Page 10 - SPARK Q1 '18

Voice & Influence Program

VMwomen Dialogue Circle - 2016

VMwomen Dialogue Circle is a program that aims to empower women to be as effective as pos-
sible and to create an organizations where all people can thrive. Stanford delivers curriculum for this
program which includes videos & discussion guide for the circle. Our CEO Pat Gelsinger and SVP &
CPO Betsy Sutter are the Executive Sponsors for this program. The VMwomen Dialogue Circle runs for
6 months, where a group of 7 to 8 people (2 co-leads) schedule and prepare for circle meetings every
month for about 60 to 90 minutes. In these meetings we explore professional development topics and
exchange personal experiences in an atmosphere of confidentiality and trust. There is also a survey
conducted pre & post the program to evaluate the program effectiveness. Every dialogue circle has an
Executive Sponsor & two Co-leads. The Sponsor for our Circle was Thomas George – VP Operations
and our circle consisted of people from different streams like Rashmi Mayur (Revenue), Deep Muthu
(Pricing) as co-leads and circle members from Bangalore were Rashmi Balakrishna (IT) , Shalini Singh
(REW), Sarah Thomas (Payroll), Varsha Agarwal (IT Apps) and from Pune were Meera Mudugal (OM)
(during her Pune posting days), Nisha Nair (BTA) and Rajni Vinod (ELA IB).

During 6 months (Jan to June of 2016) we covered the below modules and shared our personal experi-
ences/ best practices that can also be applied in real time situations.

1. Uncovering Authentic Leadership - Often individuals feel they must hide parts of who they are to
be included and accepted. In this video we watched and discussed an innovative way to approach
inclusion.

2. What Works for Women at Work - In this module we discussed the practical tools for women to
succeed at work.

3. Power & Influence - When people want to make an impression, most think a lot about what they
want to say. In this module we discussed becoming fluent in matching body language to each situa-
tion can be a source of power and influence.
4. Building Effective Networks - Networks are vital to success. We discussed how to develop value in
Networking and when facing time constraints, how to prioritize and invest in a few activities to en-
hance networks.

5. Creating a Level Playing Field - This module explains how errors in judgment and evaluation con-
tribute to a gap in opportunities for women. We talked about how to create solutions that scrutinize
the ways individuals and organizations make decisions about people and relationships in order to
reduce errors.