>> Hey, welcome everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCUBE, We are in downtown San Francisco Moscone West at the Professional Businesswomen of California's conference. It's the 28th year they've been doing this conference, over 6,000 women, pretty wide range, about 5%, of guys made the trip, and we are excited, it's about diversity and inclusion, and we wanted to come check it out and bring you some of the thought leaders. So, we're really excited to have our first guest, he's Greg Jones, he's a Chief Diversity Officer for United Airlines. Welcome, Greg. >> Good to be here, Jeff. >> Absolutely, so you've been doing this diversity thing for a while, took a look at your LinkedIn, you know, you've been in healthcare, excuse me, insurance, and financial services, now with United. Are we making progress on this front? >> We are making some progress, but given the time that I think we have been doing this in the country, I would say it's not enough yet. >> Jeff: Right. And so, there is still a ways to go, it's a journey. We take two steps forward, sometimes a step back, sometimes a half a step back. But we're moving forward. >> Right, and certainly a lot of positive momentum here, and we cover the Grace Hopper show, and, you know, a lot of the women in tech stuff, but again, you're not only looking at sex or race, but things like veterans with disabilities, I saw >> Absolutely >> you're doing some efforts, >> Absolutely >> so really a broad breaststroke. >> Yeah, it is, and when you think about it, it makes sense, because, especially in the corporate space, we're talking about, how do you actually get the most out of all the people that you have working for you at every level, and if people are afraid to fully commit themselves to work, your productivity is just not what it could be or what it should be. >> Jeff: Right. >> You know, I have a theory, I'm sorry, Jeff, >> Jeff: No. >> that corporate America is probably operating at about 60% capacity, because people can't fully pull the trigger on their skills and talents. So, what inclusion is all about is getting the most out of all of the folks that you have by creating an environment in which they're comfortable in. >> We hear that time and time again, and there's a lot of studies about, you know, diversity of opinion leads to better outcomes, >> Greg: That's true >> This is not the right thing to do, I mean it is the right thing to do, but it's also a great business decision. >> Greg: Right. Do business leaders get that? Do they see that by having a different set of opinions, and all of us bring our own biases, to decision making and processes, that the outcomes are actually better? >> I think it's starting to happen more and more, I think, if you think about the history of this work, diversity and inclusion, since the sixties or whatever, it's migrated from affirmative action and all that that meant and the emotion that that provoked, to, wait a minute, the country is changing, the world has gotten smaller, this is starting to really make sense from a business perspective. So we migrated from almost completely the right thing to do, to wow, wait a minute, this is a business play. >> Right. So what are the things you see that are really concrete for people that, you know, or companies, they want to get involved they want to do a better job, what are some of the low hanging fruit that you suggest since you've been on this journey? >> Greg: Well, I think about, organizations like this, and conferences like this, are very important, and I would say it's a very important tool that companies can use to actually begin to develop the mindset that they need to start to shift gears. Also, organizations should begin to think about their systems. It turns out that there are biases in certain systems in terms of performance ratings, how people are promoted, how people are rewarded, and you know there is a look of leadership, unfortunately, that is based on history. >> Jeff: Right. >> So I think companies can start to really examine their processes, their views of their leadership model, their ways that they promote people, because it turns out that great talent and leadership comes in all kinds of packages. >> Right, and it's tough to fight, I mean, one of the keynote speakers this morning talked about, they've actually published their unbiased, or their unconscious bias class online for anyone to take. I can't remember if it was Schwab or Intel, which is pretty interesting, because we all have bias. >> Greg: We do. >> It's not about not having bias, it's about being aware of your bias and really trying to overcompensate for when you know it's doing things that you know you're not necessarily keeping track of. >> And it turns out that it's one of these things, and I talk about this a lot, it turns out that if you step out into this world, in places in which you're not comfortable, leading people and engaging with people, that you may initially not be comfortable with, what happens over time is you wind up developing a skill set, you know, whether it's leading women, whether it's leading people of color, or whether it's engaging with people with disabilities, once you do it and you find out it doesn't kill you, >> Jeff: Right, right. >> It turns out that by defintion, it makes you a better leader. So we have these biases, >> Right >> We do, were human. >> Jeff: Right. >> But it turns out, when you explore beyond your comfort zone, to use a cliche, you grow as a person, you grow as a leader. >> That's such a great point right, because birds of a feather is always the easiest path. >> It's easy! >> So easy. >> Yes. >> And it's just familiar, whether that familiar, that's cause that's the person that did it for you yesterday, or they're the same race, background, color, they look the same, but it's so easy to go birds of a father, but to your point I think that's a great point that doesn't come up enough, it's when you challenge yourself with something new, it let's you get back on a little steep learning curve, but that's when you grow and you know you feel so much better when you do get a little growth in your personal development. >> Absolutely, and it turns out that that in and of itself is a skill. Once you do it a few times and you find out that you're capable of doing it, you're looking for that next thing that is sort of outside the lines that you used to be comfortable with, and you grow. >> Jeff: That's great. So, I wonder, you got to have an analogy for Jazz. I know you're a Jazz fan, doin' a little homework before you came on. The great musical that just won all the Academy Awards talked about kind of the Jazz groove, and there's a little bit of conflict and harmony but at the end of the day, they make beautiful music together. Do you see some of that kind of analogy in what you're trying to accomplish? >> I actually do. I think that once you begin to master your instrument, I talk about job descriptions and systems as sort of the sheet music. You know, the basic tune that you have. But once you really master your instrument you can take it in all kinds of places, I mean, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" played by Louis Armstrong, is very different than the basic music, right? I would say that as we think about ourselves as leaders, there are the basic things we have, our technical education, our personalities, but once you really master that and you lose your fear of stepping out there, you can improvise all day long with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways and all kinds of systems. I believe that to be true. >> Well, and you're doing it every day. >> That's right! >> Alright Greg, well I was going to say do you have the last word, but I don't know that we could do much better than the Jazz analogy so I think we'll leave it right there. >> There ya go, let's stop right there. >> Alright. Well thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day, and I look forward to continued success in your journey. >> Thank you so much, Jeff, very nice to meet you. >> Pleasure >> Absolutely. >> Alright, he's Greg Jones, I'm Jeff Frick, you're watching theCUBE, we'll be back after this short break, thanks for watchin'. (tech music)