Patience

CF: I’d like to go back to what you said about having your sights set on this role from Day 1, essentially. What is it about this role that draws you and and gave you the patience to wait for it?

TF: I am a huge advocate, and incredibly passionate, and get my satisfaction out of watching people get to their potential. … And for me, this role is different than the Canada role, not just because it’s larger … [but also because] it is a platform for the company. I think it provides me an opportunity to take what I’ve learned … and be the advocate at a company level. I have the energy and the stamina to do that, and I think I can make a difference, and that’s why I kind of set my sights on it. Six years ago I knew that’s what I wanted to go do and I also knew that there was a learning process. … So that’s why I wasn’t impatient, so to speak; I just saw the benefit to the timing. I think there’s no better time for me to actually have taken on this role than today, for many reasons. But certainly those times of uncertainty that we talked about are a big one. I think that teams need someone they can depend on … someone who has been here for a number of years and who understands the challenges and someone who’s committed to seeing this through.

CF: I appreciate you elaborating on that. And, of course, the question that comes to mind and I have to ask is, does this indicate that you might have your sights set on the global channel chief role?

TF: So I will tell you, the answer is no, at this time. I think it’s a different role, and I have spent the last 25 years in a sales organization. I can’t imagine not being part of a sales organization, and so I’m not sure what’s next. All I know is, I’ve got a huge opportunity and a huge platform to make a difference to our partners, to our company, and to the community as a whole, especially around diversity. I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in my career. I’ve also worked hard for them, and I know that I needed great role models in order to believe anything was possible. And so that is a role that I take very, very, very seriously.

CF: Would you talk more about the diversity efforts you’re intending?

TF: Diversity, equity and inclusion is something I have always had a lot of passion around, and as someone who has grown up in the tech community, it’s not an area that I felt has held me back. I have never felt that being a woman has held me back. But that being said, I also believe that we are not where we need to be in term of our representation. Having diverse teams, the criticality of that in terms of business success, is not debatable. There’s enough data to prove that companies with diverse teams do better. …  And while we might be talking about gender and color, I also think diversity comes from different experiences and different thought processes. So I want to be clear that when I say diversity, it’s not just about gender, it’s about the whole package. I was certainly honored by being selected to help on the … diversity, equity and inclusion council for the Americas at VMware … when it launched just a few years ago. … I feel really good about our ability to continue to drive the momentum there, because I think we have made significant improvements in the last six years at VMware.