Leading with Purpose with Helena Foulkes | #BossTalks | Salesforce

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Boss Talks, a series featuring candid career advice from some of the best in the business. Today's episode is focused on a topic near and dear to my heart, and that's leading with purpose. Leading with purpose is about so much more than just doing what you're passionate about, although that's certainly a part of it. It's about discovering the why behind the work. Maybe it's a cause you care about or a product that you can just really get behind, then leading from that place of purpose. To help me unpack this topic, I've invited someone with an incredible track record in leading with purpose. Helena, folks, is the former CEO of Hudson's Bay Company and president of CVS Pharmacy. She is an active board member, including the board overseers at Harvard University. This woman is doing it all. Helena, welcome to Boss Talks.

Hi, Ebony. It's so fun to be with you. Thank you for having me.

Now, you know today's episode is all about leading with purpose. So can you tell us what it means to be purpose led and leading with purpose, in your opinion?

Yeah, I, you know, I started on this journey really thinking about this at CVS in. In about 2008, and it really started as a journey to say, why do you do what you do from a work perspective? What gives you meaning? What is your individual purpose? And we interviewed hundreds of people all over the company, but it really started with an understanding of what motivates you to come to work and connected to. That was an idea that we had around something we framed as who is your whole? And we had everyone bring in pictures to their stores or their home offices of the person in their life that they work for that motivates them. And so, as you can imagine, it was oftentimes children or parents or siblings. And so when I started a store visit, I would always ask people to share their who with me. And it really broke down a lot of barriers. I got to know people. They're amazing people who work at retail. And so that was. That was really how we brought this purpose driven conversation to the front lines of our organization.

I want to ask you a question that we get a lot here on Boss Talks, and it's about climbing the corporate ladder. And it's such a tricky thing to navigate. And because sometimes corporate politics, not sometimes corporate politics can be challenging, period.

They are.

So what are your tips for folks looking to climb that corporate ladder? Imagine, you know, as you were checking in with yourself and, you know, life is happening, your career is advancing. You know, what tips do you have for folks?

Yeah. The thing I always think is a good way to think about it, especially early in your career. And, you know, now my, my. My four kids are in their 20s, so I'm starting to have these conversations with them. It's the idea of showing up and really thinking hard about how you can help your boss. You know, we're doing boss talks here, but I think instead of saying, how, how am I growing? What am I learning? It's really saying, how can I be of service to the person I'm working for, the team I'm working with? And I think if. If and when you become that person who's always able to deliver for your boss or your team, you know, great things happen. I had a really smart mentor in my life say to me, helena, you gotta give to get. And if you come in with a spirit of giving and generosity, I think amazing things can happen in your career. So that is one very important lesson that I learned about climbing the corporate ladder. I think another one is having lots of sponsors. So not just your boss, but people in the organization that you find and reminding yourself that you're not just asking for their help, you're helping them. You know, you're bringing them a perspective on the organization that they may not have. And what you want to remember is when big decisions are being made about careers or who to put in a new role, you want allies in the room. You want people saying, you know, I've worked with Halina, and she really did a great job, and I trust her. And so you want to be thinking about how you build that reputation of trust based on how you're showing up. And so those are a couple things I would say.

So let's switch gears for a moment and talk a little bit about being underestimated. Now, for me, it's very hard to picture anyone underestimating you ever just knowing you. But I know we all have our moments. It definitely happens. And I know for me, when I sense that I'm being underestimated, I actually love that. That's when I dig in and I get really motivated to prove everyone wrong. So what is your secret? How do you overcome being underestimated?

Yeah, you're right. I love being underestimated, too. Leadership skills apply no matter where you go. And one of the things I've learned, even in this last six months, is to trust my own instincts and follow my gut, because the things I've learned in my past really can apply to right now. So. So I think it is reminding yourself to check in with your gut. And if you have a funny feeling that something's not going right, if you're in a brand new world, you know, really listen hard to that, because I think that sometimes there's other people underestimating you, but there's also sometimes you underestimating yourself.

That's right.

And so I would say that latter piece, you really have to have confidence in yourself to say, no, I got here for a reason. I know how to do something that maybe was different, but really does apply to what I'm doing now.

You know, I love that my mantra, our team's mantra for the year, is trust your gut, and it just is so applicable. And I love that you trust your gut as well. I love that you don't shy away from a challenge. So what are your tips for people looking to challenge the status quo at their company?

Look, this is a very hard thing to do. I had been at CVS for about 20 years when that happened. And every single year, we'd have company meetings, and we would talk about our mission and our vision and our values, and someone very brave, usually in the back of the room, would raise their hand and say, well, why do we still sell cigarettes? And. And it was usually if we were honest, because we did a lot of sales in cigarettes. So it's a very hard thing to do. I think that in that particular case, the reason we were successful was it was a massive team effort. I don't think you can make change at that level alone. I think that when you get the opportunity in life, you've just got to really step back and say, you know, how do I create a team effort around this? It's not about taking credit yourself. It's about really figuring out how you can do something that the whole organization will be really proud of and who's critical to get on the bus to make it happen.

Oh, I'm so glad you said that last thing. I just want to go back to it and ask. And ask you the appointed question. Is purpose about credit?

No, it is not. That's. I think credit gets in the way of purpose oftentimes. I really do, you know, and I.

All the time. Almost all the time.

I mean, like, you know, it's a very interesting thing because I don't feel that it is mine to take credit for. We had all these other people I just described that would never. The decision wouldn't be made without them. And I think also it relates to people feeling like they can trust you, because when you see people in your Organization who are grabbing for credit. That usually lowers the trust factor in the organization, and people are wondering what the true motives are. So. So I think that the best experiences and people you work with are people you trust to be doing things that are right for the organization, not for themselves. I'm sure you've had that experience.

Oh, very much so. And why it just resonated with me was in this entire conversation. You know, what stood out to me is that you talked about team. You gave credit to other people, and this was about purpose. And a lot of times people think it's my purpose, but it's shared. Right. Especially when you're working in an organization. Your three questions were not about you and what you could gain. It was about what can you offer, what can you give? You know, and I think that that's a really important nuance when you're talking about leading with purpose or finding your purpose.

It's.

It can be. They can be mutually beneficial, but you have to make sure that the motivation is in the right place.

Yeah, absolutely. Yes, It's. But it's so fun when you can do that because you could serve people at a whole new level.

Yeah, it's right. It's become so much more valuable and rewarding.

Yeah.

So unfortunately, this has come to an end, but I get to ask you my favorite and final question, and I'm really excited that I get to ask you this. So, Helena, what is your superpower?

Oh, my superpower. I think my greatest superpower is my ability to listen deeply and really understand where people are coming from so that whether they're excited about something I'm trying to do or really resisting it, I understand where they are and I can tap into their greatest strengths. I think that's what I'm good at, and it allows me to bring out the best in people. And as we've been talking about, build teams that really produce great things for people, whether they're organizations or groups you're part of.

Thank you so much. I really love what you shared with us today, and I think we're all going to walk away from this conversation really more prepared to lead with purpose. So I thank you for joining us today on Boss Talks.

Thank you, Ebony. I'm such a fan of yours, and thanks for having me on.

I hope you all enjoy today's conversation. And to watch more episodes of Boss Talks, check out the new Salesforce Plus. To continue boss building, head on over to trailblazer.salesforce.com to join millions of trailblazers who are learning relevant skills and growing our trailblazer community. With that, thank you for tuning in to boss talks, and I'll see you all next time.