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Meet & Greet: Belton Flournoy, Director at Protiviti

Interviews

Diversity and inclusion LGBTQ+ professional

To celebrate Black History Month, myGwork member Belton Flournoy talks about LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the power of being 'out' at work. The award-winning diversity champion also provides an insight into his career in tech and role as Director of Protiviti.



myGwork: Can you tell us a bit about your career journey to date?

Belton: In high school and college, I knew I wanted to do something with people and originally considered PR or Marketing (which I also majored in).  When I started working at Protiviti, I knew I found a job I loved, being able to both work with people, as well as continually learning about the new technology and trends. I started working in IT Assurance, which taught me the foundations of technology concepts, and soon progressed to helping organizations implement next gen technologies to help solve some of their most complex problems. Now, I lead the UK Digital Identity practice, covering many areas including Privileged Access Management, Authentication and Access Governance.  

myGwork: What's the most challenging aspect of managing people right now?

Belton: What I enjoy about a career in consulting is the fact that your role is constantly evolving.  You get to work with new clients daily and you are always working to stay ahead of the newest technology trends. What I found most surprising at Director level was finding a way to get people to develop that sense of ownership and achievement as part of their delivery. It’s not only about achieving a higher level of output; it’s about finding a way for people to be excited to be a part of a team while having have a sense of ownership of their contributions towards the teams goals and objectives.  

myGwork: What attributes do you look for in new recruits and why?

Belton: I look for people who display a strong desire to learn. To be successful in technology, it’s not only about ‘what you already know’ but it is also about your ‘approach to continual learning.’  I have found the people who speak of their ability to solve a new problem as a great way to understand their learning process. Those who speak about recent articles or books they read, or how they solved a problem they were coding through an online forum are all good signs.  



myGwork: How important is LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace for you personally? 

Belton: I am a Director in a cybersecurity practice working with some of the world's largest institutions to solve their most complex problems, yet I find I would not be where I was today without the support I have received from my company. I recall going to work with that voice in my mind saying ‘you are not good enough because of...’, scared to let people know the real me, fearing it would prevent me from ever getting to where I am today. Ironically, I would not be where I am today if I did not find the power to become my true self at work and come out of the closet.  When you feel comfortable to be yourself, your productivity skyrockets, and you no longer spend time hiding those aspects that took up so much of your time before.  I now want to work hard to help others achieve this same goal—not only is it the right thing to do for people, it’s the right thing to do for our bottom line. 

myGwork: What's your favorite inclusion campaign to date and why?

Belton: My favorite campaign was the ‘authentically me’ campaign that is currently running through my firm.  It works by featuring senior leaders across the firm who share very personal stories about themselves overcoming adversity.  We have had someone speak openly about their disability, another senior leader who had to take time off for stress and another who was feeling overwhelmed working and raising children.  The beautiful thing about these stories is that they humanise us.  They make us realise that everyone faces challenges sometimes, even our current leaders, and we are the type of firm that supports you no matter what you might be going through—if you don’t speak up, you can’t reach out for help from your colleagues or a programme your employer might offer. 

myGwork: How do you encourage staff to have a worklife balance, especially with the increase in remote/hybrid working?

Belton: As a consulting firm, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly how long it will take to solve a problem, especially when we are helping to solve an extremely complex issue.  Our leaders and managers work to ensure our people know they are valued and respected, and if they do ever feel overwhelmed, we offer a variety of programs and benefits to help, including flexible working, part time working, sabbaticals and other mental health services.  I also tell people to ask themselves, ‘will you get fired over this’... If the answer is no, then you should focus on ways to proactively manage what you can with the time you have, and communicate potential delays before they occur.  

myGwork: What's the biggest highlight of your career to date and why?

Belton: I have two, one professional, and one through my volunteer efforts.  The biggest highlight of my professional career thus came when I was invited to program manager a global regulatory remediation program for a large investment bank.  The project was challenging, had me working with the bank’s most senior executives and had us helping them to solve problems that no bank had ever attempted to solve. To be in those board meetings and hearing these bright minds in dialogue was a truly rewarding experience.  It was also this meeting that made me realize the power of being your true self can have on your output. After this project, I decided to no longer hide who I was.  I worked to create the LGBT+ network in Protiviti UK and soon started to work with Pride in London to launch Pride in the City, a mayor backed initiative dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBT+ people across London, impacting thousands during the 3 years I worked on it.  I now sit on the advisory board for the London School of Economics Inclusion Initiative, as well as supporting in the launch of the Technology Community for Racial Equality (TC4RE). 

myGwork: What was the last book you read (fiction/non-fiction)? Any interesting take-aways and would you recommend it to fellow leaders?

Belton: If you are looking for a good book to read, I would recommend Think Big by Dr. Grace Lordan. It is a fantastic book about understanding priorities in life and how to address them. The other book I am currently reading is 4000 Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman. It is a productivity book that helps one to realize that by being more effective with your time, you only end up filling with more things to do, rather than finding that sense of achievement. Instead, the book asks you to (1) understand the reality of how short life actually is (4000 weeks), and (2) to realize every decision is a trade off. The most impactful take-away I learned is understanding how to live life alongside your ‘constant do to list’ rather than working against it. Very powerful indeed.  


myGwork: What do you do to unwind at the end of a hard day?

Belton: I like to start and end my day with a short walk through a park I live by. In the mornings, I walk without my phone. It feels good to be disconnected from it. And in the afternoons I go for a walk, many times listening to a podcast or an audio book.


Connect with Belton here.


Check out some of myGwork's other recent Meet & Greet interviews, including:

 

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