In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander hosts Julie Kratz, a speaker and trainer specializing in inclusive leadership. Julie explains her outsider perspective on corporate culture, describing how she helps leaders become allies and foster environments where employees can bring their full human selves to work. She challenges the conventional notion of work‑life balance, proposing a teeter‑totter model of work‑life integration and encouraging self‑compassion. Julie stresses the importance of authenticity, sharing personal anecdotes about conforming to masculine dress codes at Caterpillar and the need for leaders to permit others to be their true selves. She recommends an ally, Matt Young, as a potential podcast guest, and recounts her first job at a community pool, highlighting early lessons about the value of money. The episode concludes with Julie’s contact details and resources available on nextpivotpoint.com.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1, in a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hi, my name is Julie Kratz, and I am a speaker and trainer on inclusive leadership. I help leaders be allies for others in the workplace. I also train women to build winning career game plans while promoting equality in the workplace.
Julie, it's great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Ah, I love being an outsider to the corporate America experience. So as a speaker and a trainer, having my own business, I get to be the eyes and the ears outside the organization to see and hear and look for things that There could be opportunities to improve in promoting a culture of inclusion and helping people have more successful meetings that people want to go to, teams that you want to be a part of, that you actually get fired up in the morning to go to work to be a part of a winning team, and to really feel like your voice is heard, that you're seen completely, and you can really bring your full human self. To the workplace and feel like you belong is core to what I do.
Wow, it sounds like any kind of company that would be a utopian for somebody to work for.
That's the goal. It's a journey though. It is, it is.
Question number 3: I hear from other business leaders that staying in a good work-life balance for them and their team members is a challenge. What are your thoughts?
I don't think work and life balance out, you know, the equation, it goes back and forth. It's lopsided. I liken it to a teeter-totter more than equality equilibrium. And that's because, you know, work ebbs and flows, life ebbs and flows. Certainly we're in a tisis, big time of uncertainty and ebb and flow culturally. And oftentimes, if we're trying to be perfect in one sphere of our life, we feel like we're forgoing the other sphere of our life. And especially people don't, you know, forget who they are at home when they clock in or go into the workplace at 8 o'clock in the morning and enter their cubicle, nor do they when they leave at 4 or 5 o'clock or whatever that is and go home. They bring their full human self to the workplace and they bring the work home with them a lot of times and sometimes keeps them up at night. Uh, so I like to forego the notion of balance and really welcome the concept of integration, the concept of I'm not going to get it perfect all of the time. I'm going to forgive myself and give myself permission, uh, to practice maybe some self-care from time to time when things are out of balance and You know, it's on the other side of it. Are you fulfilled most of the days in what you're doing? Is it balanced out? 80/20 rule? 80% of time is it working? That's probably good enough.
I would agree 100%. It's very insightful what you said. Question number 4: What other successful business leaders like yourself should be on my podcast?
Ah, I know so many of my allies that I would recommend, and this is probably the hardest question you have, Pete. You know, one of my early allies in corporate America, in my own corporate career. I had a manager, I remember kind of in the middle part of that corporate career that said, you know, I'd love to work for you someday. And those words really stuck with me. And he's, he's still in it in the corporate scheme and still leading and doing really amazing things. And I think his vote of confidence in me and believing in me at that pivotal point in my career to grow my confidence just really, really continues to stay with me today. And his name is Matt Young. I worked with him in a company called Caterpillar, and he's since now running logistics for another company, but really incredible guy.
Great, I will reach out to him. Thank you for that referral. And question number 5: What insight or advice would you give to other business leaders?
Ah, I say, be who you are, be authentic. You know, oftentimes one of the, and I know that sounds simple and cliché, but one of the things I find most often when teams are struggling is they're having to be a different version of themselves to fit in with the group. And sometimes you don't even know you're doing it. You know, I mentioned before I worked at a company called Caterpillar, big construction company. And you, as you can imagine, being a young, blonde, blue-haired, blue-eyed woman. You know, I wasn't exactly one of the guys. And I found myself after those 4 years, you know, wearing steel-toed boots that were only in men's sizes, a coat that, you know, was only available in men's sizes, khakis, polo. I mean, I looked very masculine and I wasn't really being my full self. That was a representation of— I was covering, kind of filtering who I was. So for your listeners, I recommend like check in with yourself, like Do you get to be who you are at work? And as a leader, do you give other people permission to be them full selves at work? Were people hiding parts of their identity, whether that's who their partner is outside of work, or whether that's their interests, their hobbies? What I've heard is with virtual workplaces, we've learned so much about people, their families, and their pets. And suddenly We've seen their whole human selves. I've had people tell me, I didn't even know someone was married on my team until I saw him walk behind him in a Zoom call. That's unfortunate. Like, why have we not been bringing our full human selves to work? Why are we waiting for a crisis to be human? So be authentic. Bring your full self. People will accept weaknesses, blemishes, mistakes, all that. It makes you human and actually makes you more endearing and more attractive as a leader.
Very insightful. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, it just, it makes you real, is what I'm hearing from what you're describing. It's great.
Well, think about the leaders you respect. You like ones that are real.
Absolutely, the ones that you can relate to.
Yep.
Yep, I agree. Great. And question number 6: Tell me about your first job.
My first job. So before my professional days, so Caterpillar was my big professional one. I already went there. So rewind a few years. I was 15 and I worked at the pool, the community pool. So I was in the concession stand making all but $3 an hour, which I'm not sure was even legal back then. You did get a pool membership, so maybe. But I remember, you know, having to use the pizza oven and count the cash and, you know, the 25-cent candies and kids coming up with all their stacks of pennies, electrocuting myself with a popcorn machine. So just all sorts of fun things. But I will say that summer was one of the— you know, when you look back at your childhood, one of the times when you learned the value of work. I mean, you got that paycheck, and usually it was less than $100, put it in the bank. I was really diligent and careful about how I spent that money, and it added up over the summer. I thought, Wow, I have a whole new appreciation for how I buy clothing, what I choose to spend my money on. And no matter how much your parents harp on that, right, the value of money, until it's yours, it didn't feel real to me.
Yeah, I'm the same way. I mean, and I remember the $3 an hour. In fact, even less. It was, it was like ridiculous. Isn't it funny how we learn certain things from those, those first jobs though?
Yes, very much.
So Julie, thank you for being on the show. How can people find you?
Well, I have a website with lots of complimentary resources, so be sure to check out nextpivotpoint.com. You can find me there, videos, podcast, my own podcast, as well as free workbooks, things you can download, thought leadership. It's all there. We have a new 5 questions to get the diversity and inclusion conversation started at your organization, which might be helpful. For leaders out there. And you can email me directly. I respond to every email I get personally, usually the same day. Julie@nextpivotpoint.com. And I post daily on LinkedIn, Julie Kratz, K-R-A-T-Z.
Perfect. So this is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
