License to speak: Role model Jacky Wright on the principles that have guided her amazing career in tech
From her north London beginnings to Silicon Valley seniority, McKinsey & Company Chief Technology and Platform Officer, Jacky Wright (Former Microsoft Chief Digital Officer) has had a varied journey in tech in which she has always moved forward with confidence and intent. At the everywoman in Tech Forum 2022 she discussed the importance of knowing what you value, and building a career on mission and purpose.
How has your background informed how you view the world of work and your purpose within it?
As a north Londoner, coming out of Tottenham, I never thought that I’d be in a position where I’d have the ability to influence in a positive way, at scale, and to inspire people to be able to achieve anything they want to. My journey started out with a proud father and mother from a Caribbean heritage and culture that was deeply seeded in the importance of ‘who you are’. My dad always used to say, ‘It’s not what you do; it’s who you are that counts’, and instilled in me that I could do and be anything — and at a time when people of colour were going through so much in Britain. That taught me a lot about who I needed to be — and who I still need to be. As I think about my life and my work, my questions are how do I ensure that my values and my mission about leaving the world in a better place are part of my job, part of my role and part of my life? That’s fundamentally who I am.
How did you start out in technology and why?
I went to university in the US and while I was at school I got a job in a bank and fell into technology. I learned Lotus 123 and how to create macros, so what used to take me all week now took the press of a button. I thought to myself, ‘Oh I could do something with this little computer’, so I spent my time teaching myself the basics and going around departments asking people what they were doing and offering to put it on computer for them. As a result, I got a reputation as this college kid who knew stuff about technology that they didn’t know. After graduation, I moved to California to become a database analyst and project manager. My parents had retired to Florida and then my father had a stroke, so I quit that job and drove cross-country to be with him — my dad lived less than a year after that and my life and career are planned around recognising what’s important to me and never looking back. Likewise, when my kids were younger, I wanted to make sure I provided the best of everything I could for them and to do that I needed funds, so my career was focused on that. One day, I had a pivotal moment with my son. He hadn’t done his homework and I asked what was going on. He replied, ‘You are never here’ and when I pointed out all the things I had provided for him, he said, ‘I don’t care. You’re never here’. That made me realise what was important was quality time with my children and that it didn’t matter how much money I was earning. These types of things have helped shape who I am and the decisions I make around my purpose in life and work.
How does inclusion underpin your mission and values?
In Florida, I initially took a clerical job but I was still looking for technology job. I was scanning the board one day when a man came up and told me, ‘You can’t be a programmer’ to which I replied, ‘I can, I am, and I will’. It’s one thing to be a woman in an area like technology when there is no one — or very few people — like you; it’s even more so when you’re a woman of colour. These kinds of situations have made me even more forcefully focused on mission, value, purpose and how to make sure people feel that they are included. If you think about the concentric circles of trust, as black women we are on the outermost circle in the corporate world. I know that, but I live by two mantras: assume positive intent and don’t take it personally — these have been my guiding lights. Your mindset has a lot to do with how you cope and my coping mechanisms have been built over time. I assume positive intent first, because if I didn’t, I’d start out being angry. What I’d say is that what people see is that you’re a black woman; what they feel is based on their experience and their environment. But don’t take it personally and assume positive intent to give space first before you can say, okay, either this person is an idiot or a racist.
How did you decide that your career would be governed by mission and purpose?
Everyone has to ask themselves ‘What are my values?’; ‘What are the non-negotiables?’ Ultimately, your purpose, mission and values are all you have. You can always learn to code. You can always learn to be a leader. But your purpose, mission, and values define how you work and your success in life. Early on, I probably didn’t have that clarity, but what I did have was a strong sense of right and wrong and that guided me. I’d go into meetings and see how people were treated and I’d know that’s just not me. I had a sense of how it feels because I too have been in that situation. So my values around things like that were that I would never make anyone feel the way that I felt. I remember often not being able to get a word in edgeways in meetings with the men jockeying for position. One boss asked me why I didn’t speak up and when I told him how hard it was he asked what he could do to open the door for me. I said, ‘How about we create this nod and wink system?’ So he could ‘let me in’ if I needed it. And that’s what we did — he’d make sure I could speak but would also reaffirm what I said as well. So people in the room knew they had the license, he had the license and I had the license to speak and be in the room.
What advice would you give to someone who finds their mission and purpose are diverging from the organisation they’re with?
The ability to understand your threshold and tolerance to a situation is important because if you don’t, it will cause you internal struggles and you can become ill. It isn’t worth it. I will always give things my ‘all’, but if it tips to the point where I don’t want to get up in the morning, or I come home frustrated and I’m short with my family, then I know it’s time to go. Those are things that people have to evaluate every day. And you might be thinking, what if I lose this job? Will I even get another one? But we’re in technology and there are so many opportunities out there in this space — so don’t compromise because your health is the most important thing you will ever have.
From her north London beginnings to Silicon Valley seniority, Microsoft Chief Digital Officer, Jacky Wright has had a varied journey in tech in which she has always moved forward with confidence and intent. At the everywoman in Tech Forum 2022 she discussed the importance of knowing what you value, and building a career on mission and purpose.
How has your background informed how you view the world of work and your purpose within it?
As a north Londoner, coming out of Tottenham, I never thought that I’d be in a position where I’d have the ability to influence in a positive way, at scale, and to inspire people to be able to achieve anything they want to. My journey started out with a proud father and mother from a Caribbean heritage and culture that was deeply seeded in the importance of ‘who you are’. My dad always used to say, ‘It’s not what you do; it’s who you are that counts’, and instilled in me that I could do and be anything — and at a time when people of colour were going through so much in Britain. That taught me a lot about who I needed to be — and who I still need to be. As I think about my life and my work, my questions are how do I ensure that my values and my mission about leaving the world in a better place are part of my job, part of my role and part of my life? That’s fundamentally who I am.
How did you start out in technology and why?
I went to university in the US and while I was at school I got a job in a bank and fell into technology. I learned Lotus 123 and how to create macros, so what used to take me all week now took the press of a button. I thought to myself, ‘Oh I could do something with this little computer’, so I spent my time teaching myself the basics and going around departments asking people what they were doing and offering to put it on computer for them. As a result, I got a reputation as this college kid who knew stuff about technology that they didn’t know. After graduation, I moved to California to become a database analyst and project manager. My parents had retired to Florida and then my father had a stroke, so I quit that job and drove cross-country to be with him — my dad lived less than a year after that and my life and career are planned around recognising what’s important to me and never looking back. Likewise, when my kids were younger, I wanted to make sure I provided the best of everything I could for them and to do that I needed funds, so my career was focused on that. One day, I had a pivotal moment with my son. He hadn’t done his homework and I asked what was going on. He replied, ‘You are never here’ and when I pointed out all the things I had provided for him, he said, ‘I don’t care. You’re never here’. That made me realise what was important was quality time with my children and that it didn’t matter how much money I was earning. These types of things have helped shape who I am and the decisions I make around my purpose in life and work.
How does inclusion underpin your mission and values?
In Florida, I initially took a clerical job but I was still looking for technology job. I was scanning the board one day when a man came up and told me, ‘You can’t be a programmer’ to which I replied, ‘I can, I am, and I will’. It’s one thing to be a woman in an area like technology when there is no one — or very few people — like you; it’s even more so when you’re a woman of colour. These kinds of situations have made me even more forcefully focused on mission, value, purpose and how to make sure people feel that they are included. If you think about the concentric circles of trust, as black women we are on the outermost circle in the corporate world. I know that, but I live by two mantras: assume positive intent and don’t take it personally — these have been my guiding lights. Your mindset has a lot to do with how you cope and my coping mechanisms have been built over time. I assume positive intent first, because if I didn’t, I’d start out being angry. What I’d say is that what people see is that you’re a black woman; what they feel is based on their experience and their environment. But don’t take it personally and assume positive intent to give space first before you can say, okay, either this person is an idiot or a racist.
How did you decide that your career would be governed by mission and purpose?
Everyone has to ask themselves ‘What are my values?’; ‘What are the non-negotiables?’ Ultimately, your purpose, mission and values are all you have. You can always learn to code. You can always learn to be a leader. But your purpose, mission, and values define how you work and your success in life. Early on, I probably didn’t have that clarity, but what I did have was a strong sense of right and wrong and that guided me. I’d go into meetings and see how people were treated and I’d know that’s just not me. I had a sense of how it feels because I too have been in that situation. So my values around things like that were that I would never make anyone feel the way that I felt. I remember often not being able to get a word in edgeways in meetings with the men jockeying for position. One boss asked me why I didn’t speak up and when I told him how hard it was he asked what he could do to open the door for me. I said, ‘How about we create this nod and wink system?’ So he could ‘let me in’ if I needed it. And that’s what we did — he’d make sure I could speak but would also reaffirm what I said as well. So people in the room knew they had the license, he had the license and I had the license to speak and be in the room.
What advice would you give to someone who finds their mission and purpose are diverging from the organisation they’re with?
The ability to understand your threshold and tolerance to a situation is important because if you don’t, it will cause you internal struggles and you can become ill. It isn’t worth it. I will always give things my ‘all’, but if it tips to the point where I don’t want to get up in the morning, or I come home frustrated and I’m short with my family, then I know it’s time to go. Those are things that people have to evaluate every day. And you might be thinking, what if I lose this job? Will I even get another one? But we’re in technology and there are so many opportunities out there in this space — so don’t compromise because your health is the most important thing you will ever have.