Delia Garced — Invite Diversity to the Table Where Decisions Are Made

Delia Garced is Senior Director of Demand Generation at Waters. For the past 30-plus years, Delia has been leading and building global marketing teams at some of the world’s biggest companies, including GE, where she served as a marketing leader for close to 25 years. She’s a strong believer in diversity in the workplace and tries to foster inclusive teams. In this conversation, Co-hosts Mark Emond and Elle Woulfe talk with Delia about her involvement in advancing the leadership opportunities through the Latinx Executive Alliance, how GE shaped her leadership style, and how to lead GenZ team members, and her love of both the Gulf Coast and her native San Juan. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:13] Mark welcomes Delia Garced to Marketing Unplugged. Delia has a career path of over more than 25 years, from GE to Waters.

[2:55] Delia’s first part of her career was linear in sales up to a management role.

[3:44] Delia has a lot of curiosity. She tells about moving from sales into marketing and more.

[5:17] Delia’s last role at GE was very focused on enabling and driving change in the organization. It was time to become more digital.

[5:52] Delia also worked in the accelerating leadership program in marketing and sales to build the next generation of executives, who became the early adopters of marketing automation.

[6:37] Delia shares her experiences at GE during the Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt eras. She has observations about both leaders.

[9:47] Jack Welch would look to exit a market where GE wasn’t No. 1 or No. 2. Delia says, “We have to be the best that we can be in what we’re doing,” and ties that back to Jack Welch.

[11:40] Delia tells of her involvement with the Latinx Executive Alliance. She is an advisor to the board. She wants to see Latinx representation at the table where decisions are being made.

[14:25] Delia was also Co-chair of GE’s Hispanic Forum with about 200 volunteers in the group. Leadership showed them that diversity really matters.

[15:53] Delia advises joining an Employee Resource Group for the opportunity to network with people from various business units, get training, and have more exposure within the company.

[18:15] Elle is the executive sponsor of an ERG at the company where she works. She finds that attaching herself to a community spread across the company was very helpful.

[19:18] Elle asks about creativity. Marketing has evolved so that you need to bring creativity with data. You have to be creative to engage with your customers while doing what drives results.

[21:05] Do new marketers have gaps in their skill set? Delia would love for them to participate in summer internships and see what the jobs are about. What they learned in class is not enough.

[22:48] Do something differently. Delia cites an IHOP campaign when they “changed their name” to the International House of Burgers. It made people stop and think. Try to do that for people.

[24:10] Delia talks of change management and driving transformation. Delia tells how Waters learned to engage with customers differently than before. It required doing things differently.

[26:27] Mark notes that people are the hardest part of change management.

[26:53] What is Delia’s leadership style? She wants people to understand the options that they have to make decisions and do their job. She defines the principle by which she hires people.

[29:20] Mark and Delia discuss the differences between leading GenX, Millennials, and GenZ. GenZ is purpose-driven. For them to succeed, they need to feel a connection to the outcome.

[32:13] What is your hallway reputation? Delia describes how she works with it.

[36:09] How does Delia balance her work and life and likewise encourage the people she works with? She disconnects on the weekends and exercises. She sets an example for her people.

[39:12] Elle rarely checks her email but is on Slack all day long to be super responsive but disconnects from it when she is with people.

[39:59] Where would Delia visit in the U.S.? Montana, for the expansiveness!

[40:00] Delia tells of her favorite place where she has lived. Florida means family! Going out in the open air and being in the sun, helps Delia refresh and recharge.

[42:10] Snow or sun? Sun! Elle and Mark agree, too.

[42:52] East Coast or West Coast? Delia takes this down to Florida. She loves the Gulf Coast for the slower pace of living over Florida’s East Coast. For all of the U.S., the West Coast.

[43:28] Go to the gym, or exercise at home? Classes at the gym! She gets competitive.

[43:49] Book or movie? Movie! Last seen, The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and The Batman!

[44:29] Coffee of tea? Diet Coke!

[44:46] San Juan or Sarasota? San Juan! Her culture is calling her!

[45:22] Who are three people, past or present, you would love to have dinner with? Her parents, from the past. Her international teams, from the present. There’s nothing like sitting face-to-face just for the enjoyment of each other.

[47:37] Elle and Mark thank Delia for the great conversation!

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Delia Garced on LinkedIn

GE

Latinx Executive Alliance

Jack Welch

Jeff Immelt

Six Sigma at GE

Hispanic Forum at GE

Eloqua

IHOP

Slack