Bhavana Bartholf

Chief Analytics and Innovation Officer
Bank of America

Leadership Insights to Action: An ongoing series – presented by Diversity First with contributor Jennifer Walker – spotlighting innovative leaders who are making meaningful, impactful, and sustainable change to elevate diversity, equity and belonging for the betterment of their organizations and beyond. Do you know such a leader who should be featured? Tell us!

What is an idea, practice, or innovation that you have led to accelerate diversity, equity & belonging at your organization or more broadly for industry? What was an unexpected challenge or opportunity that you encountered, and what did you learn?

Prior to joining Bank of America, I have a 22-year career at Microsoft and experienced the transition of all our CEOs. The culture of the company has varied over time and right now, the company culture is aligned with my beliefs and philosophy that everything starts with people. I was raised to remember that you treat people with respect and kindness.

During my career – even when I was not in leadership roles – the practice that has worked for me is the power of active listening and showing people that they are seen and heard. The power of that has led to fostering healthy work environments, and it has helped me to truly empower, innovate and make a difference. When people feel like they are valued, empowered, and accepted for who they are and that they can be their authentic selves, there is huge power in that component of what we call inclusion and belonging.

How have you put this philosophy into practice?

Every time I go into a new organization, I take the time to connect with each person, no matter how many layers deep they may be within the business. Personally, that is the best investment I can make in an organization, especially in the organizations that have had significant change.

There is so much power in taking the time to connect with people one-on-one and in small forums. When I initially connect with them, it is not about figuring out the business or discussing strategy. Rather, I connect with them to get to know them at a personal level and that could include anything from sharing how they grew up, to what matters in their lives or whatever they are comfortable in sharing that matters to them. I always tell them up front that this is a very informal conversation. It is for me to get to know them and for them to get to know me as a person first. I even tell them the importance of that conversation is to build trust. For example, if we roll out a strategy and they do not personally agree with it, I do not want them to feel like they cannot voice that opinion. I need to make sure that they have zero concerns in picking up the phone and telling me why it will or will not work. And so, that is the reason I do these one-on-one meetings, and I give them that context as well. It is fascinating how much I learn about the people in the organization, and how we take what is important to them and integrate that into collectively building our strategy to drive business success.

What is something that you wished that you would have known in your twenties?

While I was raised to embrace what makes me unique and self-advocacy is important, I do not think I realized really how essential and critical it is for me as female in business, as a wife, as a parent and as a friend. We are raised to take care of others. I would advise myself that you cannot take care of anybody else if you do not take care of yourself first. And that is counterintuitive because we are always taught that doing something for ourselves can be seen as selfish, and so we put others first. Yet, what I have found over time is that if I do not take care of myself, and if I am not happy, then it does not actually work in everything else that I am doing. Finding that balance, prioritizing you and speaking up about what matters to you and being able to stay true to yourself is important.

Editor’s note: To learn more about Bhavana’s philosophy around self-advocacy, click here to listen to her TEDx Talk, The Secret to Self-Advocacy.

What are you currently reading/listening to?

This year I have a made a big shift in my career and as I was exploring what I wanted to do next, my husband asked me a simple question: “What do you want and what matters?” I started to say things about leading large organizations/companies, turning around a company, making the impossible possible and he asked me to pause. He then said what he really meant was: “What do you want your legacy to be?” If people were at my eulogy, what would I want them to remember me by? That was so profound. I realized all the stuff I had said before did not matter, it boiled down to how people felt. He then shared Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, “Start with your WHY.”

This realization started changing the concept of my “why” for me. And that is the best advice which I give to folks is to explore their why and purpose.

What do you see as the greatest opportunity ahead?

The biggest opportunity is to drive gender equity. Women have proven time and again the impact that they can have when they are given parity. The gender gap from a pay equity perspective of the US is eighty-three cents on the dollar. Companies who provide pay equity perform 50% better than their peer companies who do not. And so, it is not something that we are just saying for the sake of saying. We see the opportunity that the world has to accelerate the pace of innovation and continue to evolve. The more we look at it not as a problem that we need to solve, but more of the impact that it can have on companies and the world at large is the biggest opportunity ahead.

What will be your legacy?

The legacy I would love to leave behind is the impact I make on people’s lives. To be able to inspire and help people figure out their capabilities and their potential, and then give them the support that they need to accomplish their dreams. And of course, this starts with my family.

I hope people remember me as the person who helped them dream and accomplish the things that they once thought was not possible. #simplyimagine