
Diversity driving change
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I am a physician by training. I’m a doctor, I’m a dermatologist.
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I also have a PhD, so I’m literally married to science.
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I was into I.T. since I was born.
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My grandfather was one of the first programmers in Belgium.
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Before joining PMI, I studied two science degrees and I did my MBA as well.
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I’ve been in PMI for 23 years.
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I’ve been also working. I started working at Unilever as a trainee.
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I’m from the United States. I grew up in Philadelphia,
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and then after school I started to work in New York in investment banking.
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I did marketing throughout my first years of my career
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and then I pivoted into a managing director role, more a senior role.
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I’m very proud to say, okay, now we are doing something different. The past is the past.
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This is where we are today. And then we need to put all the forces and the energy towards the vision.
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Leadership is not defined by gender. There are great men which are leaders, great leaders,
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and there are women which are great leaders as well.
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When you have a position that is open, you first look for the skill set, right?
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But we need to be conscious about having a diverse slate of candidates.
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I think diversity of people brings diversity of thought.
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So, it’s absolutely critical that we’re bringing different viewpoints to the table.
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So, having that diversity of viewpoint is important.
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Bringing more creativity, more consumer-centric thinking,
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and ultimately building a stronger organization.
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For me, inclusion is the dimension that would unleash the potential of the diversity of the group.
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If you look at my team, we are 27 people.
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I have 15 nationalities coming from the five different continents.
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Being open-minded, looking in a variety of places for people, for any position,
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is critical to getting the best people on the team.
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The speed of change is so fast, and we can learn so much from each other.
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In regard to EQUAL-SALARY payment, or certification,
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PMI is the first company that got this certification,
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and I think it’s really important to have that
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because it’s important to have equal pay for everybody.
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I am impressed by the commitment of PMI to diversity.
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You only achieve something when you start to be inclusive as well.
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So, it means that we listen to each other, we respect each other,
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and it’s with the diversity and the inclusion that we can achieve great things.
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How many times can you say I’m working for a Fortune 500 company
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and they decide to just to reinvent themselves, right?
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So, bringing this diversity of thought and ideas into the company,
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it’s a wonderful way to be successful.