Interconnections: DEI It Starts With Why

In this episode of Interconnections, PJM Board Members share the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to each of them from a series of conversations with Michael Coyle, PJM’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer.

Transcript

Michael Coyle: Hello, I'm Michael Coyle, PJM’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer. I'm pleased to share with you a set of recordings from a series of conversations that I've had the privilege of having with members of our Board. I can think of no better way to share their messages of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion than through their voices and stories. Today, we invite you to take a listen.

Terry Blackwell: Every day on the news you hear about companies who have had catastrophic failures in their companies. As you look deeper down into that issue, a lot of times what I’ve found is the leadership of those organizations have surrounded themselves with people with their same background, people with their same experience, people who think like they do. And in the past, we would have called them “yes-men.”

Because of the lack of diversity within those organizations, those organizations have had catastrophic failures. I think it is important to the health of any corporation to have diversity in order to maintain the health of that organization.

Paula Conboy: My older sister and I are adopted. She's Inuit; I’m clearly not Inuit. And I learned at a very early age what was different could be wonderful from alternative views and experiences to the diversity of song and food. It was through my parents, really, that I came to understand that we can often learn more from someone who's different than us, than from someone who's the same. But as a mentor, I always advise my mentees “seek out those who think differently from you and see what you can learn.”

Jeanine Johnson: Well, I think in general, companies have an opportunity to create a rich environment for decision-making by ensuring that the life experiences and backgrounds of their board members, their executive leaders, their employees are sufficiently diverse. Productive disagreements often improve business outcomes. So I think along with diverse perspectives comes diverse communication styles and differences of opinion. And so being able to have robust conversations productively in order to steer towards the best solutions and outcomes is critical. So those communication skills can really help close the gap.

Margaret Loebl: It's important to me to stay involved and connected to support all underrepresented groups. I'm involved in elevating women's leadership at the university level, as well as helping the American Red Cross. Prospective employees want to see or hear credible testimonies from people like them about equity and inclusion. PJM walks the talk. I find being part of the PJM Board especially energizing because we are such a diverse group. I value the different viewpoints we each bring to our collective work. Continuous learning and a growth mindset are essential to be successful. We are inventing the future here. We want everybody included.

David E. Mills: Corporate cultures that don't attend to diversity, equity and inclusion display a lack of employee engagement and innovation. As a result, organizational performance suffers. We are all committed to a culture of success for everyone. One that creates and sustains a level playing field for all with the same opportunities to foster innovation. I started my career in the music industry, and there's a couple of real good metaphors that I think are applicable here.

The metaphor is that whether you're playing live or in the studio, you have to be able to rely upon the skills and talents of your peers. In this case, my bandmates, and in the broader example, our team here at PJM. We need all the instruments, the inputs and the voices to make the magic, make the beautiful and engaging music. And to do that, everybody must be included.

O.H. Dean Oskvig: Some events happened in this country that caused me to learn about the challenges that historically marginalized people continue to have today. I've heard stories from friends and business associates about those challenges. That has bothered me. Now my heart is involved. I have grandchildren entering the workforce. I want them to be valued for who they are right there and what they can do. This has a way of amplifying my commitment to DEI. I feel a responsibility to make things better for everyone.

Charles F. Robinson: I will say DEI, particularly for PJM, is important for a couple of reasons. The business reason is that I believe that better decisions are made when you have a diverse group of people sitting around the table addressing issues from their own perspective. I personally think that it's important for the general public to feel as though they see people like them sitting around the table making these kinds of decisions.

Mark Takahashi: My parents imbued in me an intellectual curiosity about the world, and as it turns out, I spent more than half my career working overseas, kind of following their steps in the way that they traveled the world, the way they looked at the world. So that has always been with me. I studied engineering in college and went to work for a large engineering construction company.

My first manager there, Tony, who happened to be a Black man, was a real early champion of diversity and inclusion. He encouraged the young engineers to speak up, to get involved. He was, in a sense, a mentor to us youngsters. He was also a mentor to various engineers and others who were minorities. He was incredibly important to my career in terms of getting me the right assignment overseas as well as he was a reference when I applied to business school. And so I'm forever grateful to him, and the way he encouraged us was just so influential in all of our careers, and I'm grateful for that.

Vickie A. VanZandt: When I think about inclusion, I've learned that people bring their whole lives to work. Recalling a powerful moment from my career. I had a young African-American middle school student shadowing me at Bonneville Power over several weeks as part of her school assignment, she was 12. In the course of our conversations, she told me she was a cancer survivor and she felt guilty that it caused her mom to worry all the time. Big issue for such a young person. Now, I was wondering who was the student and who was the teacher.

We can remember and be sensitive that what is visible and displayed at work is only a part of what is happening in all of our lives. Development of empathy and compassion would serve us all. Diversity comes in so many forms, only a few of which are visible. The less obvious ones include whether we are introverts or extroverts, thinkers or feelers, planners, or more spontaneous and learn and approach tasks in different ways.

Manu Asthana: From a values perspective, I want everyone who works at PJM to feel like they belong and feel that they are accepted. Not just tolerated or included, but actively accepted for who they are and actively encouraged to be themselves and actively feel safe to do that. I think that is really important to me, and it's important from the perspective of values, and it is very much in line with my values and in line with PJM’s values to want our people to feel that way. And I think it's important from a business perspective because there's so much talent and so much insight that our people have that can be unlocked if they feel safe to share it.

One of my favorite leadership sayings is “people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” I think it's really critical for leaders to actively show that they care. I want PJM to have the best talent out there. I think sometimes we have preconceived notions of what talent looks like, and I think part of the value of our DEI program and other well-run programs is that it changes people's paradigm and broadens their aperture around what talent really looks like. We can use a whole lens, and I think it helps us identify more talent, and, ultimately, our job is the success of PJM and the achievement of our mission, which is to keep the lights on for 65 million people. And I think we do that better when we allow ourselves to see the full pool of talent and develop the full pool of talent.

Michael Coyle: Well, that rounds out the highlights from our conversations. I hope you can appreciate their candor and sincerity. I personally am very grateful for their time and dedication. And the conversation continues. Diversity includes everyone at PJM, and we all have a story to tell. When we share it, we create a safe space for anyone to be able to share theirs. So what's your story? Why is diversity, equity and inclusion important to you?