“You know what kind of culture you have by how your employees are feeling on Sunday night when they think about getting ready to go back to work on Monday morning.”

When Cynt Marshall was hired as the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks in 2018, she presented her vision: that the organization would become a global standard for inclusion and diversity. “I truly believe if you have an inclusive culture and a diverse group of employees, you can get anything done," Marshall says. "I’ve lived it. There’s a bottom line impact to having diversity, and having equity in your organization, and an inclusive culture.”

In this View From The Top interview, Marshall sits down with Sankalp Banarjee, MBA ’23, to share stories of how she stepped into her authentic self as a leader, how she navigated personal and professional challenges, and how she keeps burn-out at bay.  

“A lot of times people ask the question, ‘What keeps you up at night?’ I say, ‘No, to me, the question is, ‘What gets you up in the morning?’” 

Marshall was named one of 15 of the world’s most inspiring female leaders by Forbes in 2021. In March 2020 and several times prior, she was selected as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

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