Michael D. Robinson is the Vice President of Healthcare for North America at VMware, a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps—enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. A tech industry veteran, Michael has driven hundreds of thousands in revenue, created billion-dollar business divisions, and supported scores of sales careers. He formerly served as the Vice President for US Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft, where he worked for over 14 years before joining Year Up as an Executive Director in 2016. In addition to his work at VMware, Michael is a managing partner at micro ventures, LLC. and works as the Board Director of NovoDynamics, where he serves as a trusted advisor to the CEO. Michael joins me today to offer his ideas on leadership, authenticity, and aligning with your values. He shares leadership principles from his time in the military that he applies in his work today. He describes how he found his knack for developing other people. He explains how authenticity can help people gravitate toward you and be open to your advice and describes how diversity creates momentum and velocity for organizations. Michael also highlights the value of being true to your convictions and underscores navigating systematic oppression as an African American in corporate America. “The hardest thing as a leader is being accountable and making those course corrections when needed. You have to be on the hook and be accountable yourself.” - Michael D. Robinson This week on The Rising Leader Podcast: ●     People capital and the treasure of the relationships I built●     Michael’s background and how he became a leader of organizations●     Managing up and how Michael discovered that he had a knack for developing other people●     Helping other leaders develop a passion for people●     What inspires Michael to create other leaders●     The hardest challenges Michael met in the early stages of his leadership career●     Speaking your mind while moving up through the ranks●     Aligning with your values and being confident in your abilities as a leader●     Michael’s thoughts on navigating “coop-petition”●     Being an intrapreneur and getting a business within a business to follow the culture you want to cultivate●     Staying true to yourself and navigating systematic oppression in organizations Connect with Michael D. Robinson: ●     VMware (https://www.vmware.com/sg.html)●     VMware on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/vmware/)●     VMware on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vmware)●     VMware on Twitter (https://twitter.com/VMware)●     Michael D. Robinson on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsonhealth/)  Grab Your Copy of The Rising Leader Handbook Do you find yourself rising through your company's ranks so fast that you wish you had a manual to become an effective leader? Then, The Rising Leader Handbook is right for you. In The Rising Leader Handbook, you’ll learn how to shift your perspective and gain the leadership skills you need, regardless of the breadth of your responsibilities,