Malaika shares how learning a lesson the “hard way” taught her to get support, buy in and alignment across the organization on her future projects, and how her mentors helped her understand the bigger picture at critical points in her career. She discusses the importance of figuring out what you want to do early on and setting goals for yourself beyond annual goals. She offers tips for creating an inclusive workplace and highlights the Hyatt DEI initiatives that are having the most significant impact.
Malaika shares how learning a lesson the “hard way” taught her to get support, buy in and alignment across the organization on her future projects, and how her mentors helped her understand the bigger picture at critical points in her career. She discusses the importance of figuring out what you want to do early on and setting goals for yourself beyond annual goals. She offers tips for creating an inclusive workplace and highlights the Hyatt DEI initiatives that are having the most significant impact.
Hello and welcome to D E I advisors. My name is Lan Elliot on behalf of d e I advisors, and today I'm really thrilled to have someone that I've admired for a while as our guest advisor today, Malaika Myers, the Chief Human Resources Officer for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Welcome,
Malaika Myers:Malka. Thank you, LAN. And I am a huge admirer of the work that you guys are doing, so I'm really thrilled to be to be asked to participate. Thank you.
Lan Elliott:Thank you. Now you've been with Hyatt about five years and I think it's your first hospitality job, if I'm not mistaken. It is. Yes. We hope you'll stay in the industry
Malaika Myers:for a long time. I'm hooked.
Lan Elliott:how have you built your successful career? Can you share that with our viewers and maybe some of the factors that contributed to your.
Malaika Myers:Yeah, I I always say that my career's been a combination of hard work. I don't wanna ever underestimate that you actually do have to work hard. But also some great great timing in terms of being in the right place at the right time. And also some fantastic mentors that I've had along the way. So tho those are the three things I would. I'd focus on, in terms of my career, I've had a chance to work in different industries. As you said, this is my first role in hospitality, but I've I started my career in actually a, a chemical company. And then went on to consumer products goods company. So I spent some time with with people companies like Pepsi and and then did some other consumer products goods before I made my way to hospitality. And each time I moved, I was really focused on learning and learning something. And challenging myself in different ways, and I think that's that's enabled me to have a fantastic set of experiences that I look back on and and really appreciate.
Lan Elliott:That's wonderful. Now, you've had an an incredible career journey, but like most people, it's, it wasn't without its challenges and setbacks. Can you share a challenge that you encountered and maybe how you approached it, what lessons you learned from that?
Malaika Myers:You mean it hasn't all been a walk on the yellow brick road? No. Yeah, there've been plenty, plenty of challenges along the way. I think one of the challenges that I faced I don't know maybe a third of the way into my career was really learning how to manage within the organizational dynamics. And I I can recall a time when I was working in for those folks in HR in a global talent role. And and I was working to pull together, a new process where we were gonna talk about talent and I did all the work and I. This was a great process. I put it together, I sent it out to our divisions and I had one of my one of the division HR leaders call me up and just, Ripped me to shreds. And and I, yeah. And that's how I felt wow. And I and I hung up and I went into my boss's office and I said, okay, we've got a problem. Really upset, and he just looked at me and he said, yeah. And I said no. no. You don't understand. Like he's really upset. And he said, okay, so what are you gonna do about it? And when I reflected on that after I calmed myself down and realized I wasn't gonna be fired, which by the way I thought was a distinct possibility when I got this phone call I realized that he knew I was gonna run into that. Freight train and he let me run into that freight train. And one of the reasons he let me run into that freight train was because he, I needed to learn how to think about the organizational dynamics and not just focus on the work itself, but also think about. Who was gonna be on the receiving end? What input would they have? How could I engage them? None of which I had actually done. And it, for me, it was a really powerful lesson that mentor remained a mentor for the rest. My, that boss became a mentor, remained a mentor for the rest of my career, but he taught me two lessons that day. One is the power of trusting in in your team. and letting them make their own mistakes. Yep. Because I would've never learned that lesson in the way that I had if he hadn't just stepped back and said let's see where she gets with this. And then and then the second was the, maybe the more obvious one was how important it is not just to produce a great product, but produce a great product that can actually get support and buy-in and alignment across the organization.
Lan Elliott:Those are really great lessons. I know it's really hard to, when you see people going into an area that you think it might not work out for them, it's really hard to to let that happen, but to trust them and to make sure they have guardrails that it's not going to be career ending or anything, but that when they come back to you that they feel supported. It's that's what he did for you. Yeah. And also just to think about how the things that you work on impact the organization more broadly. Really great lessons.
Malaika Myers:Yeah.
Lan Elliott:So one of the challenges that women leaders sometimes face is this perception that you can't be both competent and kind. So for example, leaders who are deemed too nice or kind might not be seen as having the necessary skills to advance and vice versa. Yeah. Is this anything you've experienced in your CH career, and if so, how did you find the right balance?
Malaika Myers:Yeah, I, I think when I think about this, I think about the contrast being leaders are not typically thought of as kind. I think you can be an individual contributor and many people would say, sure, you can be competent and you can also be kind. But when you think about people in leadership roles, I think that's when this tension starts to show itself. And interestingly, this same boss. that I referenced. he was the the beginning of a lot of learning for me. But one of the things he said to me fairly early in my career was, Hey, listen you need to have a bigger voice in the room. Like you, you have, you've got a lot of great thinking and you shouldn't be afraid to share it even when it's contrary to what you're prevailing when is in the room. And one of the things he said to maybe. It made me feel more comfortable. I don't know if it should have, but it did because he said Listen, everybody likes you. This is the nice thing, right? Everyone likes you, you're really well thought of. So don't be afraid to assert yourself like you're not. It's not as if people are gonna think you're suddenly this, horrible person who's hooky, who they can't get along with. You sh you have you have room to assert yourself. And it was terrific advice because I was, I would be, I'd come to him afterwards and say I really think X, Y, Z, or I think right? And he stopped me at one point and said, Uhuh say that in the room. And and maybe it was part because of the organization we were in where I don't think the same dynamic existed around. You can't be a leader and you and be kind. I think people were way. Much focused on being a leader. And and I hope that I naturally have a level of kindness. And the, for me, the piece I had to work on was really asserting my view and being comfortable, asserting my view, particularly when it wasn't, it wasn't the same as everyone else's. Yeah.
Lan Elliott:Absolutely. And just finding that balance, right? So you were, yeah. You had the nice part already. And so being able to speak your mind and in a way that came
Malaika Myers:across. And that's one it's some, it's advice I've shared with others because I think it's people who tend to have the nice already that struggle a bit with letting their voice be heard. And I've passed on that same advice, which is you'd have to go a really long way. To get out of the people think you're a nice person box, so go ahead and push yourself a little bit because you're nowhere near what you're thinking of as, something that's, I don't know, not nice, whatever that, however, however we wanna term that. So it was a great lesson for me and a great way to calibrate me a bit about. saying what's on your mind can be nice, in fact is nice. And you can do it in a nice way. And it, those things don't have to be in intention. Yeah,
Lan Elliott:that's great. That's a great way of looking at it. Continuing on a little bit with women in leadership and you brought it up, women leaders can often have a different style than men. So
Malaika Myers:this tri traditional idea
Lan Elliott:of a leader sometimes conjures up images of really ambitious and assertive men. But that style, Actually those adjectives aren't really well received coming from women. Yeah. So what do you look for in women,
Malaika Myers:That you work with that
Lan Elliott:says to you these people have potential to be great leaders?
Malaika Myers:Yeah. I don't know that what I look for in women is different than what I look for in men, honestly. I, it may show up, maybe it shows up differently. But I think it just shows up in d differently in people. So for me there are maybe two or three things. One is back to my former boss, right? Have a point of view. right? If you what I look for are leaders who have a view that they're willing to express and stand up for. Because only if you have that can you actually get anybody to follow you, right? So if you wanna be a leader, you have to have a view because otherwise nobody's gonna follow you So that's number one is you have to have a, a real defined point of view. Be able to set a strategy or set a vision, and then and then you have to be able to get people to follow you. And and I suppose the nuance for me is not because you demand it because you can get so far with that, but only so far, but because you inspire it. And I think that the combination of strong point of view and able to inspire people to follow them. Those are the things that I really, I, I really think about when I'm looking at, when I'm evaluating leaders who are currently leaders or thinking about people who could be leaders, I'm looking for those seeds, which show me that, they can influence their peers even if they're not managing anyone. And they are willing, like my boss, push me to do, to speak up in the meeting and share a contrary view, right? Whether they're right or wrong, honestly doesn't really matter. It's the willingness to take a stand that actually matters.
Lan Elliott:That's great. Thanks to look for. Yeah. And that ability to inspire other people to follow you. That, that is, that's
Malaika Myers:great point. Otherwise, you're just leading and there's nobody behind. There's nobody behind you. Yeah.
Lan Elliott:You're not much of a leader if no
Malaika Myers:one's following you.
Lan Elliott:You had touched on on your mentor briefly a couple times. Could you share a little bit more about your mentor or maybe another mentor champion and how they became your mentor champion and maybe when they supported a crucial turning point
Malaika Myers:in your career? Yeah. When I think about the folks who have been strong mentors for me, almost all of them I've worked for at some point. maybe not all but pretty close to all. And if I hadn't worked there, one or two I can think of that I didn't work directly for, but maybe I was like two levels below them and so worked in their organizations. And, there's lots of discussion about how do you get a mentor, how do how do you approach that? I have to say I was pretty lucky because I worked for them. those relationships happened pretty naturally and after I stopped working for them, we continued. To have those relationships and they became people that I really relied on. Almost every time I've made a move, I've called one of those people and said, what do you think? This is what I think I wanna do. What do you think? I think the other things that my mentors, particularly early on, were brilliant at. It's one of the things I try to do as I mentor other people is to, they were thinking about the experiences I needed to have before I was. And so they were really guiding me and directing me. And sometimes, there's at least one job. I didn't wanna do that, I was being told, look, you should go do this. And I was like, I don't know. I don't think I have much fun doing that. I'm happy doing what I'm doing. And they came and said no, you need to do this for these three reasons. And they were exactly right. So I think mentors, my mentors have also stepped in where I had blinders and really helped me to understand a bigger picture than probably I was capable of, of seeing from my vantage point in the organization. I guess the last thing I'd say about mentors and this is true for me is that sometimes you have to some, I, there's been at least one instance where I went against the advice of all of my mentors. So the mentors are great and champions are fantastic, but it's still your career and your decisions and you have to maintain, you that ownership of it and that, and your own belief. And I took a role. My mentor said, don't do this. I don't think this is a good thing. They had all these great reasons. They were good reasons, but my gut and my familiarity with the situation made me say, no, I think this will be good. And I was right. I could have been wrong, but thankfully I wasn't. It was a fantastic experience for me, for all the reasons I thought. And the worst that they saw in it. was there but didn't manifest itself and and it ended up being great. Most of the time I've taken the advice of my mentors. I haven't always, and I think that's okay too.
Lan Elliott:I noticed you call multiple mentors when you weren't getting the answer you wanted on that
Malaika Myers:This is true, and I kept getting the same advice.
Lan Elliott:it was a bit disappointing, but you knew yourself best. And I think that balance of being able to have their advice and to consider it, but also have the wherewithal to say no. I think for me, this is the right move right now. Yeah, it's
Malaika Myers:ironically, it's one of the things my earlier mentors, said to have a stance have, be willing to be, to go against the grain. I, I took, put that advice into practice at that point.
Lan Elliott:That's great. And you still saw that risk was out there and luckily it didn't manifest. Um, And it worked out.
Malaika Myers:Yep.
Lan Elliott:So let's shift gears a little bit and talk about Hyatt's d e I initiatives. So I know you've been involved in d e I work
Malaika Myers:for over 25 years, and you're currently on ALA's. De n I task
Lan Elliott:force. And of course, you've supported efforts to elevate women and underrepresented groups at Hyatt. Since you've been there, can you share maybe one or
Malaika Myers:two of o of Hyatt's, d e i initiatives that you're most excited about? Things
Lan Elliott:that you think will have, make the most significant.
Malaika Myers:Yeah, I'm happy to and you're right, I am Exci excited about this work because it's work that's close to home for me, right? Thinking about how do we get, frankly, more people who look like me or maybe more people who look like you in higher levels of leadership certainly at Hyatt, but within within our industry. In 2020, we. Established something we call change starts here. This was on the heels of George Floyd's murder. And we identified first of all that we wanted change the change we want in society, that it needed to start with us. And that was at the beginning of our d e I efforts. We'd had those efforts going on for a long time, but it was the beginning of a different, we shifted. And so that was the beginning of that. And we identified aspirations that were fairly, they seem closer now, they're 2025 in terms of who we employ, develop in advance who we support in the communities, and then who we partner with both from an ownership standpoint, but other, all the other partners we work with, including supplier partners. And we're making terrific progress against those things. We, last year, this is maybe one of the things I'm really proud of. In 20 21, we issued our first d e I report. and it was part of the launch of our esg platform we call World of Care which is all about how we care for people, how we care for our communities, how we care for environment and responsible business. So the d e I report was part, was initiated as part of our launch of World of Care and we've. We've been completely transparent about where we are, what progress we're making, what's working for us, what's not. And I think transparency's a big part of making progress here. So that's one thing I point to. The other thing that I point to that I see, I can't quantify it, but I see it and hear it in stories all the time, is we also last year, 2021 said to all of our colleagues that are incentive eligible that. We wanted one of their annual goals to be about change starts here. We didn't tell them what it had to be. We just said, what We're trying to to create here. We've done a ton of communication and engagement around change starts here. And so we said, what can you do to be part of us creating that change? and we did, we gave them some ideas, but we, again, we weren't prescriptive and the things that people have come up with are stunning. Like I, I had a conversation with someone in our in our benefits team who's done a whole piece of work looking at financial security and what different, how does that look different across different demographics and how might we. Better support colleagues to achieve financial security. And she's, she, this is a passion project for her. She literally said, this isn't all my objectives, but I'm passionate about this and I think this is a place we can really make a difference. And we have stories like that. That are just all across the organization from general managers who are opening their kitchens to local restaurants who maybe lost space so that they continue to do business or the hundreds upon hundreds of black suppliers that we've now identified and we're doing business with. tho those are a few things that I could point to, but I think the nub of that last point is we really have engaged. Our entire organization. This isn't something I do from my role. We have an amazing senior VP of DE and I, but it's not something he could do on his own or with his team. This is something we've engaged our complete organization behind. And we share and we tell stories. And that serves to continue to motivate and inspire people to want to be part of the change we're that we are creating.
Lan Elliott:I love that. Not being prescriptive, but asking everybody to do, to come up with what their part would be.
Malaika Myers:Yeah. Because then they own it, then they're not being told they have to do something. They're thinking about maybe I wanna be get involved in a diversity business resource group, or maybe I'm gonna go find us some suppliers or whatever. But it's something that's meaningful to them and I think that makes, that matters a lot. Absolutely. Just
Lan Elliott:creating that ownership around the idea and uncovering a passion project that someone might have that really is towards that goal. So yeah, that's really wonderful. In past interviews along these lines, we've talked about hiring a chief diversity officer and as since 2020 as people have become more conscious about d and i de and I effort efforts, there has been more of an interest in diversity. And sometimes that means a company will hire a Chief Diversity officer. But sometimes just doing that one thing isn't sufficient. There, there needs
Malaika Myers:to be more. What advice would you
Lan Elliott:share with companies or leaders who want to create an inclusive culture?
Malaika Myers:Yeah. First I would double down on what you said, that it's not sufficient to hire a chief Diversity officer, although that's a great start, right? So I think having someone who wakes up every day focused on this is important. But without real ownership and buy-in from the senior team, I think most chief diversity officers you would talk to would say they can't do their work. So that for me is the most important thing, is that from the top you have leadership who says, this is important and can speak to the. It's important, right? So it's not just a surface. This is important. Can speak to the why. I know for us actually setting a, a bold ambition has been really helpful and we've built an accountability. So I mentioned the D e I report that we now issu we've issued two of those and we'll continue to issue those on an annual basis. So publicly sharing what our progress is. But we do that on a quarterly basis with our co. So at every town hall we talk about change starts here. We talk about where we are, we give examples of what's going on. So I think that holding yourself accountable, whether that's externally or internally, and transparency of where you are is really important. Maybe the last thing I'd mention is we, in 2020 linked, we had always had, or maybe not always, we had for many years a linkage be between our d e I efforts and our annual incentive plan, but we really ramped up the linkage in the EX for the executives in 2020. Using our long-term incentive plan to really connect that to what we want to achieve for change starts here. And I think that just made it clear to the organization and to anybody externally who was looking at us, how serious we are about what we want to achieve. And so those are a couple things I would I'd mentioned, but I think the most important thing is if you're hiring a Chief Diversity officer, which is a fabulous thing to do not, put all your eggs in that basket and tell that person that it's now their job to make an inclusive culture. That's the job of the entire organization led by the executive team and supported by, I think the chief diversity officer.
Lan Elliott:That's a great way to put it. Yes. Cuz it doesn't, it's not just the Chief Diversity Officer by themselves. And you had touched on, creating an inclusive culture and one of the things we've talked about in the past is you could hire diverse people, but in order to really get the benefit of hiring diverse people with different points of views and backgrounds and experiences, you need to have an inclusive culture in order for them to thrive and for the companies to benefit. What does an inclusive culture look like in, in your mind or maybe what are some of the things that managers or leaders of teams can do to create a more inclusive
Malaika Myers:workplace? Yeah I'll start with sharing our purpose as a company. So our, for Hyatt, our purpose is to care for people so they can be their best. And when I think about we often say that our d e i efforts are really just a manifestation of our purpose, right? We want, we, we literally break it down and say, when we say people. you mean all people? Not just some people. But all people. And and so for us, an inclusive culture is one where our purpose is true for every single individual who's both a colleague, every guest that walks into one of our properties, all of our partners. So that's the sort of long-term vision, right? A place where everyone feels like they are cared for in a way that allows them to be their true, authentic, best self. what leaders can do to, in order to move us closer to that goal is to really focusing on, focus on we talk a lot about the practice of empathy and listening to each other, listening to their teams. You'd be surprised or maybe you wouldn't How many people just don't take the time to get to know each other. So I can't care for you if I don't actually know you. if, I don't know, like what's going on with your kids or what's, what your hobbies are or what's important to you. Finding a way to actually get to know, and we talk to our leaders a lot about caring for their colleagues, but we start with listening and the practice of empathy and saying to them, you have to get to know people in order to care for them. So that, I think is the first and most important step because anyone who Who's approached in that way and a genuine way of, I wanna know you, I wanna get to know you. They start to open up. And when that happens, you can actually have care. And when that happens, you can actually feel a lot more free and confident to be exactly who you are.
Lan Elliott:I love that part about allowing people to be their authentic self and feeling like they can bring that once. Once you get to know them, then they'll open up and share who they are with you. One of the challenges we've talked about in the past is that managing a diverse team can actually be somewhat challenging. It takes a little bit longer, right? Because you're drawing out people who may be in the. Haven't had a voice. They, you might need to ask them, what do you think? Bring in a different point of view. what advice do you have for leaders who are new to managing a diverse team and they're trying to obviously get things done quickly cuz everyone's rushed for time, everything's yesterday. But how do you do that in a way that is inclusive and you're bringing in other voices, but still trying to move things forward?
Malaika Myers:yeah. I wanted, I want everybody's view, but I wanna go. Yeah I think part of it is you have to actually recognize that. whether you want fast or you want great, right? And there's, and ne it's not, it's maybe not as stark a contrast there, but sometimes you go slow to get to a better outcome in the end. And I, I think it's well worth the investment to make sure the voices are heard. And it's one of the things, one of the reasons we use storytelling so much is because you can tell the stories of the insight that this person delivered that. Actually made a way better product than if you had just gone quickly to the solution that the norm, that the most people thought of. Without taking the con into consideration this other input, you wouldn't have, you wouldn't have actually achieved what you wanted to. So I think what I'd say to managers is, Yes. Remember that fast does not necessarily mean good. Fast just means fast. And you have to really think about what it is you want to achieve. So that's number one. And then the second thing is you have to think about how sustainable is it? And if you're leaving some portion of your team feeling disconnected, not part of that, like what are you leaving on the table in terms of their engagement? That can help you, go faster, the next time. So I, I think the investment in making sure that people's voices are heard. More than pays off in terms of getting you to a better place. But it is an investment and I think we have to acknowledge that because otherwise leaders think that they're being told to both get the best product and do it, super fast. And sometimes you can't do that. You have to actually slow down a bit to get the right input so they can get to the right outcome at the end. Absolutely.
Lan Elliott:It's a balance, but worth it. It's a balance. Yeah. Yeah. One of our favorite questions
Malaika Myers:on de Advi,
Lan Elliott:d e i advisors is what advice would you give to your younger self?
Malaika Myers:What advice would I give to my younger self? So much I think I think maybe I'd give the advice that I was given by that manager, which is that you are, I push myself to speak up and share my ideas faster. And so I would do that for sure. And I think I tell my younger self to figure out what you, I want what I'm speaking in too many past tenses. So I would say figure out what you wanna do sooner. sooner. I spent a lot of times just saying I, knew I was, I loved HR work. I knew I loved working with talent and having that impact, but I didn't have the same level of ambition as maybe some others did in terms of what I wanted to achieve. And I think had I had that I could have done even. Sooner in my career. So I think the other thing I would've said is set some goals for yourself that are beyond the annual. I wanna get this project done and, I wanna do well and at this conference some things that are longer term. I didn't do that very early in my career and I think I could have benefited. Yeah. We
Lan Elliott:see that even even with very young women when we do castell at college and we talk with very talented young women and we ask them what their career ambi career ambitions are, and we find they aren't aiming high enough. Yeah. So I think that's wonderful advice to start thinking about it early. And
Malaika Myers:to your point, aim higher, right? Yeah. If you'd had asked me earlier in my career, nowhere would I have said I wanted to be Chief Human Resources officer for a company like Hyatt. Just was not in my thinking. And it, there's no reason it shouldn't have been. Just it's, there's no reason it shouldn't be for those young women at Castile, Absolut.
Lan Elliott:I could keep asking you questions cuz I love hearing your stories, but we're coming to the end of our time and as we're getting close to the end, our mission at d e i advisors is around empowering personal success. So could you share one final bit of advice for women and people in underrepresented groups that are looking to advance their careers?
Malaika Myers:Yeah, I think my advice I'll revert. The maybe part A is what I just said, which is know what you wanna do. But part B is tell people don't be afraid or shy or bashful about sharing that. And I don't mean that in a way that is some people come across as like, all they do is talk about what they want, what they wanna do. So I'm not suggesting that, but I am suggesting that there's a saying, I think my grandmother used to say a closed mouth doesn't get fed. So this, this is a bit of that, which is if no one knows what you wanna do, they can't help you. And so share what you wanna do, to your mentor, with your mentors, with your boss, with your HR leaders in a way that just says, Hey, I, this is where I think I'd like to get in my career. Do you have advice or, I want you to be aware in case there are opportunities that you come across that you think could be helpful for me as I plot this journey. So I think there are too many, particularly women and people in underrepresented groups who don't share enough. first, the first point who maybe not don't know, but once it's really important to share that because when you share it, you give people the opportunity to help. And there are many people out there who want to help. So my advice is share. Tell people what you wanna do. That's really
Lan Elliott:great advice. Yes. I think sometimes people forget that there are people all around you who want you to succeed.
Malaika Myers:That's right. So I love that.
Lan Elliott:Thank you so much Malka and for our viewers, if you've enjoyed this interview, we hope you will go to our website, d e i advisors.org and look at some other interviews that we've had with other amazing leaders. So thank
Malaika Myers:you so much Malka. Appreciate your time. Thank you, Anne. I appreciate you.