"Reaching Out" For More Diversity
GSB Hosts 4th Annual Lesbian and Gay MBA Conference
Christian Doll and Michaela Murphy
Issue date: 4/11/02 Section: GSB Business
These suggestions were echoed by the evening's keynote speaker, Martin Atkin of J.P. Morgan Chase. Atkin – recently profiled in a PBS special on movers and shakers on Wall Street, and named by Out magazine one of the 100 Most Influential gay people in the United States –has had a two-decade career as an out gay man on Wall Street. Atkin observed that business success comes from many sources, but he boiled down the three most important to energy, challenge, and opportunity.
Speaking to the concept of energy, Atkin remarked that Wall Street is highly competitive, and provides increasingly complicated proposition due to global expansion. He recognized the need to form teams fast, and that, if people do not feel free to state a point of view, or feel doubtful of their own value, the team will almost certainly perform less well. As such, he commented, the great challenge for the conference attendees is for "each of us to manage our sexuality ourselves," and to demand that issues such as marginalization are addressed immediately.
Regarding challenge, Atkin commented on the struggles faced by what he referred to as "diverse types:" "Your struggle in business is greater… than those [who] have been granted the luxury of being in the majority." He encouraged his audience to embrace that challenge, and the challenge the current economy might pose, so that we might become stronger.
Atkin recognizes the importance of seeking and embracing opportunity. "We all have strengths and skills… and we deploy them…. In my mind, being gay is a strength… I use it like any other strength that I have… I use it strategically." He also addressed a strength in being able to empathize, and to recognize that everyone's feelings are different (to the straight, white guys, he declared, "I feel for you, too!").However, Atkin acknowledged that being gay "can be a weakness… there are people out there who, without cause… feel negatively about you, or me, because of our sexuality." But he passionately believes, that a job well done should negate that negativity.
Speaking to the concept of energy, Atkin remarked that Wall Street is highly competitive, and provides increasingly complicated proposition due to global expansion. He recognized the need to form teams fast, and that, if people do not feel free to state a point of view, or feel doubtful of their own value, the team will almost certainly perform less well. As such, he commented, the great challenge for the conference attendees is for "each of us to manage our sexuality ourselves," and to demand that issues such as marginalization are addressed immediately.
Regarding challenge, Atkin commented on the struggles faced by what he referred to as "diverse types:" "Your struggle in business is greater… than those [who] have been granted the luxury of being in the majority." He encouraged his audience to embrace that challenge, and the challenge the current economy might pose, so that we might become stronger.
Atkin recognizes the importance of seeking and embracing opportunity. "We all have strengths and skills… and we deploy them…. In my mind, being gay is a strength… I use it like any other strength that I have… I use it strategically." He also addressed a strength in being able to empathize, and to recognize that everyone's feelings are different (to the straight, white guys, he declared, "I feel for you, too!").However, Atkin acknowledged that being gay "can be a weakness… there are people out there who, without cause… feel negatively about you, or me, because of our sexuality." But he passionately believes, that a job well done should negate that negativity.