Summer Issue 2021 - 27

ULI MEETINGS HIGHLIGHTS 2021
the private sector has one of the strongest
balance sheets, on average, that it's had for a
long time. "
On the supply side, however, El-Erian
argued that the situation is markedly different.
" Companies cannot find workers, so the
supply side is much less agile than we need it
to be right now, " he said. " There are massive
supply bottlenecks, prices are at all-time highs
for certain commodities, and there are persistent
inventory shortfalls. So, there is much
more pricing power. "
He added, " However, the policymakers
are not there. So, what should happen is to
London Kemp, Bozoma Saint John
How Authenticity Drives Innovation
In a conversation with London Kemp
and Bozoma Saint John, two minority executives
discussed their journeys and how they
are helping shape the world. Kemp, a former
Netflix executive and now the director of real
estate and facilities at Amazon, interviewed
Saint John, now Netflix's chief marketing officer,
after having worked at Apple and Uber.
Saint John began by describing her path
to the C-suite and what it means for people
like her, saying, " There aren't many C-suite
executives who look like us. . . . It has been
a journey to get here. " When she first began
working, Saint John notes that she did not
know this career existed, or that marketing
itself would have this trajectory. It has helped,
however, to not be " predictive " or overly " goal
oriented. "
" I haven't felt pressure on myself to see
where I want to go. . . . I did not have a 'plan,'
but I was committed to myself, " she said.
Saint John was adamant about the importance
of concentrating on yourself. She likens
this mind-set to track, which she ran in
school. " If you step out of your lane, you will
be disqualified. If you look behind you, you
will trip and fall. I don't look at anyone else to
measure my accomplishments. " She noted
that this is especially important as a woman
of color in traditional corporate spaces, which
can often be unwelcoming. " I don't deny any
part of myself in my work. . . . I hope that you
see my fingerprints, " she said.
Saint John expects this from the rest of her
team as well, saying, " I appreciate that they
are going to put themselves in their work, and
I call it out when I don't see it. "
Not only is it important to express personality
and individualism, but Saint John remarked on
the importance of cultural change in being yourself,
stating that you cannot wait to hold a " position
of power " to show up and make changes.
" It takes practice over time to show up confidently.
. . . I was like this as an assistant account
exec-you need to show up as yourself. "
She is active in guiding the next generation
to follow in her footsteps, and led a workshop
for Harvard Business School titled " Anatomy
of a Badass " this past year, which focused on
how to adopt and live by these foundational
principles.
When it comes to social issues, especially
relating to the past year, Saint John echoed
her emphasis on the individual, hesitant to
say how far " we " have come as a country or
a society.
" It can be conflating when we talk in the
'we'; we should be talking in the 'I,' " Saint
John said. She wants people to ask what the
change is that " I " can make that will make
one's circle better, and how to expand on that
circle afterward. " When we say 'we,' there is
no responsibility. . . . You don't have to be a
CEO to enact a change, " she continued.
Saint John was an active voice during the
George Floyd protests this past summer and
said that she was encouraged by the corporate
responses throughout the country. While
she acknowledged that some of the statements
and actions taken by companies might
have been " superficial " or " performative, "
she noted that the response in itself signified
a shift from the standard business-as-usual
approach. " It's a big change, performative or
not, " she said. Saint John also highlighted
organizations she was most impressed by in
their approaches-namely, Blue Cross, Nike,
and Ben & Jerry's.
Going forward, Saint John sees many opportunities
to keep disrupting the status quo and
innovating. " I don't know of an industry that
doesn't [need innovation]. A lot of things we
think have reached their peak . . . it can all
be disrupted, " she said. She pointed to the
increased diversity within organizations as a
key for this, which will attract different mindsets
and experiences.
" I don't deny any part of myself in my work. . . .
I hope that you see my fingerprints. "
BOZOMA SAINT JOHN, AMAZON
Just as important for Saint John is diversity
of thought, and being exposed to " challenging
ideas. " She urged people to shake up
their social media feeds and follow people
you disagree with. " We're being shepherded
into small circles with people who agree completely
with us; it's such a dangerous place
to be-no one can challenge your ideas. " She
stated that " true, unabashed curiosity " about
different points of view and different ways of
being makes us " smarter and better. "
Saint John urged everyone to " be human, be
yourself, and bring yourself to every situation. "
SEAN WALLISCH is a coordinator on ULI's Membership and
Marketing team.
soft land this economy into a path of higher
sustained, sustainable, and inclusive growth.
You need a much more comprehensive policy
approach, one that speaks to both the supply
side and the demand side. "
El-Erian added that he does not think governments
should cut back on infrastructure
spending anytime soon. Such spending is low
risk from an inflation standpoint, he said, and
should result in higher economic growth in
the medium to long term.
" I sort of think of it as a car analogy, " ElErian
said. " Right now, we have pedal to the
metal on monetary policy, we have pedal to
the metal on fiscal policy, and we have hardly
anybody applying any pressure on prudential
policies. That is a recipe for disaster.
" What you really need to do is maintain
the pedal to the metal on the infrastructure
because I think that actually is going to
increase productivity. But you need to slowly
lift your foot off the monetary stimulus accelerator,
and you need to stop pressing harder
on potential regulation. "
ADAM BRANSON is a real estate journalist based in London.
SUMMER 20 21
URBAN LAND
27
Summer Issue 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Summer Issue 2021
