accenture Consulting. 11. Mindsphere in Action - Our Open IoT Operating System,”

Siemens (March 27, 2017). 12. Coresystems: Innovation Powered by Mindsphere, Siemens,

June 2, 2017. 13. MindSphere with New Partners, New Applications and

Extended Connectivity, Siemens (April 21, 2017).

8 THE GENERATOR www.mycalibr.com Summer 2018, Issue 3www.hoganlovells.com © Hogan Lovells 2018. All rights reserved.

Hogan Lovells is proud to support CALIBR.


Before I joined the world of law, I spent my time traveling to the corners of the U.S. and to far off lands to install software and hardware systems. Back then, enterprise

systems required a room full of computers and were extremely expensive. Technology was exclusive and not available to the masses. Today, that same amount of processing power can fit in the palm of your hand. Along the way, many companies with great ideas (and great products) have come and gone. And those that focused on not just the purpose and function of their product but also on the user’s experience – being customer-centric rather than product-centric – have fared best.

Traditional engineering, or R&D, “innovated” by examining existing products and making incremental changes or improvements. Rarely in this process did they consult the customer or end-user. When questioning a new function in the latest release of a company’s software, I would ask, “Why was this function added?” The common response was, “Because we could.” I was puzzled, why would we add a feature (and more complexity) to our product that was not the result of a customer request or expressed need? Solutions were pushed to the customer without considerations of the customer’s experience. Only when the developer could tell me how it was going to improve the life of the end user, did the feature make sense.

When I finished law school and joined the world of Big Law, I experienced a similar approach to management and leadership. Rather than being open to ideas, the firm’s managing partner or chairman often possessed a “top-down” style and would dictate mandates from above that he or she expected to be implemented without question.

This form of “closed” leadership may have worked well in the past, but it is poorly suited for today’s innovation-driven market where employees have become accustomed to having a say in business decisions and “crowd-sourcing” of ideas has become the norm.

In design thinking led organizations, rather than simply considering the obvious options, leaders give their teams permission to explore ideas that break with tradition; they foster conditions in which creativity can thrive; and they

engage in the act of innovation without dominating it. (Brown, 2016). A design mindset is not problem focused, it is solution focused and action oriented toward creating a preferred future. (Naiman, n.d.). Just as good design and innovation require that you involve the end user in the process, so does good leadership and management. Leaders must include clients and employees in the process; getting feedback along the way and adapting business decisions as necessary. It is well established that organizational changes are most readily accepted when those who are most impacted by these changes are included in the decision-making process. (Wittig, 2012, p.24). Furthermore, design thinking “helps create a workplace where people want to be, one that responds quickly to changing business dynamics and empowers individual contributors.” (Kolko, 2015).

While it may seem antithetical to the common portrayal of lawyers as conservative thinkers who are slow to embrace change, lawyers are well equipped to apply a design thinking approach to the leadership of their organizations. In fact, most lawyers already practice design thinking when solving their client’s problems. Perhaps they’re not quite as dramatic as in TV courtroom dramas, but if you’ve ever witnessed a civil or criminal trial, you know that the lawyer must not only rely on their analytical skills to digest facts, but they must also employ their creative and empathetic skills to tell a story that will simplify those facts and resonate with the jury. That is design thinking at its core: empathy. In order to propose the best solution, you must understand the needs and desires of your audience.

A design thinking approach to leadership encourages gathering data and insights into how employees, behave, think, and feel as the basis for management decisions. It requires that the leader have a willingness to listen to others and encourage everyone to contribute. (Prud’homme, 2017, p. 68). The leader’s role is to focus the team or group to reach a solution. As many of us have experienced, some of the best problem solving strategies take advantage of multiple and diverse perspectives. A design thinking leader encourages this collaborative approach. (Prud’homme, 2017, p.67).

By Leslie F. Brown

(Hint: the future is now)

Using DESIGN THINKING to Lead the Law Firm of the Future


Using DESIGN THINKING to Lead the Law Firm of the Future (continued)

Hogan Lovells’ Chief Executive Officer, Steve Immelt, is an excellent example of someone who takes a design thinking approach. In 2015, Mr. Immelt introduced a major global initiative known as “Project Redefine,” which sought to improve the way the firm operated for the benefit of its clients in a rapidly changing legal marketplace. Rather than gathering a group of senior partners in a room and talking amongst themselves, he acknowledged the need to understand business drivers, as well as the feelings of clients and employees, and initiated an extensive series of interviews and listening sessions with clients and industry observers. Employees at all levels also were strongly encouraged to participate and submit their ideas on how the firm could better serve its clients. This open attitude and willingness to consider ideas from beyond the boardroom resulted in a series of innovations and management changes at the firm. Some changes were for the clients’ benefit, and many others were for the benefit of attorneys and staff members at the firm.

Based on client input, improvements included the introduction of a new industry sector program for delivering services across practice areas and the launch of a new consulting business that combines legal and technical advice. Employees also enjoyed the effects of Project Redefine. The firm launched new programs for developing professional and leadership skills, increased the number of opportunities to engage with staff in other departments and offices, and made enhancements to its agile working program.

The ‘listening’ aspect of Project Redefine is a good example of what Peter Prud’homme van Reine calls ‘absorptive capacity’: the ability to identify, assimilate, and exploit knowledge from the environment. (Prud’homme, 2017, p. 65). Not only does it lead to better solutions for clients; it also strengthens the client relationship by focusing on efforts that will be most meaningful to the success of their business.

The firm continues to encourage employees to actively engage in the management and success of the firm through its Masters of Innovation competition that invites lawyers and business staff to submit new ways to “solve client problems, develop better ways of working, or challenge the status quo.”

A design thinking style of management and leadership is sure to take lawyers, who are accustomed to being the

expert in the room, out of their comfort zone. But it is well worth the effort. Organizations must be agile and prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing business world. Design thinking is not only a way to be a strong leader for your organization. It is also a way to continuously improve and make your organization “future proof.” (Prud’homme, 2017, p. 67). Russ Starke, the CEO of Think Company, put it so well, “at the heart of all great leadership is empathy, respect, and the desire to move something toward its ideal state.” (Starke, 2017).

Tomorrow’s leaders will do well to use the creative, problem-solving power of the community to make decisions that will allow their businesses and organizations to adapt. A forward looking, design thinking approach to leadership is key to embracing the future and empowering teams to excel.

Leslie Brown is Head of Legal Project Management – Americas at Hogan Lovells

Citations:Brown, T. (2008), Design Thinking, Harvard Business Review, June 2008. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2008/06/design-thinking.

Brown, T. (2016), Leaders Can Turn Creativity into a Competitive Advantage, Harvard Business Review, November 2, 2016. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/11/leaders-can-turn-creativity-into-a-competitive-advantage.

Kolko, J. (2015), Design Thinking Comes of Age, Harvard Business Review, 14 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/09/design-thinking-comes-of-age.

Naiman, L. (N.D.), Design Thinking as a Strategy for Innovation, Creativity at Work. Retrieved from https://www.creativityatwork.com/design-thinking-strategy-for-innovation/.

Prud’homme van Reine, P. (2017), The Culture of Design Thinking for Innovation, Journal of Innovation Management, JIM 5, Retrieved from https://journals.fe.up.pt/index.php/IJMAI/article/download/361/260.

Starke, R. (2017), How Design Thinking Can Make You a Better Leader. Retrieved from https://www.thinkcompany.com/2017/06/how-design-thinking-can-make-you-a-better-leader/.

Wittig, C. (2012), Employees’ Reactions to Organizational Change, OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 44, No. 2. Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.odnetwork.org/resource/resmgr/odp/odp-v44,no2-

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2018 CALIBR Professional Class Members

New Member Snapshot26 New Members | 13 Companies

Aiyshen Padilla Vice President, Strategic

Communications & External Relations

AARP

Allan JohnsonIT Manager

Hogan Lovells

Bethany OtuteyeDirector of Strategy

ConsultingBlue Cross Blue Shield

Christian DuncanSenior Managerr

Accenture

Crystal BarneySenior Associate

Booz Allen Hamilton

Darrell CooperDirector of Practice Support

Hogan Lovells

Demond RichardsonSupplier Diversity Manager

Wells Fargo

Donald WellsGlobal Director of

Cybersecurity OperationsBooz Allen Hamilton

Drew WilliamsRegional IT Director

Hogan Lovells

Fletcher AmosPrincipal, Civil and Commercial Group

Booz Allen Hamilton

Gwen SalleySenior Vice President,

Business Initiatives Senior Manager

Wells Fargo

Jennika Gold ThomasVice President and Associate Director

FactSet

Katrice SimpsonRegional Vice President National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance

Corporation

Ken PowersGlobal Product Manager

Baxter Healthcare

Keyra Boise Lead Associate, Marketing

and Communications Booz Allen Hamilton

Kimberly AllmanDirector, Community

Development BankingCapital One

Lauren WatkinsLead Associate

Booz Allen Hamilton

Linda Hassan Americas Head, Diversity and

Inclusion Thomson Reuters

Philip RigueurVice President,

Transformative Markets Sales Effectivess and Distribution

AETNA

Rhonda BettisDirector, Branch and Café

Customer Experience Team Capital One

Shatica McDonaldSenior Manager

Accenture

Russell WilliamsSenior Associate

Accenture

Stacey Williams Tyson Senior Director, Community Reinvestment Act Strategy and Program Management

Capital One

Stacey-Ann WilliamsDirector, Anti-Money

Laundering Compliance Advisory

Capital One

Talib alSalaamLead Associate, Data Analytics

Booz Allen Hamilton

Tracey Mack-AskewManaging Director,

HD Vocational Platform Development

Daimler Trucks North America

Sponsored By

INDUSTRIES: Healthcare

Financial and Business Management Services

Law Defense

Information Technology Automotive

To serve our diverse consumers, we need a diverse workforce. Kellogg strives for a winning culture where all employees can bring their best to work to achieve our goal to enrich and delight the world through brands that matter.

Kellogg is a proud partner of CALIBR Global Leadership Network

STRENGTHENED BY DIVERSITY.ADVANCED BY INCLUSION.

Kellogg’s Careers Kellogg Company@KelloggsCareers

®,™,© 2017 Kellogg Co.Kellogg Company is an equal opportunity employer.

KELLOGGCAREERS.COM

Fall 2017, Issue 2 www.mycalibr.com THE GENERATOR 15

READING TO LEAD: Grow Your Leadership Skills by Making Time to Read

Our 33rd President was an avid reader, believing that readers of good books were preparing themselves for leadership. As senior leaders,

reading helps you maintain currency, fluency, and industry relevance, while expanding your perspective and sparking innovative approaches to business challenges. Although you may recognize that reading is important, you’re probably thinking – “What books should I read and where do I find the time?” If so, you are in the right place. This article provides recommendations for a few great leadership books, along with tips to help incorporate reading into your busy schedule.

The abundance of available reading materials can seem overwhelming. Each year, thousands of books on business, leadership, and innovation are published. A quick search for the term “leadership” in books on Amazon yields over 40,000 results, while the term

“innovation” yields over 30,000 results. Additionally, there are dozens of national publications and hundreds of articles dedicated to these topics. Every business school professor, celebrity executive, industry expert, and self-made millionaire has discovered the secret to leadership and is willing to share their advice. The sheer abundance of academic discourse, expert advice, and biographical stories about leadership can be an impediment to reading anything! So, how do busy senior leaders select books and make time to read?

In my case, I turn to mentors, colleagues, and friends for recommendations on insightful and impactful reading options. This month, I asked fellow CALIBR members for recommendations on books that have influenced their leadership journey. Two amazing leaders in my network, Dina Abercrombie and Ebony Thomas, generously shared their recommendations below:

By Nikki A. Rogers

Dina Abercrombie Senior Consultant, Ivy Planning Groupn Recommendation #1: Equality: Courageous Conversations About Women, Men, and Race to Spark a Diversity and Inclusion Breakthrough by Trudy Bourgeois • A “must read” because: The book provides tips on how

to have tough conversations and conveys the urgency for leaders to improve how they lead diverse groups of people.

n Recommendation #2: Change Your Questions, Change Your Life by Marilee Adams• A “must read” because: “Change Your Questions

helped me to ask the right questions to garner buy-in and use collaboration as a key method to solve problems.”

Ebony Thomas Senior Associate, Booz Allen Hamiltonn Recommendation #1: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson• A “must read” because: Through a counterintuitive

approach to living a good life, the book shows how to think differently and more optimistically.

n Recommendation #2: It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by Colin Powell• A “must read” because: General Powell reveals

the principles that have shaped his life and career, providing a great book on leadership and advice for influencing teams.

continued

“ Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.” – Harry S. Truman


My reading selections over the last six months have centered on conquering fear and embracing uncertainty, as I prepared to transition to entrepreneurship after more than a decade with the same company. The books I recommend below provided powerful reminders of the inherent greatness we all possess.

n Recommendation #1: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero• A “must-read” because: This book compels you to move

beyond your doubts and fears to achieve greatness. If you want to increase your wealth, chapter 24 will revolutionize your relationship with money. Thus far, I have gifted this book at least 5 times!

n Recommendation #2: The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton • A “must-read” because: The book is subtitled -

How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret - and it delivers on that premise. Through powerful examples, the author demonstrates how “stupid is the new smart” that leads to triumph over obstacles and innovation, even when others doubt you.

Like healthy food and exercise, regular reading will increase your mental energy and can elevate your leadership game. Here are a few tips to easily incorporate reading as a consistent practice within your schedule:

n Ask for recommendations – A mentor or a friend can recommend relevant titles based on your interests and aspirations. Research what organizational leaders and industry experts are reading or writing and add those books to your reading list.

n Branch out – take a break from industry-specific books and read something that expands your horizons, elevates your perspective, and spurs innovative thinking.

n Leverage technology – e-books and audio books allow you to read on the go. Audio books are great for long commutes, waiting rooms, lunch breaks, workouts, etc. When you have time on your hands, use it to read or listen to a book, rather than scrolling through your phone.

n Schedule it – build time in your daily or weekly schedule to read, and then put it on your calendar. This underscores the importance of reading and serves as a tangible reminder to get your pages in!

n Take what works and leave the rest – a single book will not provide all the answers. Leverage the insights and lessons learned (from a variety of sources) that resonate and will contribute to your leadership journey.

n Share with colleagues – make recommendations and discuss your newly gained knowledge and perspectives with others. It enhances your reputation as a thought leader, innovative thinker, and life-long learner.

Happy reading!

Nikki A. Rogers is the CEO of The Bladen Group, a boutique consultancy focused on transformative business coaching and consulting for small businesses.

Share the books that have influenced your leadership journey with her via [email protected] or www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-rogers.

By Nikki A. Rogers

READING TO LEAD: Grow Your Leadership Skills by Making Time to Read

continued from page 15


BOOZALLEN.COMShamarah, Operations Consultant

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Member Profile

Member since 2017

EDUCATION:Bachelor of Business Administration, Management Information Systems and International Finance, University of Georgia

As a Commercial Lead at Accenture, Dennis Deonarine is responsible for reviewing and identifying the potential risks of outsourcing deals as they progress through the sales cycle, ensuring the pricing, solution, and contracting are aligned with both client and Accenture expectations. In his 17+ year career, he has developed an expertise in the following areas: 1) Outsourcing Implementation and Governance; 2) Contract Negotiations, Pricing and Deal Shaping; 3) Competitive Pricing Analysis and Alternative Pricing Models; 4) Internal Change Agent identifying and Sales Implementation; 5) Collaboration, Communication, Executive Leadership, Mentoring and Employee Development

Why did you join CALIBR?I joined CALIBR to be a part of a network of members who help each other grow, strive, achieve, and push each other out of their comfort zones. Doing so takes active, intentional involvement throughout the year. There is a saying that “iron sharpens iron, so one man/woman sharpens another.” This is true in CALIBR. So, I hoped to join a network that would allow me to sharpen my skills as a leader, while also giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of my peers. What is the most important benefit of your CALIBR membership?Fellowship. Even though I’ve only been involved with CALIBR for one year, I’ve developed deep, meaningful relationships that have already helped me grow as a leader. These relationships

allow me to seek guidance in a safe space and provides access to a strong network that I can continue to build outside of the bi-annual meetings. These relationships also allow me to vent or just catch-up on life. I enjoy the fact that members can relax at receptions and networking events as well as learn from each other in seminars and workshops. How has CALIBR helped you achieve your leadership development goals and objectives? CALIBR has given me the privilege of hearing from a variety of speakers who have presented on topics ranging from professional development to personal finance. I’ve learned how to become a stronger leader, both on and off the job, and I’ve gained practical knowledge that I can utilize on a day-to-day basis. Most importantly, I’ve become a more well-rounded leader, and I feel empowered to think beyond my title, expand my areas of expertise, and take calculated risks. What advice would you give to someone who is interested in CALIBR Membership?If you aspire to join a group that understands the challenges leaders face while striving for executive roles and maintaining work-life balance, CALIBR is the organization for you. Be mindful of your ability to contribute to the organization as much as you gain from it and remember: CALIBR is more than a network. It is a family.

DENNIS DEONARINEGlobal Operations Commercial Risk Management Lead Accenture


Member Profile

Viveca Fairbanks-Henderson joined Kellogg in 2012 and is currently accountable for developing the strategy, structure, and implementation plan to deliver Kellogg’s North America 2020 sustainability commitments for energy and water reductions across its 25 manufacturing facilities. In addition, she is accountable for the launch and governance of the Kellogg Start-up Management process across the North America Research & Development, Supply Chain and Engineering Organizations. This work process enables the company to predictably deliver business-critical projects that achieve success criteria and eliminate manufacturing losses. Viveca also leads key Diversity & Inclusion initiatives across the company as Co-Chair for the Kellogg African American Resource Group.

Why did you join CALIBR?I joined CALIBR to expand my network and increase my exposure to seasoned African American professionals across a variety of industries. I was seeking to further expand my professional skill set in the areas of innovation, culture change, and transformational leadership. In addition, I wanted an opportunity to commiserate with and learn from others in a safe, supportive environment. What is the most important benefit of your CALIBR membership? The most important benefit has been having the opportunity to learn from industry experts and fellow CALIBR members through a very intentional curriculum that builds upon itself year over year. Fresh, relevant programming has enabled me to increase both my impact and influence within my organization.

How has CALIBR, specifically the CALIBR8 Coaching Program, helped you achieve your leadership development goals and objectives? Participating in CALIBR8 Coaching Program has been an incredibly powerful experience. The CALIBR8 Leadership Circle 360 was unlike any of the other 360 tools that I previously used. The tool’s focus on the 29 different dimensions of leadership provided me with a new level of granularity on my leadership style, strengths and opportunities. While working with my coach, Dr. Jimmy Davis, we translated the insights into specific actions that would enable me to accelerate the achievement of my career aspirations. What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a CALIBR member?CALIBR provides a unique opportunity to collectively expand your professional network, gain exposure to best in class leadership development tools, engage with career coaches and learn from subject matter experts across a variety of fields. It is a “one stop shop” for career growth and development in a welcoming, inclusive environment.

VIVECA FAIRBANKS-HENDERSON

Member since 2014

EDUCATION:Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Purdue University

CERTIFICATIONS/AWARDS: The W. K. Kellogg Values Award - Kellogg’s highest honor, 2017Kellogg’s Global Emerging Leaders Program Participant, 2015

Senior Director, North America Energy Optimization and Start-up Management The Kellogg Company

The TNJ 40 Under 40 Winners

Nikki A. Rogers recently transitioned from Booz Allen Hamilton after 11 years as a change management consultant and project manager. Nikki is now the CEO of The Bladen Group, a boutique consulting firm focused

on partnering with organizational leaders to provide business coaching and consulting services that support long-term success.

Phil Rigeuer has been recognized as one of Savoy Magazine’s 2018 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America. Phil is currently Vice President and Head of Joint Venture Sales Effectiveness and Distribution for Aetna.

Dr. Velma Deleveaux was recently quoted in a Harvard Business Review article titled: “6 Things Successful Women in STEM Have in Common.” The article focuses on how female leaders have managed to build highly

successful careers and the six differentiators that all women in STEM could employ to achieve success. As a Director at Booz Allen Hamilton, she currently leads a science and engineering business. To read the article, please refer to the link below. https://hbr.org/2018/04/6-things-successful-women-in-stem-have-in-commons

Ebony Thomas and Franklin Reynolds were selected as honorees for The Network Journal’s (TNJ) 40 Under Forty Achievement Award. The award honors men and women whose professional achievements have significantly impacted an industry or profession, and who have also made an important contribution to their community.

As a current pioneer in telehealth consulting, Ebony is driving change management and innovation practices to prepare her clients for major technology transformations. She also serves her community by serving as a mentor and corporate advocate of

Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and its alumni, chairing Booz Allen’s African American Forum (AAF), championing the arts on the Board of Washington Performing Arts Society, and serving as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Outreach VP for CALIBR. Ebony recently joined the Advisory Board of Per Scholas, a non-profit founded over 20 years ago with a mission to build a more diverse technical workforce by creating on-ramps for women, people of color, and other groups underrepresented in IT employment.

Franklin is currently an Assistant Vice President and Global Relationship Manager at GenPact, and the newly appointed Secretary of CALIBR Global Leadership Network. He was previously awarded 2010 Alumni of the Year and 2005 Mentor of the Year from Inroads, Inc.

Franklin is also a student sponsor and alumni advisory board member of Link Unlimited. He is driven by his desire to strengthen the next generation of African-American males and give back to the inner-city communities in Chicago.

Their recognition will be celebrated during an awards dinner to be held on Thursday, June 21, 2018, at the New York Institute of Technology Auditorium on Broadway in New York City.

Amani Brown & Viveca Fairbanks Henderson – Received the W.K. Kellogg Values Award for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) on behalf of the KAARG Leadership Team. The K-Values Award is the company’s highest award and has only a few winners in three categories – Team, Individual, and D&I.

Amani also accepted a new role as Senior Brand Manager of Frozen Breakfast at Kellogg. In this new role, she is responsible for Eggo and Special K Breakfast Sandwiches and Quiche.

Brian Jones recently accepted a new role as Senior Manager of IT Strategy and Operations at Ocwen Financial Corporation. In this role, Brian supports the Office of the CIO with strategic initiatives that cut across all areas of

IT. These areas include IT communications, staffing models, awards programs, benchmarking and industry research, budgeting and financial analysis, and training.

Chisa Brookes was a recipient of NC State University’s 2017 CBE Distinguished Young Alumni Award. The award celebrates and recognizes the exemplary contributions recipients have made to their profession, their community,

and their department, college or university. Chisa currently owns and operates two companies near the Charlotte Area as a Consultant, Real Estate Broker and General Contractor.

Kelly Smith was selected as Deloitte’s Black Achievers in Industry (“bai”) Rising Star. Kelly is a Cyber Risk leader delivering services in the federal industry in addition to taking innovative solutions like cyber risk monitoring

into the marketplace. The bai awards recognize and celebrate African-American men and women who have a proven track record of dedication and excellence in their profession and have displayed strong talent and growth in their respective field.

Maria Smedley was recently awarded the 2018 CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officers) Leader of Distinction Award at the North American HRO Today Forum. Smedley was one of 17 finalist who were recognized for their

achievements in the human resources field during the past year. She obtained the award for her efforts to drive a major push to improve labor and leadership by embracing a “quality work, competitively priced” strategy. Additionally, she and her division improved the employee selection and screening process while enhancing the competitiveness of compensation and benefit offerings. As the cooperatives’ human resources leader, she strongly advocated for the adoption of additional safety resources and equipment resulting in significant improvements in safety metrics and profitability.

Nsombi B. Ricketts, Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, will be leaving Northwestern to become the Inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. In her new role,

Nsombi will implement the Institute’s new diversity strategic plan for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners. Nsombi will begin her new appointment at Pratt Institute on July 5, 2018.

Members on the Move


Apply Today!

The 2019 CALIBR Membership Application Is Now Available

About CALIBRCALIBR is a membership organization and professional network dedicated to accelerating the careers of mid-to-senior level Afri-can-American executives through specialized training, mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities that give members access to the best practices that drive business success. CALIBR members hold high-level leadership roles across multiple industries, govern-ment, and the non-profit sector, with one in five members being CEO of their own entrepreneurial enterprise.

To apply for CALIBR membership, please visit mycalibr.com, click the application link, and submit the following:

Immediate Opportunities To Engage 1. Join the Information Call on JUNE 28, 2018 to learn more about CALIBR’s programs, services, and the application process.

2. Complete the Membership Application by August 1, 2018 to be eligible for discounted rates for 2018 CALIBR programsand activities.

3. Register for the 2018 Global Executive Forum held October 11-13, 2018 in Washington, DC.

1. Resume

2. Bio

3. Digital Photograph

4. Essay Responses

5. Professional Peer Recommendation Letter

6. Recommendation Letter from CALIBR or ELC Member

For more information, please direct all questions to [email protected]


Apply Today!

The 2019 CALIBR Membership Application Is Now Available

About CALIBRCALIBR is a membership organization and professional network dedicated to accelerating the careers of mid-to-senior level Afri-can-American executives through specialized training, mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities that give members access to the best practices that drive business success. CALIBR members hold high-level leadership roles across multiple industries, govern-ment, and the non-profit sector, with one in five members being CEO of their own entrepreneurial enterprise.

To apply for CALIBR membership, please visit mycalibr.com, click the application link, and submit the following:

Immediate Opportunities To Engage 1. Join the Information Call on JUNE 28, 2018 to learn more about CALIBR’s programs, services, and the application process.

2. Complete the Membership Application by August 1, 2018 to be eligible for discounted rates for 2018 CALIBR programsand activities.

3. Register for the 2018 Global Executive Forum held October 11-13, 2018 in Washington, DC.

1. Resume

2. Bio

3. Digital Photograph

4. Essay Responses

5. Professional Peer Recommendation Letter

6. Recommendation Letter from CALIBR or ELC Member

For more information, please direct all questions to [email protected]

WHAT IS IN A NAME?A brand should...

calibrGlobal Leadership Network

learn more at: www.mycalibr.comlearn more at: www.mycalibr.com

convey Character

demonstrateAgility

informLeadership

encourageIntegrity

lendBreadth

reinforceReputation

mycalibrmycalibr @mycalibr@mycalibr CALIBRCALIBR

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