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POwer suits
Former Motorola executive works to diversify the high-tech industry
by Katrina Brown Hunt
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Whether it’s fair or not, tech companies have long suffered a perception of homogeny in the workplace: in many cases, diversity might mean that some of the guys like PCs, but others prefer Macs.
Candi Castleberry-Singleton wants better than that for Motorola—and in more than two years there as vice president of global inclusion and diversity, she is making impressive headway. Part of her role is to shape Motorola’s workforce to represent a mix of race, gender, and orientation, but she is equally devoted to making that workplace a harmonious community. She’s also helping Motorola become an industry leader in its global outreach, from seeking out nontraditional suppliers to putting cash and resources—and phones—in the hands of underprivileged people and communities around the world. Diversity Woman asked Castleberry-Singleton to tell us more about her expansive role.
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How did you get into this field?
I started my career at Xerox, in sales and product management. Then I went to Sun Microsystems, where I was in sales first and later was also president of the Black Employees Sales Association. I went on to lead Sun’s sales training development and operations, and an insightful leader there recognized an opportunity to create the position of director of global diversity. I had been committed to making a difference since I was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, so it was easy for me to think about making this full-time. My concept, however, was to evolve the work from“diversity” to “inclusion.”
DW: What is the difference between diversity and inclusion?
History has shown that diversity for its own sake has not led to inclusion. Workplaces are just microcosms of the world, and we’re fooling ourselves to think that just because we hired the right kinds of people, they’ll work together. I believe you have to do more work on the inside. Without building an environment where diversity can live and thrive, it’s like you’re just moving sand on the beach with a fork.
DW: So how are you creating that environment for Motorola?
CC: I’ve thought a lot about how people naturally build relationships, and that this should go beyond the usual mentoring programs. It could be that you partner two employees together on a project—for example, they do a workshop at a conference, and that also gives them an opportunity to know each other better. You have to position people in day-to-day activities. Don’t just say, “You two go have lunch.” Put them at a table where there’s already something going on—then you have something to build on.
DW: How does your background influence how you do your job?
CC: It can be the hardest thing. When you’re an African American and a female and you’re standing up, saying “this is important,” it can be a double whammy against you. You have to convince people to distinguish between the messenger and the message.
DW: How does inclusion help Motorola's bottom line?
CC: In the workplace, inclusion can become a retention tool. And when we think about the marketplace, it’s not just ensuring that you see faces of different people in our ads, or that the product has different images on its box. Wherever we place or donate our products, we are showing our commitment to community. We also do a Global Day of Service, where last year we had 11,000 Motorola employees volunteering in 47 countries around the world—and that’s what we want to be known for in the marketplace.
DW: What kinds of programs do you still want to put in place?
CC: My mission is focusing on the talent pipeline, to build more math, science, and tech programs in kindergarten through 12th grade [Motorola currently sponsors science, technology engineering, and math-oriented afterschool programs]. If we do it collectively with 25 companies, and if those 25 companies produce 100 students each, that’s more opportunities we all have to hire when those kids come out of high school. If we don’t, then someday we’re fighting for fewer people. I always propose coming together to focus on the talent pipeline, because that can have a sustainable impact.
DW: Will the business world be a smaller place in 20 years because of programs such as yours? And if you do your job well enough, will you be out of a job?
CC: As things evolve, the issues will just be different, I think. If you think about the history of diversity, obviously it started with people of color, then came gender, and then religions. I think the next thing will be language; people have stereotypes not only about how others look but also about how they talk. As time goes on in global business, you’ll be having more conversations on the phone and encounter strong accents or dialects, so how do you still collaborate and deal with that? I can’t imagine my kind of job would go away!
DW: What two books are on your bedside table?
One is The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century [by Thomas L. Friedman]. I think about this book on a regular basis because people aren’t always aware of the effects that tech and globalization have on things like the service industry—and why some jobs may not be there anymore.
When self-service first happened in gas stations, we didn’t see it also coming to a Safeway near you—or McDonald’s— where the person taking your order may be in another state. Forecasters say that trillions in buying power come from minority communities, and we want them to have the most dollars they can, and the root of that is education. That book gives me the consciousness to get up and do what I do.
The other book is usually a novel—I love James Patterson—or a magazine. My workday can be intense, and sometimes I just need a break, something to kind of take me away for those 15 minutes before I fall asleep.
Katrina Brown Hunt, based in San Diego, writes about personal finance and business for SmartMoney magazine, Fortune Small Business, and the Seattle Times.
Note: In February 2008, Castleberry-
Singleton left Motorola to become the CDO at the University of Pittsburgh.
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