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What Pride means to me

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What Pride means to me

Sue MacDonald

Executive President, People & Organisation

This is a picture of me with my daughter-in law. A spontaneous shot taken in Brisbane, Australia by my husband when she and my eldest son announced their engagement.

In that moment I felt so happy. I felt cared for. I felt like the best version of myself.

It is my hope that is how my colleagues across Wood feel every day, when they show up as part of our global team together. I know it is in our power to make this happen. And I believe that starts with every single one of us.

Respecting, understanding and celebrating one another for all that we are, where we come from and where we’re going – that’s the commitment we make to one another at Wood. Because creating a sense of belonging for everyone we get to call a teammate, is how we succeed in sparking the brightest solutions together and enjoy coming to work each day.

We achieve it by learning from one another – being open to educating yourself on someone else’s experience, viewpoint and expertise, and educating others on yours. We achieve it by listening to one another, engaging in open and honest conversations that truly connect us. We achieve it by leading with empathy, putting care for how someone else thinks, feels and experiences life at the heart of your decision, actions and behaviours.

Pride month, held in June, is important to me as an opportunity to shine an even brighter spotlight on educating, engaging and empathising with our LGBTQIA+ community. But this is about more than just a month, a day or a moment in time. Our commitment to conversations and connections is constant and it’s evolving, because so is the world – and with it, the opportunities and challenges we face together. The spirit of this is reflected in the advancement of our Wood Pride network logo – with the abbreviation and flags represented within the image mirroring their focus on being truly equal, respectful and inclusive of all.

I strongly believe in the power of kindness – each of us has the innate ability to be kind and in my experience, it is totally within our control how we choose to show up each day. Through our own words and actions, we have the power to make people feel good about themselves – or not. That is a big responsibility and one each of us should take seriously. We have great people at Wood and an abundance of kindness out there and I’m confident that as a global team we can go from strength to strength by continuing to be allies, champions and change makers.

Sue MacDonald
Executive President, P&O, and Pride Network Chair