Three Strategies To Lead Bigger From Former AT&T CEO Anne Chow

Inclusive leadership is about leading bigger. Leading bigger is about learning to pivot your leadership style to meet the needs of those you hope to serve rather than leaning into traditional, outdated leadership models.

In my interview with Anne Chow, author of Lead Bigger: The Transformative Power of Inclusion and former (and first female) CEO of AT&T Business, she said she wanted to write a book about leadership that was truly inclusive.

Chow stated, “There is a false narrative that DEI is all about increasing representation of women and people of color over business performance. Inclusion itself has been made too small, stuck at the end of the DEI acronym. Books about inclusive leadership tend to focus on gender and race, and not how to bake inclusion into your leadership model. Leading bigger is about widening your perspectives to have greater performance and impact. Who doesn’t want to do that?”

Data shared in the new McKinsey “Women in the Workplace” report continue to show slow progress for women, and even more so for women of color. After 10 years of collecting data, the report shows modest progress in representation and stagnant progress of women in leadership roles, with women making up 48% of the workforce and only 29% of leadership roles. “At the current pace of progress, it would take 22 years for white women to reach parity, and it would take more than twice as long for women of color,” cited the report’s authors.

The problem continues to be prevalent microaggressions, and the broken rung where women miss out on the first promotion. McKinsey continues to find that women of color are further behind at every level. Chow’s takeaway: “If a company focuses solely on women, women of color will be left behind.”

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To overcome the headwinds facing historically marginalized groups in the workplace, Chow recommends leaders start with what the purpose of your business is, who are your stakeholders and how do you reflect the changing demographics of those stakeholders in your leadership.

She has a three-pronged approach for leading bigger. Leading bigger recommends leaders:

• Seeking a broader impact: Connecting with the wider circle of people who feel the effects of the business. Creating a dynamic environment means engaging everyone from company employees to customers.
• Embracing the whole of your team beyond the workplace: Seeing the value and potential of each individual—in the context of not only their work, but also their lives.
• Engaging in self-reflection: Demonstrating self-awareness and humility, recognizing the impact of your dispositions and behaviors on the well-being of your team.

Seeking Broader Impact

At AT&T, Chow focused on women of color and their supervisors, grounding their experiences in creating more inclusion. The women and their supervisors completed an inclusive-leadership program in which the leaders learned to champion women of color in unique ways. They trained hundreds of people to manage microaggressions, build authenticity and self-awareness, give and receive feedback and learn more about diverse communication styles—all culminating in a live graduation recognition. The women in the program said it was the first time they felt truly seen and heard.

Embrace the Whole of Your Team Beyond the Workplace

Chow noticed that after-hours programs do not work for women. Instead, her team pivoted to hosting long lunches with a speaker and networking to bring women together to build the necessary relationships to navigate their careers. She noticed most of the male leaders on her team were used to playing golf to build relationships and that typically wasn't as interesting for women. This strategy was more valuable for helping women proactively manage their careers in a way that felt authentic to them.

Engage in Self-Reflection

“I have been called a DEI hire and I know they are trying to insult me, but they are really insulting the people that have believed in me and hired and promoted me. Because there was no one like me in leadership, I didn't believe that I could be a leader. Then an ally mentioned to me, why wouldn't you be the CEO? You've done every important role in this organization. No one is more qualified than you to lead it. That gave me the confidence boost to lead my team through challenging times like COVID and business uncertainty,” Chow reflected.

Sometimes we need our allies to put up the mirror and show us who we are. They can highlight our strengths and our opportunities and help us through self-doubt. In an uncertain and a perpetually uncertain business environment where diversity is only increasing, it's important that leaders lean in to leading bigger and flex their styles to meet the changing needs of the future workforce.