The Journey and Impact of Getting Proximate

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.

Foto: Accesswire

Have you invested the time to understand and learn about the lived experiences of people who are different from you? At Cisco, through the Proximity Initiative, we've spent the last three years on a journey to do just that.

When getting proximate there is the fear of saying something inappropriate and/or offending someone. No one fully understands the lived experiences of another person. The truth is we must have the courage and willingness to be passionately curious in these conversations.

I've personally experienced this same trepidation during many of my proximity conversations. I vividly remember a particular conversation where my proximity partner and I discovered that we had different sexual orientations. My partner shared that she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Candidly, I was frightened to inquire about her sexuality; however, in that moment, I thought to myself this is my opportunity to listen, learn, seek to understand while being respectful and honoring her identity. I hesitated, spoke softly, and in a self-doubting, insecure manner asked my questions, which were met with gratitude because she was confident I wanted to genuinely educate myself and learn about her truths. She shared with me how she views her sexuality and about how her experiences, as a bisexual woman, have shaped and impacted her perspectives. This conversation convinced me, as a heterosexual man, it's my responsibility to learn and grow from the insights she shared. This proximity conversation and many others have helped me to become more aware of my own power and privilege.

At its core, the Proximity Initiative is a one-on-one conversation between a Cisco Executive and an employee, specifically those from our Inclusive Communities (Employee Resource Organizations/Groups), with the intention to have a conversation across differences. It is not a career conversation nor mentorship, but simply a conversation to share, listen, and learn about our lived experiences.

In this blog, we're going to go behind the scenes to find out "what's really going on" and share the tangible impact and the intrinsic learning opportunity of the Cisco Proximity Initiative.

Here are three areas of insights we've uncovered over the last three years:

Getting Proximate can be uncomfortable at first

Since 2019, there have been over 1,700 Proximity meetings inclusive of each of Cisco's global regions and functional business units. Through feedback from participants and leaders, we have learned to get truly proximate. It is important to understand some of the common barriers to these kinds of conversations. Creating an environment of mutual sharing and learning requires: