During my wind-down time today (4-mile walk with a friend), I experienced an ah-ha moment. It's when your subconscious mind solves a problem and rushes past all the other stuff floating around in your brain, to reveal the answer to your conscious mind, which then causes you to smile! (Freud must be rolling in his grave with my explanation, but hey I am no Psychoanalyst. This is laywoman speak.) I figured out Katie Mehnert's handicap. And immediately something even bigger got revealed to me (no not how to solve world hunger, but I'm working on it)... other CEOs and leaders can actually learn from this handicap.
Katie Mehnert, CEO of Pink Petro, is color blind. How do I know? I've been observing her and closely following her posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pink Petro. And because she is color blind, she is my poster child for why diversity matters in the workplace. She sees all women as people with potential, and because her focus is on helping people develop the best in themselves, things like color, race, origin, education, social status, etc. don't matter to her. I didn't meet her through Jane who is a top Executive at ABC Energy. But I met her the same way most of us did, I applied for membership to Pink Petro. She fully embraced me from the day we met. And for the first couple of months, it was only through Pink Petro online discussions. The first time we met was at the Pink Petro launch. So for those who think location matters, in social networking, it doesn't. I have a list of women that I "talk to", seems like daily we have something to say and we're not in the same city, state, or country. (Remember P.P. is global!)
I understand. So you will have to just go with me for a bit. People who are color blind really cannot hide or fake openness. Have you ever met someone with a beautiful smile, but a handshake that feels like they would prefer to just lock pinky fingers and not have to do the full palm thing? Well, I have. More often than I choose to count. Unfortunately, I have felt this from men and women. But that's not Katie, big smile, followed by big embrace. And she's ready to find out how can she make a connection, even if you didn't ask. That's what I mean about being welcomed into a group and feeling like you belong. That's the start of a community. And on the receiving end, you want to contribute to the community in some small way.
Not only is she color blind. I am convinced Katie recruits color blind women on her team. And I relate this to corporate America because the goal of diversity is to truly make everyone feel they have a voice and a seat at the table. More important, it is to get everyone to show up wanting to be their best selves. And you have to have others who can execute like you, cause as your organization grows, you realize you cannot be there for everyone. There is a tremendous talent pool in the Pink Petro community and what I have seen over just a matter of months is Katie has created a place where women are engaging with each other, and forming additional communities, and truly helping each other where the need is. Yes, there is a lot of professional support here at P.P. But it's a place to talk about all things that are important to us, to help us achieve balance in our lives, which indirectly is contributing to us showing up better in the place where we work. (And there is a place for people who are Ex-employed!)
Let's just let her keep on, keeping on. When non-members ask how has she been able to do what she's done in such a short time and create so much momentum and energy amongst her membership, we'll just smile, and maybe say.. lean in, let me tell you a secret ... in your library voice of course... "Our Pink Petro CEO has a handicap...."