Beth Brooke-Marciniak
“My life changed for the better; from black/white to colourful in an instant. After 52 years.”
For the third time in a row now, senior executives of major German and international commercial enterprises and institutions had accepted the invitation of the PROUT AT WORK network and come to the financial metropolis of Frankfurt. In a casual atmosphere, they exchanged their views about opportunities and pathways to a more open, diverse and discrimination-free workplace at the DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS over a first-class meal.<br>Among them were representatives of Continental, BASF, Vattenfall, Coca Cola, Thyssenkrupp, the European Central Bank and SAP. This year, PROUT AT WORK managed to bring Beth Brooke-Marciniak on board as a keynote speaker and, framed by the spectacular view from Germany’s tallest skyscraper, engage one of the 100 most influential women in the world in an informal personal conversation that allowed for many perceptive insights and powerful statements.
“Courageous.” That’s the word that leaps to mind when listening to Beth Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice President Public Policy and board member at global consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young), during a fireside chat with PROUT AT WORK chairperson Albert Kehrer.
For the third time in a row now, senior executives of major German and international commercial enterprises and institutions had accepted the invitation of the PROUT AT WORK network and come to the financial metropolis of Frankfurt. In a casual atmosphere, they exchanged their views about opportunities and pathways to a more open, diverse and discrimination-free workplace at the DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS over a first-class meal.
Among them were representatives of Continental, BASF, Vattenfall, Coca Cola, Thyssenkrupp, the European Central Bank and SAP.
This year, PROUT AT WORK managed to bring Beth Brooke-Marciniak on board as a keynote speaker and, framed by the spectacular view from Germany’s tallest skyscraper, engage one of the 100 most influential women in the world in an informal personal conversation that allowed for many perceptive insights and powerful statements.
Role models – “If not me, who?”
As Beth Brooke-Marciniak relates how she had not been open about her sexual orientation for most of her life, the audience in the room are quietly thinking, “Pretty courageous.”
For in February 2011, Brooke-Marciniak participated in the “It Gets Better” video campaign that aims to encourage LGBT*IQ teenagers, and spontaneously decided to come out as a lesbian woman in front of the rolling camera.
“What would I say in this video if I was being truly honest,” she had asked herself the previous evening. “I had a message to deliver that I knew was important.”
She and her then-partner had both assumed that coming out would mean the end of her career. However, the reactions to her sensational openness were the exact opposite. “My life changed for the better; from black/white to colourful in an instant. After 52 years.”
But not just that. Her candour also changed how the business world thinks about diversity.
“Our executive level was very proud of me, I received calls and e-mails from young people and their parents and even standing ovations at a subsequent public appearance, which moved me to tears.”
With her spontaneous coming out, she had changed more in one moment than ever before in her life, role model Brooke-Marciniak explains. “I considered it my job and my duty. Who was supposed to do it if not me?”
Business case – “The market imperative”
Introducing the second topic of this year’s dinner talk, Albert Kehrer suggests that attracting the best talent is one aspect of the business-case perspective on creating an LGBT*IQ-positive working environment, and the EY executive adds: “It’s about the market imperative. We need to be as diverse as our customers are. Whether it concerns functionality, quality or innovation – that way, we’re better everywhere.”
“Studies show that corporations that focus on the importance of LGBT*IQ employees are also well positioned with regards to all other aspects of inclusion and diversity, for example in promoting women.”
Kehrer mentions that the difficulty of assessing the effects of measures that address the concerns of lesbian, gay and transgender people within a business presents a significant hurdle.
“I know,” Brooke-Marciniak replies, “in most countries, it’s not possible to identify as LGBT*IQ within a corporation.” She adds that this makes it difficult to evaluate the effect of an LGBT*IQ-positive corporate policy. “But it doesn’t matter. Because we know it’s an added value.”
Having said that, she believes that forgoing such policies because their value is not quantifiable is just an excuse.
In response to Kehrer’s pointed question whether LGBT*IQ issues should really be given such high priority within corporations, Brooke-Marciniak again responds decisively: “Studies show that corporations that focus on the importance of LGBT*IQ employees are also well positioned with regards to all other aspects of inclusion and diversity, for example in promoting women.”
Allies – “Changing the world, providing safety”
Darkness has fallen, and against the background of the lights of the Frankfurt skyline, Kehrer opens the last third of the fireside chat with the question of why it’s important for a corporation to be an LBGT*IQ ally. After all, in Great Britain as well as in the US, EY specifically supports this group of employees.
“Because we have values,” Brooke-Marciniak replies without hesitation. “All of us are active across the globe. But we have no influence on the laws of individual countries. Many of them are going in the wrong direction, even backwards, and populism is spreading. Our footprints can change the world.”
In response to Kehrer’s question how individuals in corporations can become allies of their LGBT*IQ colleagues, EY board member Brooke-Marciniak points out a host of options for getting involved: being curious and unafraid, for example. After all, she says, it’s not always about specific lesbian-gay-trans* issues but about a fundamental understanding. “One day, it could affect you, too.”
She adds that just recently, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she had a private chat with a grateful CEO whose daughter came out as homosexual only a short while ago. Having discussed the issue previously had helped him immensely in this situation.
And, she adds, there’s also the “Wow, even him” effect when top management personalities publicly declare themselves allies of LGBT*IQ people within their corporations, facilitating a significant increase in visibility for those employees that HR departments or LGBT*IQ groups themselves could not achieve in this form.
Another important point, she says, is signalling to employees who have come out that you’re ready to help, giving them time but being at their side if needed. “Some people prefer to go back into their shell when they have the impression that they can’t trust their boss and aren’t sure whether his or her openness really means they’re safe.”
Accordingly, 70 percent of employees who haven’t come out leave a corporation over the short or long term, which is why it’s so important to start that conversation and find out what is still standing between them and their coming out.
“Above all, though, it’s important to be aware of conversations that should no longer take place the way they still do, and to say something, because people who haven’t come out yet will definitely take notice,” Beth Brooke-Marciniak concludes the conversation.
Fireplace-Chat with Beth Brooke-Marciniak:
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A talk with… Joschua Thuir
Trans*parency at work? Walking the line
A heterosexual male in private, a homosexual woman in the workplace – confused? Meet Joschua – a police officer who felt compelled to lead a double life for five years of his career. This is a story about professional transparency, courage and the need for progress in society and the law.
Joschua Thuir, 27, works as a police officer for the federal police force at Frankfurt Airport, mostly at entry/exit checks. Joschua’s duties also include patrolling the public areas of the terminals. In his free time, Joschua is involved with networks such as Deutsche Gesellschaft für Transidentität und Intersexualität e.V. (dgti) (German Association for Trans Identity and Intersex People), Verband lesbischer und schwuler Polizeibediensteter Deutschland e.V. (VelsPol) (Association of Lesbian and Gay Police Officers in Germany) and the police union Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP). Via these networks, he supports victims of homo- or transphobia, shares his experiences and trains colleagues on how to deal with transgender and intersex people in a legally compliant manner.
Why are you so heavily involved in the LGBT*IQ Community?
Joschua Thuir: For several reasons, one of which is my personal history. When I was 19 and still in training, I realised that I could no longer identify with the female gender role assigned to me at birth. However, I didn’t come out as a trans man at work until I was 25, because I feared that it would cost me my career if I disclosed my true identity before becoming a state official with lifetime job security and privileges.
Being a trans person might be an obstacle to becoming a state official?
Joschua Thuir: Indirectly, yes. To join the police force, you have to meet certain health criteria that are laid down in the official police instructions PDV300. You’re checked to see whether you meet these criteria when you’re hired and when your probationary period ends. PDV300 distinguishes between men and women. When I was originally hired – as a woman – I met all the criteria for female officers, but later I didn’t meet the ones for male officers. For example, men must have at least one functioning testis, which is not possible for a trans man according to current medical technology.
So, coming out during my training and probationary period was not an option for me. The exclusion criteria forced me to lead a double life in order to continue my career: for five years, I was a heterosexual man in private, but I went to work as a homosexual woman.
“I constantly feared being revealed as someone who was living a lie.”
Did hiding your true identity like this have an impact on your work?
Joschua Thuir: Absolutely. I constantly feared being revealed as someone who was living a lie. My efforts to pass for a woman also required an incredible amount of organisation, concentration and quick-wittedness. For instance, I had to react to female pronouns, although I didn’t feel that I was being addressed. In addition, there are some gender-specific duties at the police. Two concrete examples: I was regularly required to frisk women because of the relevant formal requirements which only permit frisking by people of the same gender (unless the situation is life-threatening). At passport control, I also frequently compared photographs of women not wearing a veil with women wearing a veil. This occasionally led to misunderstandings because of my rather masculine appearance.
In what other areas do you think your profession comes into contact with issues of gender identity or sexual orientation?
Joschua Thuir: As a police officer, I work with the law. However, our German Basic Law only recognises two genders and states that “Men and women shall have equal rights.” Police forms are thus based on a binary gender norm and are yet to include a third gender option. However, this is set to change by the end of the year, when a third gender is to be enshrined in the law.
A growing number of transgender or intersex people carry a supplemental ID. This ID card can be presented as an additional document in situations where someone is searched or asked for identification. It clarifies the legal situation and the identity of the person. It’s an aid to the police, so to speak. However, this ID card is not yet widely known.
Other points of contact can be found in asylum law. Persecution of homosexual and transgender people has now become a ground for asylum or refugee protection. Under the asylum procedure, these people must provide the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees – which processes and decides on their application – with proof not only of their persecution, but also of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In my day-to-day work, I’ve encountered people who have expressed their wish for asylum to me for these reasons.
What did you experience in your professional environment after coming out as a lesbian?
Joschua Thuir: Actually, I came out several times. When I was in training, I came out as supposedly lesbian and experienced some negative reactions from my fellow trainees. There were some verbal attacks like calling me “butch”, and non-verbal bullying like ridiculing my appearance in the communal showers. I also felt that my supervisors at the time had left me to deal with these day-to-day problems on my own. Once I was certain that I identify as a man, I didn’t open up to anyone in training any more. That’s a time I don’t want to remember. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the courage or strength to go to the next level of authority, nor did I have the relevant information, for example on VelsPol, the LGBT network in the German police, judiciary and customs authorities, to find a different way to ask for help.
“After I came out, colleagues from the continuing education team were very interested in using my expertise.”
And what did you experience when you came out as a trans man?
Joschua Thuir: When I came out as a trans man at the federal police force after those five years I mentioned before, the reactions were a lot more positive. But here, too, a few colleagues proved to be lacking social skills.
The next step must come from those higher up. Unfortunately, my attempts to make this point so far have been in vain. So I have to put up with colleagues who ignore me even if we are on patrol together and should have absolute trust in one another. I had to learn to deal with this.
After I came out, colleagues from the continuing education team were very interested in using my expertise. They asked me and another transgender colleague to prepare a talk for the aviation security training. To do so, I was even sent to Berlin for 2 days.
How did your supervisors react when you came out?
Joschua Thuir: The reactions of my supervisors at the time were very mixed, but by and large they ranged from positive to awkward. I asked a police trainer to disclose my identity to my direct supervisors and to ask them to forward this information to others in the command structures. I chose this approach to give everyone the opportunity to take a look at the German Transsexuals Act so that they could familiarise themselves with the topic before talking to me. Unfortunately, there was still confusion on all sides which couldn’t always be clarified or resolved.
As is so often the case, each individual has an important role to play in such situations. Committed supervisors will not tolerate discrimination. Others are less (pro)active or even shy away from conflict.
“Lastly, I’d like LGBTIQ people not to feel alone either during training or later in their job and I’d like the fear of coming out in this organisation to become a thing of the past.”
What would you like to see in future in terms of the visibility of LGBT*IQ issues in your workplace?
Joschua Thuir: I’d like to see LGBTIQ issues included in vocational training and continuing professional development because incorrect behaviour often stems from ignorance and unease. At the least, police officers should be made aware of exceptions so that when they’re dealing with people who are not heterosexual or cis-gender¹, i.e. 10% of the population, they can also fulfil their duties confidently and in a legally compliant manner.
Additionally, I’d like the federal police force – in accordance with its guiding principles – to take a stand as regards LGBTIQ employees, provide more education on this topic and have the Federal Ministry of the Interior revise PDV 300 such that trans and inter people can no longer be automatically disqualified from service in the police force. Lastly, I’d like LGBTIQ people not to feel alone either during training or later in their job and I’d like the fear of coming out in this organisation to become a thing of the past. To achieve these goals, the federal police force needs to increase the number of designated contact persons and broaden their target group by extending it from LG to LGBTIQ, as has already happened in some state police forces. The role of contact person shouldn’t just be something that is done on the side and doesn’t involve any obligations. It should be used proactively to increase awareness and counter discrimination both within and outside the organisation. Initial steps in the right direction have already been taken – I would be happy to continue this journey together, with the support of our organisation.
¹This term refers to people whose gender identity matches the sex assigned to them when they were born.
A talk with… Jens Schadendorf
“Rome wasn’t built in a day either.”
Jens Schadendorf is an economist, global book consultant and author as well as an independent diversity researcher at the Chair of Business Ethics at TU Munich.
He previously worked in publishing and served as a publishing director for SpringerGabler, Econ, Herder and others for years, where he was responsible for a number of bestsellers, among them titles by Jack Welch, the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Bill Clinton, Michael Porter and Don Tapscott as well as Hans-Werner Sinn, whose editor he is to this day.
Numerous awards and publications, among them “Der Regenbogen-Faktor. Schwule und Lesben in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft” [“The Rainbow Factor. Gays and Lesbians in Business and Society”]. Schadendorf studied economics and social sciences in Hamburg and Fribourg, and – on a scholarship from the Swiss National Fund – in Singapore and Bangkok.
Jens, a few years ago, your book “The Rainbow Factor” received lots of acclaim from the media as well as from companies and universities. It seemed that many had previously been unaware of the business case. You are once again writing a book about LGBTI*IQ in the workplace. In your view, has anything changed?
Jens Schadendorf: Yes. Though I’d like to say this first: “The Rainbow Factor” is about Germany, with roughly two thirds about German businesses. My new book, for which I’m currently travelling in East Asia, South Africa, North America, Moscow, Rome, Paris and Amsterdam, will be published in German and English next year and exclusively focuses on “global business”. For German-speaking countries, it is indeed true: awareness for the LGBT*IQ business case has increased. However, distinctions should be made: companies have made considerable progress compared to four, five years ago, but they are still at very different levels. For example, just because you fly a rainbow flag above your headquarters for a week or two in June or allow your employees to join a CSD parade in a company t-shirt featuring a rainbow logo doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve understood the opportunities the LGBT*IQ business case offers. Still, both are a good start to improving or even just getting the ball rolling on visibility, awareness and appreciation for LGBT*IQ and the corresponding business case. In this process, globally operating German “corporates” are much more dynamic than they were half a decade ago, even if there are still deficits there. But as they say: Rome wasn’t built in a day either.
For the next step up in development, it would be important to have more actively engaged and out “role models” at the top as well, among other things. I know how it feels – I myself was located initially in the third, then in the second and finally in the first management level below senior management for many years. Out. German LGBT*IQ top dogs are more reluctant in this regard, at least compared to their English-speaking colleagues. I have every sympathy for legitimate career goals and different individual roads to happiness: but that annoys me. Those who – as top LGBT*IQ – have been blessed with many talents and opportunities must learn how to have an impact beyond power, status and money. Otherwise, they stand for the same “failure of the elites” we lament today – often unfairly. What sort of life is it when you know the price of everything and the value of nothing? Does that sound too “moralistic” or “heavy”? Nonsense. You can still celebrate work and life.
“What sort of life is it when you know the price of everything and the value of nothing? Does that sound too “moralistic” or “heavy”? Nonsense. You can still celebrate work and life.”
PROUT AT WORK is predominantly supported by companies. In 2017, you supported our foundation through a donation as well as through an endowment contribution – thank you so much for that! Why was this important to you? Why do you think it’s important that private individuals also support the goals of PROUT AT WORK financially?
Jens Schadendorf: As a down-to-earth Hamburg native and an economist who was “trained” abroad to be rational, I’m not prone to hyperbole. On the other hand, I’m happy to be inspired. And I think the idea the PROUT AT WORK Foundation stands for is fantastic. It is unparalleled in Germany. I also know that the road to becoming a foundation wasn’t an easy one, so I highly appreciate the fact that it was walked against all odds and the PROUT AT WORK Foundation could be founded in 2013. As a rule, I support any entrepreneurial behaviour that is willing to take risks in order to promote something “meaningful”. Even more so when – as is the case for foundations – it’s about improving “social conditions”. After all, that’s exactly what PROUT AT WORK wants, namely: “that all work environments are open to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics.” At least that’s what it says on the website, and it says something similar in the foundation’s rules.
I am, as I mentioned, gay myself. And I have been, and still am, quite successful professionally, both financially and otherwise, first as an employed book publisher and now as an independent global book expert and author. It may sound old-fashioned, but I don’t care: through my work as an author on LGBT+ business topics, I can give back to a society that has made many things possible for me. And I want to do the same – in a very different way – through my private commitment to the PROUT AT WORK Foundation. Everyone needs to make up their own minds how to live their lives and how to stand up for what’s important to them. But maybe my actions will encourage others to do the same.
“PROUT AT WORK pools and processes current and relevant LGBT+IQ information, builds networks, provides advice, enables mutual learning – as a foundation and thus above and beyond all institutions.”
What do you see as the role of organisations like PROUT AT WORK?
Jens Schadendorf: It is crucial. After all, activities around LGBT*IQ topics from companies or other institutions are one thing. The other thing, however, is exactly what PROUT AT WORK provides: public relations above the level of organisations, hosting events to dismantle homophobia and discrimination in the workplace, commissioning studies about discrimination and homophobia in everyday work life, publishing guides and informational materials for an appreciative, non-discriminatory work culture and cooperating with foreign associations and organisations that pursue similar goals.
No individual company is capable of getting all of these off the ground. PROUT AT WORK pools and processes current and relevant LGBT+IQ information, builds networks, provides advice, enables mutual learning – as a foundation and thus above and beyond all institutions. “For the greater good” if you will. And at the same time for the benefit of companies and organisations, executives and employees. After all – as studies show –, LGBT*IQ diversity management goes far beyond protecting so-called sexual minorities from discrimination. Above all, it focuses on the economic opportunities and potentials that are enhanced by this protection – for all involved. Underpinning and strengthening the awareness for these interdependencies: that’s what the activities of PROUT AT WORK are about, driven by its initiators and movers and shakers Albert Kehrer and Jean-Luc Vey.
Claudia Brind-Woody
“LGBT*IQ employees need to be courageous as well. It is their decision. However, we need to show them the positive consequences of coming out rather than only associating disadvantages with it the way we have done until now.”
Claudia Brind-Woody has been working for IBM since 1996 and is the corporation’s Vice President as well as Managing Director of Global Intellectual Property Licensing, making her one of the most influential homosexual women in international business and a key figure in many LGBT*IQ organisations. These days, the IT and consulting corporation supports more than 40 of them in 30 countries, and this open attitude is instrumental in an LGBT*IQ-positive corporate philosophy taking root in other companies as well. In the past few years, Brind-Woody has not just been awarded a number of equal rights awards, she has also been a constant presence in the international rankings of the most influential lesbian personalities. In doing so, she exemplifies what she demands of other corporate leaders and has indeed made the title of her DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS keynote: “Authentic Leadership.”
Hearing Claudia Brind-Woody talk about both the necessity and the opportunities of an LGBT*IQ-positive corporate philosophy, it’s hard to avoid an emotional rollercoaster. Knowing smiles appear on the audience’s faces when the Vice President of IBM relates how she was recently told in Japan that there were no gay or lesbian people amongst the employees, and therefore there was no need for action.
After all, the board members and senior executives who have gathered in the tower of Deutsche Bank AG for the DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS this evening at the invitation of the PROUT AT WORK foundation know only too well that that’s not the case. That every large corporation has a talent pool of employees with an LGBT*IQ background, and that far too often it remains untapped.
Just a moment later, Brind-Woody provokes awkward silence among large parts of her audience when her keynote poses the question of who actually has a list of LGBT*IQ top talents in their own company? Only a very few.
When she broadens the question to whether an opportunity for voluntary self-identification as LGBT*IQ exists in their corporation, barely a hand is raised anymore.
While prepared to admit that Germany’s strict privacy laws prevent any such self-identification, Brind-Woody deplores this fact: “If we don’t know who among our employees has an LGBT*IQ background, how are we going to promote them systematically?”
A dinner guest wants to know how to implement mentoring programmes for LGBT*IQ employees without requiring a coming out on their part.
Brind-Woody’s response is surprising but unequivocal: “LGBT*IQ employees need to be courageous as well. It is their decision. However, we need to show them the positive consequences of coming out rather than only associating disadvantages with it the way we have done until now.”
After all, she explains, authentic leadership also means being able to put together teams with a diverse composition.
“A soccer team that only consists of strikers will never win a match. Without the goalie in his flashy colours, it’s just not going to work,” Brind-Woody draws a parallel between business and sports. “After all, business is about winning, too.”
‘Walk the talk’ – following words with deeds
Claudia Brind-Woody has been working for IBM since 1996 and is the corporation’s Vice President as well as Managing Director of Global Intellectual Property Licensing, making her one of the most influential homosexual women in international business and a key figure in many LGBT*IQ organisations. These days, the IT and consulting corporation supports more than 40 of them in 30 countries, and this open attitude is instrumental in an LGBT*IQ-positive corporate philosophy taking root in other companies as well.
“What’s the use of having brilliant strategy papers on diversity up here at the top management level when at the same time a homophobic supervisor in middle-management obstructs the professional careers and thus the lives of many of our talents with an LGBT*IQ background?”
In the past few years, Brind-Woody has not just been awarded a number of equal rights awards, she has also been a constant presence in the international rankings of the most influential lesbian personalities. In doing so, she exemplifies what she demands of other corporate leaders and has indeed made the title of her DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS keynote: “Authentic Leadership.”
By that, she means the mandate to legitimise one’s own leadership role through authentic relationships with one’s employees.
“Can I as the supervisor use the words ‘lesbian’ or ‘transgender’ in a way that gives the other person the impression that it’s not a problem to be like that?”
That, she explains, requires a leadership style from the heart, without fear of making oneself vulnerable. But it also requires following words with deeds. Those who declare that diversity in the workplace is important need to do something about it as well.
“What’s the use of having brilliant strategy papers on diversity up here at the top management level when at the same time a homophobic supervisor in middle-management obstructs the professional careers and thus the lives of many of our talents with an LGBT*IQ background?”
Silence and concern fill the hall on the 35th floor as Brind-Woody explains to the executives in the audience why even today, many LGBT*IQ people avoid coming out in their workplace. She tells them about the increasing number of lesbian, gay or trans* children and adolescents in the US who are thrown out of their homes by their parents and driven into homelessness. About the equally increasing suicide rate amongst those teenagers.
“Muslim, Jewish or dark-skinned child may experience bullying in the schoolyards, too. But they come home and receive understanding and support from their families, because their parents are Muslim, Jewish or dark-skinned themselves. However, that usually isn’t the case for parents of lesbian, gay, transgender or genderqueer children.”
In terms of the aspiration for authentic leadership, she says, this means learning to be able to motivate and support employees who are different from ourselves.
Many, herself included, have been too silent in the past when discriminatory decisions were made or hurtful words were chosen. “But silence is not a leadership style,” Brind-Woody summarises succinctly.
At the end of her keynote, she calls on executives to be more courageous and assertive, even if that occasionally means having to go against the flow.
“Of course being successful is wonderful. But doing something meaningful is even better.”
This year, almost 30 board members and senior executives of Lufthansa, Vodafone, IBM, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Fraport, the European Central Bank, Randstad Germany, Accenture, White & Case, Sandoz, Oliver Wyman, Linklaters, Bayer, Procter & Gamble, Hogan Lovells Merck, Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft [Public Transport Mainz], KPMG and Google once again accepted the invitation of the PROUT AT WORK foundation to discuss the advantages of diverse and equal-opportunity leadership in a casual atmosphere over dinner.
Video of Claudia Brind-Woody’s speech:
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John Browne
Coming-outs are still rare in the business sector, especially among executives […]. There is a dearth of role models who are prepared to be honest about their sexual identity.
Whenever the former CEO of BP and now Executive Chairman of the oil investment company L1 Energy, John Browne makes an appearance, things often get emotional – a rare state of affairs in the world of business. In his Hamburg keynote speech to business leaders, Lord Browne (68), who was born in Hamburg, spoke of his life and of his decades-long hiding. His mother, a survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp, had imprinted him at a young age that it was dangerous to tell someone a secret and to be an identifiable part of a minority. Browne followed this council until his forced outing in 2007. In his 41 years at BP – 13 as Chief Executive, during which time BP became one of largest companies in the world – he was leading a double life: one for the public and a private one as a homosexual man. Concealing his true identity demanded constant vigilance, Lord Browne said. These days, he believes hiding one’s identity is not a good idea. It costs people a great deal of energy and creativity, which, in the working world, is ultimately a loss for the company.
Research in his book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business, found that the value of companies with authentic and open-minded board members is significantly higher than for those with board members representing traditional conservative views. The economy and society as a whole have been proven to benefit from tolerant corporate cultures, Brown said in his emotional keynote. He presented his case to the attending DAX board members and top executives: The logic of companies is to bring people together. Therefore, it is only logical – and important – that global corporations and large companies become champions for diversity and inclusion, openly communicating and always putting diversity on the agenda, in order to create a fear-free work environment. Coming-outs are still rare in the business sector, especially among executives, the charismatic Browne noted. There is a dearth of role models who are prepared to be honest about their sexual identity.
In his Q&A session, Lord Browne asked: how many openly-gay board members there are in the S&P 500 Index? The answer: just one – Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple.
As one of the most successful managers in the world, John Browne made the conscious choice, after his ex-partner outed him, to become a role model and to encourage others to stand up for themselves and define their own paths.
Brown explains his commitment as simply “doing the right thing”. That’s why he now writes books and is active in the public sphere. From his own experience, he knows too well that the business sector is a “special place” and very conservative. Changes take time and perseverance.
In Germany to date, only one top corporate executive has come out as gay: the Managing Director of Telekom Deutschland, Niek Jan van Damme.
“This was my first PROUT AT WORK event that I was encouraged to join, because I was really interested to hear Lord Browne. He is really interesting as a person and a very credible person to speak about inclusion in the corporate environment. He gave us lessons which I hope we can take home to our own companies.”
Guests at DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS, many of whom had travelled to Hamburg specially to attend the event, expressed how moved there were by Lord Browne’s speech. Robin J. Stalker, the Chief Financial Officer at Adidas, remembered his first encounter with the LGBT movement, saying that at first he had to take time to think about their concerns, but now he identifies with them absolutely. “This was my first PROUT AT WORK event that I was encouraged to join, because I was really interested to hear Lord Browne. He is really interesting as a person and a very credible person to speak about inclusion in the corporate environment. He gave us lessons which I hope we can take home to our own companies.”
Lord Browne’s half-hour speech was followed by an exceptional dinner, which lasted until late in the evening, during which interesting discussions and new contacts developed.
Janina Kugel, a member of the Management Board and the Human Resources director of Siemens AG, said she planned to attend the next DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS too: “I met a very open-minded group of representatives from different companies. And all of us think that this topic is important. We want to push it forward, so that workplace diversity gains public awareness in Germany. Because when you think it over, we’ve got some catching-up to do: we need to find people who say, ‘yes! I’m part of the LGBT community and I’m proud of it. I am who I am, and I don’t hide. ’”
Norbert Janzen, Human Resources director and member of the management board at IBM, was also enthusiastic about the idea of the evening: “I have a great affinity for openness, and I love this kind of exchange between companies, because I believe we can learn a lot from each other. And the platform offered here is phenomenal. Combining that with an after-work dinner and with such an inspiring guest is outstanding. I’m going to take a lot with me and bring it back to the company.”
The event with Lord John Browne in Hamburg is the opening event for the DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS series. In a relaxed atmosphere and with a first-class menu, a select circle of corporate executives meet with the directors and founders of PROUT AT WORK. The keynote by a renowned speaker creates a framework for inspiration and exchange on new perspectives of corporate culture. These special events are held at irregular intervals.
PROUT AT WORK sent invitations for the first DINNER BEYOND BUSINESS to members of the executive boards of Adidas, Allianz, Bayer, Commerzbank, Covestro, DEA, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Börse, Dow, EY, GE, IBM, Latham & Watkin, Merck, Pfizer, PwC, Sandoz, Siemens, Sodexo and White & Case.
Video of the Speech of Lord Browne:
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