The Path to Pride: Sergio’s 5 Principles for Success

When Sergio Diaz Jubera came out as a teenager, his friends and family accepted him and loved him for who he was. The community he lived in was less open-hearted. While things have thankfully progressed since then, it wasn’t until the software development manager joined Oracle NetSuite that he discovered what it was like to be part of a truly inclusive workplace. An active member of the Oracle Pride Employee Network (OPEN), read on to hear Sergio reflect on the life events that have shaped his diversity and inclusion philosophy—and principles for success.

Coming out

Sergio was born in Madrid, Spain in the 1980s. His mother and father came from two very different families with opposing political and religious views, something which shaped Sergio’s appreciation for diverse perspectives from an early age.

“I’ve always lived surrounded by respect for other people’s way of thinking, but also some conflicts too,” he begins. “Despite having a family with different mindsets, homosexuality was not accepted, and even Spanish society was still very homophobic during my childhood and teenage years.”

The earliest Sergio remembers thinking he might be gay was when he was 12, but he didn’t accept it fully until several years later. “I came out to close friends and family members when I was 15-17, and I had my first boyfriend when I was 19,” he recalls. “Recognizing I was gay was a shock for my parents, but they immediately supported me and didn’t make a big deal out of it. My brother and friends were not surprised at all, so despite all of the difficult conversations, the process of coming out went very smoothly. But as I mentioned, society was still not as open as today in Spain, so I was bullied at school and received threats and insults many times in the street for being gay.”

Building foundations for the future  

Sergio’s passion for technology goes back as far as he can remember and it led him down the path he’s on now. “I always liked computers and science in general, so I decided to study computer engineering to build videogames someday. In particular, I had a fascination for Japanese culture and videogames, so when I was at university I also started studying Japanese.”

When Sergio graduated, he got his first job at Electronic Arts—one of the biggest videogame companies in the world—but the culture wasn’t a fit. “I made really good friends there and learned a lot of engineering skills, but that industry was too demanding and I got burnt out after two or three years, so for the next few years I would move to Chile and work in other types of companies and organizations, including public institutions.”

After several years in Chile, lightning struck, and Sergio met his would-be husband. “We decided to move back to Spain, where after a couple of failed jobs I started at Oracle NetSuite, and that’s were I’ve been ever since, for almost 7 years now.”

Actions speak louder than words  

Prior to joining Oracle, Sergio never felt comfortable enough at work to share his whole self. He’s found that, even in this day and age, there are employers who are merely paying lip service to promises of inclusion.

“At work, I’ve been in and out—depending on the company. Unfortunately, there are still many companies where LGBTQ+ people have to deal with harassment and discrimination, even though most of the companies have anti-discrimination policies,” he reveals. “One thing is the policies themselves, another is how they are applied and if there’s really a culture of inclusion.”

To demonstrate his point, Sergio recalls a time at a previous job when he was harassed for being ‘too gay’—despite not having shared his sexuality with his colleagues. “I felt so vulnerable and unsupported by the company and my own colleagues that I couldn’t find the strength to fight back or defend myself, and I ended up leaving after less than one year,” he recalls.

Be the change you want to see

Luckily, all that would change when he joined Oracle NetSuite and became part of OPEN, our employee resource group which aims to support and uplift the LGBTQ+ community at work and beyond. “That’s the reason I joined OPEN,” Sergio confirms. “To foster a work culture where everyone is free to be themselves and nobody has to suffer a single act of discrimination, because I don’t want anyone to go through what I suffered.”

Sergio was actually a bit nervous when he first signed up to OPEN, but he soon learned there was ample opportunity for him to use his skills and make a difference for the LGBTQ+ community.

“When I joined OPEN I wasn’t sure what I could do, or if my skills or knowledge would be enough to contribute. My background is completely different and I had never led any big initiative. Then my manager said something very wise—be the change you want to see at Oracle.”

OPEN brings a world of opportunity  

One step at a time, with his manager’s support, Sergio started introducing small, incremental changes that would contribute to a more inclusive work environment.  Soon, he also saw the amazing professional possibilities that his OPEN membership could bring.

“I realized that being part of an employee resource group like OPEN could open so many new opportunities that were not part of my job description; connecting with colleagues around the world, getting visibility outside my team and organization, growing my skills in many different areas such as communication, organization, project management, leadership, networking, procurement, design, marketing, and public speaking,” he lists. “It’s been—and it still is—an incredible learning journey that has helped me in my day job too. It's rewarding and fun.”

Leverage your privilege

Sergio’s life has influenced his diversity and inclusion philosophy in no small way. Like Oracle, he believes that achieving true diversity is a continuous journey, not a once-off destination. It requires constant learning, unlearning, and relearning.

“It’s a journey that never ends,” he agrees. “It’s not an action plan that we run, and we’re done. Every step we take will bring us new learnings, perspectives, and insights about our own privileges, about our own biases towards other dimensions of diversity. That learning journey makes us aware of our differences so we can include them in the conversation and use our own privileges to help others.”

Sergio’s 5 principles for success

This inclusive and open-minded approach to life has helped Sergio succeed both personally and professionally. In his role as a software development manager, he leads a team of 50 engineers across four countries. What are his principles for success?

1. Be curious. Always ask why and challenge the status quo. We do many things by default and then we miss out on opportunities to improve them.

2. Give and ask for feedback. Be honest about the things you like and don’t, and what you expect from others. It’s like when you’re driving somewhere far away you’ve never been before—you must constantly check the signs and GPS. We’ll all get to our goals much faster if we exchange honest feedback and rely less on guessing.

3. Believe it. If you have a goal, start living today as if you are already there. Breathe it, feel it, be passionate about it. If you’re not convinced, you’ll fail or quit when things get rough—and the path to the best things in life are full of obstacles.

4. Be persistent. Everything that is worth working for requires a lot of effort, otherwise you’d probably have it already.

5. Difficult decisions are usually the best in the long term. Those are the ones which take us to new places, new people, new opportunities, although it often feels scary. If we always surrender to fear to the unknown, we’ll never make any progress.

Oracle proudly signed the National Business Statement Opposing Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation, while each year we continue to earn 100% on the HRC Equality Index. Learn more about how we support the LGBTQ+ community and explore our career opportunities.