The Power/Value of Belonging

A story about my experience at Nike career path. At Nike growth and our professional development journey is ours and ours to own. With that a similar sentiment can be extended to our personal journeys and how our personal lives intersect with our professional lives. When you join Nike so many folks want to know your connection to sport. My connection to sports is playing collegiate division 1 softball which in the US is played by women/ female athletes. I share this because I want to bring my full self to work. As a transgender person, parts of my past get left out because of fear. But those parts of me shaped who I am today. And I want to be fully me. Connecting to the purpose of belonging and how to get leadership & corporations to care.. – Creating metrics, kpis and okrs that will get leaders to invest in belonging. – Create alignment across teams, capabilities/functions, and geographies. The pandemic has changed the way of working as we know it. Either we evolve and innovate with it or we get lost in the headlines. How do we stand out and separate ourselves from those that are returning to normal. What is our new normal. How does flexibility drive innovation. What did we learn from bringing work into our homes and giving our co-workers and glimpse into our lives outside of the office. How do we bridge that gap in this hybrid environment? And what do we do to ensure personal safety during times of stress while showing vulnerability in our current environment.