25th April 2021
Meet the CIO’s | Russell Robinson | Inspire: DC
This interview is a part of the Inspire: Cities series – meet the Chief Inspiration Officers. Inspire: Cities is the local arm of the global movement from Inspiring Workplaces. Our mission is to change the world, with you, through the world of work. One workplace, city and community at a time. View the full list of Cities here.
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What does an Inspiring Workplace mean to you?
An Inspiring Workplace is one where organizational goals and outcomes are achieved in a manner where employee feel empowered, valued, impactful, safe, and confident.
Do you have a personal purpose? A why? Something that drives you daily?
My personal purpose is to have impact on anybody that I encounter. Sometimes it is as simple as greeting people to say, Hi, or checking in on people to see how they are doing.
What do you think is the top priority when it comes to people at work this year and why?
Based on the last 12 months, the top priority for organizations is to create a voice culture where employees feel valued, safe, and confident to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns about themselves and the organizations.
The past 12 months has seen an acceleration of positive change, mostly due to it being enforced upon employers. Change like trust, empowering choice, flexibility, investment in wellbeing and the reduction in the stigma around mental health. Our question is, how many employers stick to this path and how many revert to type?
I think it depends on whether employers genuinely believe in the need for connection and humanity. Some of the actions were viewed as stopgap or “check the box” actions. If employers view D&I as check the box, then employees impacted by social justice challenges will not view the positive change as authentic.
A follow up to the last question. How do they stay the course should they wish to?
For those employers authentically invested in positive change should continue for focus on strengthen their culture by focusing on activities that make employees feel valued, safe, and confident.
You are a founding Chief Inspiration Officer for Inspire: Cities. What are you most looking forward to learning/ sharing with your local community?
What excites me the most is the opportunity to introduce new voices to the conversation regarding human organizational learning. In the US federal government, the conversations are held by the same people and organizations with the same results. Inspiring Workplaces offers the opportunity to shock the system and bring new voices and ideas to the table.
Tell us something about your city or the people that make it. Something the rest of us will not know.
While Washington, DC is the capital of the United States, it is a federal territory, which means that DC residents do not have voting representation in the Congress.
Do you think in-person events will be valued more than ever before after the past 12-18 months?
I think people will be excited to ditch their laptop screen and hear speakers. In addition, face to face networking will be refreshing. But the possibilities of virtual events create a hybrid where you can see an in-person Inspire event and have the chance to virtually attend one in a different country.
How do you think attendees will react to The Inspire Ring and our unique event format?
I think the structure of the Inspire Ring will create more intimate setting for storytelling and sharing. I view these as a type of acoustic session (think of MTV Unplugged).
What are three areas of focus for organizations looking to improve the people experience?
Truth is that employees want to feel empowered (valued), safe, and confident. The mediator of those factors is having strong and inspiring leaders and supervisors. The whole paradigm of employee engagement and employee experience must shift to identifying, selecting, and developing emotionally intelligent leaders.
What do you think is the most important quality in a leader?
This is a great question. The most important quality is to have a leader that can CONNECT with all his/her stakeholders to understand what their motivations and fears are.
What is your go to productivity trick?
A music playlist to give me exactly what I need. And that can cover several different genres in a day
Who was the last person to inspire you at work and why?
I recently had a CEO that understood the value in developing human capital and investing in people. Watching him, I got to see the different formal and informal ways he would connect and motivate people. Also, he was a tremendous advocate of employees building their individual brand; and understanding how that brand helped enhance the organization’s brand.
What is the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
I used to work for this retired Army Colonel. My last week of working for him he drilled to me that while you empower people, the leader is responsible for everything that comes out of his/her shop. Staff must know what your expectations and values are.
Name one song that fires you up, when you need to get motivated and fast
That changes, all the time. At this moment, it is God Lives Through by A Tribe Called Quest. The beat makes my head bob, and the structure of the lyrics always take me to a nice internal place.
Best place, (other than your own city) that you have ever visited?
Rotterdam (Netherlands). I attend the North Sea Jazz Festival every year. Early on, I would only spend time at the hotel and the festival venue. But Rotterdam has a quiet dopeness to it. So now, I get out and explore the city.