Several years ago, a former boss of mine called me into a private meeting room for an impromptu chat. As I sat down, he said, "Jonah, I'd like to connect you with one of the most inspirational managers I've ever worked with named René Carayol."
As I curiously googled @renecarayol to see who this person was, I discovered that René is one of the world's leading executive coaches and speakers. He'd worked for some of the Fortune 500's top organizations and was also a champion for diversity and inclusion, spreading the message far and wide.
Even though I didn't know René, I immediately saw myself in him. René was born in The Gambia, and he looked like me (albeit more handsome). Having worked in Technology for the last decade of my life, I knew that René and I had the shared experience of navigating predominately all-White spaces in a professional capacity.
For one reason or another, the connection never happened. However, earlier this year, I received a LinkedIn notification from Tim, with René copied. I jumped at the opportunity, and after several back and forths — I found myself on a Zoom call with René and two of his colleagues.
Join me for an IG Live conversation, Wednesday, May 5th, 9:30 pm GMT in which I fill in the gaps and explain
how on earth I got René to pen a powerful foreword for