The power of an open mind
Staunch advocate for diverse leaders part of lineup for TEDx event
Walter and Brenda Garrett were “sort of hippie-dippies,” Kellie Garrett said fondly of her parents.
They had “friends of every colour of the rainbow and different religions,” which Garrett thought was the norm as she was growing up in Montreal in the 1960s and ’70s.
Exposed to so many different worldviews from childhood, she always considered herself an openminded person.
Fast-forward a couple of decades, when Garrett’s son Connor was diagnosed with autism in Regina.
She realized “that I had had quite a narrow view of what life was like for a person with a disability,” said Garrett. “So that sort of cracked my mind open in terms of, ‘ What don’t I know about what I don’t know?’ “
This is, in part, the inspiration for Garrett’s TED talk, which she’ll present Thursday at the Regina Public Library’s TEDxRPL event.
The psychologist who diagnosed Connor, then four, told Garrett he would never read or write, never have a job or live independently. (The now-25-year-old defied the prediction by achieving all these things.) “I just remember all the nevers,” said Garrett.
But a teacher, Corinne Toews, “only saw potential and saw him as a full, complete person,” said Garrett. “Corinne was the one who really made me see that yeah, he can’t do everything, and neither can you and neither can I, and let’s figure out what he can do.”
As Garrett will discuss “cultivating curiosity about other ways of being ” at the RPL, her career as a national business executive will figure into the conversation.
She retired almost five years ago from the federal Crown corporation Farm Credit Canada, where she ultimately served as senior vice-president of strategy, knowledge and reputation.
Garrett “hadn’t aspired to climb the ladder” and called herself a “weirdo vice-president.”
With a background in advertising, Garrett was different from most other executives, who had agricultural, financial, legal or scientific backgrounds.
She said her boss criticized her for being too warm with employees, but she didn’t buy into that belief.
Building on her openness, she learned to ask staff “what do you think?” when they approached her with a question or a concern, and “discovered that they had better ideas than me in a lot of instances.”
As with her son’s diagnosis, she questioned her assumptions.
Garrett now works as a consultant, coaching executives, teams and boards of directors. She volunteers in these capacities too.
After a corporate career, “My mind became curious about what else I could do and followed the various things that I’m passionate about,” said Garrett. “It’s one of my passions to honour different ways of being and thinking.”
One of the ways that manifests is by advocating for diversified governance. She wants to see more women and people of different cultural backgrounds, including Indigenous people, in leadership roles.
According to the international non-profit organization Catalyst, women held 21.6 per cent of board seats in Canada in 2016, but 45 per cent of boards for TSX-listed companies were all male.
As a child who didn’t quite fit in — another parent once called her family “amoral” — Garrett has an idea of what it’s like to be on the outside.
“I think it’s so easy when you’re part of the dominant group, be it men, be it colour, religion, to not question how one thinks,” she said.
In addition to Garrett, four other people are on the bill during the RPL’s independent TEDx event, which runs 1-5 p.m. on Thursday at the Central library branch:
Adrienne Ivey is a rancher who will share her passion for farming and helping people understand where food comes from.
Karley Parovsky is a violin teacher and a 17-year performer with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.
Jordan McFarlen is a high school business teacher who believes in youth financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
Shawn Broom hosts a weekly podcast, The Story of U, the message of which is that “everyone has an interesting story to tell.”
For tickets, which are $60, visit eventbrite.ca and search TEDxR-PLCentralLibrary.
I had had quite a narrow view of what life was like for a person with a disability ... So that sort of cracked my mind open ...