When you think of the word “power” – what comes to mind? More often than not, the word “power” is associated with a particular title, position or level of influence. Everyone has a certain amount of power that can be used for great things – or not so great things.  

Our next guest on Gaining Altitude believes in a definition of power where people leverage their own experiences to lead in a way that positively impacts their communities and ultimately the world. 

Former Chairman and CEO of IBM and author of “Good Power” Ginni Rometty joined Ed for the third conversation of Gaining Altitude season two at Delta’s headquarters in Atlanta. 

Ed and Ginni discussed equity, growth, transformation, utilizing your experiences to inspire ‘good power’ and being a woman in a male dominated field. Their conversation also touched on the idea that growth and comfort never coexist. “You have to look at opportunities like this every time,” said Ginni. “If I am nervous, that means I’m going to learn something. So reframing risk with growth.” 

Delta is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion as part of its work to connect and reflect the world, which is why the company is continuing its efforts to remove barriers to and within the company through equity-focused programs and partnerships – giving employees more opportunity to grow and mature into roles that may not have previously had access to. As part of her work, Ginni is an advocate for skills-first hiring and co-chair of OneTen – an organization committed to providing opportunities for Black talent who do not have a four-year degree.  

“As I learned from Ginni and Ken [Frazier, co-chair of OneTen], I started thinking to myself: There’s an amazing amount of talent around us that we don’t look at or give opportunity to. And so, it changed the thinking here,” said Ed.  

Delta’s work with OneTen is just one of the strides the company has made as part of its commitment to become an anti-racist, anti-discrimination organization. You can learn more about the strategy on Delta News Hub. 

For more from this fascinating poignant, catch the full episode above or on Delta.com/GainingAltitude.