May 7, 2018 The Ladder: Vineet Mehra: Today I found this article in the Globe and Mail. His quote was: "Bloom where you're planted."
Vineet Mehra, 39, of Oshawa, Ont., became executive vice-president and chief marketing officer for Ancestry.com in January, 2017. Based in San Francisco, he is responsible for the genealogy company’s worldwide brand and marketing.
It’s a classic Indian immigrant story. My dad was a doctor, but wanted to give us a better life, so we came to Canada. They left everything. He had to redo all his medical schooling starting from scratch. I was just under two years old.
Being Indian, if you’re not an engineer or doctor, you’re basically nothing in life. Because my dad was a doctor, I thought I wanted to be a doctor. In high school, in Oshawa, I started taking business classes in Grade 10 in entrepreneurship and marketing. Mr. Zuly changed my life. I didn’t even know his first name.
He saw my love and aptitude, took $50 out of his pocket and said, “Vineet, go start a business.” My mom added a bit; that weekend, a candy convention was at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, so she drove me down.
He saw my love and aptitude, took $50 out of his pocket and said, “Vineet, go start a business.” My mom added a bit; that weekend, a candy convention was at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, so she drove me down.
I fell in love with this wooden stand with fancy gourmet lollipops. I convinced the guy to not just sell me the lollipops, but give me the stand. I didn’t know it was merchandising, I just thought it looked nice. I brought it to school and set up my cash box. I sold out in one day, making massive margins.
I kept investing in the business. By the end of the year, it was a profit centre for the school. I thought, ‘This is it. This is what I want to do.’ While my parents were excited, they still thought, ‘My son’s going to be a doctor.’
I remember choosing courses for Grade 13. I dropped physics for a business course so couldn’t apply to science programs. [My parents] were pretty disappointed. It was a “What are you doing with your life?” moment.
A teacher told me about Proctor & Gamble, so I did research. I saw Wilfrid Laurier [University] was one of the top hiring schools, so everything was planned backward. I got my first, then second internship [there] and went on.
My first job was an account manager; my territory included Honest Ed’s. Ed Mirvish used to have birthday parties. I took over with door-crasher deals – we had a killer record year. To me, that meant everything. I got to go to India, lived in Singapore three years, met my wife there.
Consumers want to trust an institution, be associated with brands that do good. I was the global president of baby care at Johnson & Johnson and always thought of a move to Silicon Valley, but only for a brand that’s platform.
Ancestry was that brand. We have 100 million family trees – the world’s largest consumer genomics company, the No. 1 product on Amazon from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
Ancestry was that brand. We have 100 million family trees – the world’s largest consumer genomics company, the No. 1 product on Amazon from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.
What’s happening culturally in all this craziness is that people are looking for connection. Our advertising is almost all customers; we tell their stories. We took the Miracle on Ice hockey team that beat the Russians, tested their DNA and found they were from everywhere. That’s platform.
The divisiveness and lack of inclusion [in the United States] shocks me; that’s the little bit of Canadian that comes with you. The truth is, I miss the equality, the spirit of inclusion – it’s not that it’s not here, but there’s haves and have-nots. In Canada, it’s so different; you never have to think about if you live on this or that side of the street because the school is different.
Advice I always give is to “bloom where you’re planted.” Sometimes you make deliberate decisions and sometimes your career takes you certain places, but wherever you are, just bloom. Having a global career, we’ve lived in 11 or 12 houses in the past 10 years. When you do that, you lose roots. We love it [in California].
I’ve lived all over the world, travelled to over 60 or 70 countries. We’re big-time foodies and travel extensively, plan vacations around restaurants we want to eat at. We’re a family of three, two incomes, that works for us. The notion of how tight-knit we are, with a five-year old son, adding a fourth doesn’t work.
I really miss Canadian maple syrup. I won’t buy Vermont or New York stuff. Nothing beats dark Canadian maple syrup.
"In pursuit of 'diversity', qualified candidates can be too easily dismissed": Today I found this article by Eileen Dooley in the Globe and Mail:
Eileen Dooley is a human resources strategist at VF Career Management, Calgary office.
As a senior HR practitioner and an advocate of more evidence-based recruitment of candidates, I still find myself surprised by how human bias enters the process.
Recently, I was talking with a colleague who was looking to recruit for a mid-level professional role. She lit up when I told her about a good prospect she might want to consider.
That was until I told her what “he” was looking for. The mere mention of “he” clearly pushed him to the bottom of the list. And yes, “he” is also white – and middle-aged.
While it remained unspoken, it was evident that the picture of the ideal candidate was based less on skills and experience than on “diversity.” It’s as if colour (white) and gender (male) were the first filters. Only then would skills and experience be considered.
We all have bias – whether we admit it or not. We may not be outright racist, or think we have a bias, but many of us do conjure up thoughts when someone is presented in front of us – good or bad.
The challenge of seeking “diversity” in today’s workforce is that we slip all too easily into a form of reverse discrimination, consciously or unconsciously, and this does little to right the wrongs of the past. Employers can embrace diversity, as they should, but also consider proven skills and experience, at the same time.
The challenge of seeking “diversity” in today’s workforce is that we slip all too easily into a form of reverse discrimination, consciously or unconsciously, and this does little to right the wrongs of the past. Employers can embrace diversity, as they should, but also consider proven skills and experience, at the same time.
Take our federal cabinet. It was put together based on the seemingly “fair” representation of women. While well-intentioned, this measure alone doesn’t guarantee diversity in public representation, any more than it would for a business.
Instead, it sent the message that the first filter was gender. Based on overall caucus and cabinet numbers, there likely would have been about 50 per cent women in cabinet, or close to, just by appointing based on skills and experience. Choosing 15 from one group (female), and 15 from another group (male), gives the impression that the only important diversity here is gender.
Instead, it sent the message that the first filter was gender. Based on overall caucus and cabinet numbers, there likely would have been about 50 per cent women in cabinet, or close to, just by appointing based on skills and experience. Choosing 15 from one group (female), and 15 from another group (male), gives the impression that the only important diversity here is gender.
When companies privately state that their next hire will be anyone but a white male, or when ill-considered promises are made to have 50-per-cent female representation, it does not promote true diversity. Rather, it shifts the discrimination away from one group to another.
For too long, it was the norm for the workplace to be populated with white men. Women were not equally employed, and similarly men of other colours and religions were too often consigned to roles that were less visible, unpopular and inadequately compensated. Society has evolved significantly since then, and it’s time for a different discussion on what diversity in hiring practices should look like.
So, how can managers embrace diversity without running into a different kind of discrimination? First, don’t focus on gender or colour. Go beyond and consider diverse backgrounds. Employers tend to hire too much of the same thing, and so they get the same thing.
Look at the “whole” person, what they are interested in, their previous experience and how they are different. Look at how they don’t fit into the mould. There is no diversity in consistency.
Look at the “whole” person, what they are interested in, their previous experience and how they are different. Look at how they don’t fit into the mould. There is no diversity in consistency.
Second, take the time and resources to invest in having a clear picture of the competencies you truly need for the role. Make sure those are at the forefront of evaluating candidates based on evidence of skill, rather than a “picture of diversity.”
Research has shown that the more diverse the workplace is, the more variety of opinions, management styles and working relationships emerge. When working with people unlike ourselves, we come to learn more about them: not just about their personal lives, but about their culture, religion and values, which, in theory, helps promote tolerance and understanding, and provide different perspectives on issues.
We certainly do need to redress some continuing imbalances in our workforce’s composition and compensation, but using another form of discrimination is not the way to do it.
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