RALEIGH – It’s not enough to be invited to the party, argued Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall on Tuesday.
“You have to teach them how to dance,” she said.
And so that’s exactly what she did.
Appearing as a panelist at the NC CEO Forum, she instructed the 500-strong crowd gathered at the Raleigh Convention Center through a sequence of the “Cupid Shuffle.”
“Everyone stand up,” she shouted from stage. The music blared from the speakers, and most in the room obeyed, shuffling to the beats of rapper Cupid.
Apparently, it’s hard to refuse the first African-American woman to lead an NBA team.
Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall instructing the 500-strong crowded gathered for the NC CEO Forum through a sequence of the Cupid Shuffle.
It’s only been a little more than two years since Marshall — a former head of AT&T operations in North Carolina and former Cary resident – assumed the post. She made headlines after tech billionaire Mark Cuban recruited her to turn around the fate of his embattled franchise after it faced several allegations of sexual harassment and abuse under its former CEO Terdema Ussery.
During that time, as she recounted, she’s instituted a policy of diversity in hiring, increased the ratio of female executives, enforced workplace training while doing such things as making cheerleader uniforms much more modest.
“Now my leadership team is 50 percent women and 47 percent people of color,” she said, “and they’ve seen the results of that.”
In this era of #MeToo, Marshall is stepping forward as an executive who is determined to make a difference in how women and minorities are treated.
“You can be the only woman at the table, the only person of color, the only person with a unique ability. Yes, you have diversity. But do we teach people the rules when they’re at the table? Inclusion is being asked to dance.
“This is really want we’re really trying to drive, not just in Dallas, but across the whole NBA and across the globe.”
