He does it all — everything from serving in church ministries to playing latin percussion music in his spare time. And his diversity doesn’t stop there.
Anthony Carter, Chief Diversity Officer at Johnson & Johnson, spoke to students about the importance of diversity in the workplace at Media Masters Tuesday evening in Ezell.
To get where he is today, Carter took a slight detour on his journey into the field of communications.
“It took me three hours in a laboratory to prick my finger to do a blood test and I knew right away that this [pre-med] is not really for me,” Carter said.
During college, one of his professors invited him to do a radio talk show, giving him the chance to bring current topics to students on campus.
Soon, this broadcast endeavor led him to writing for one of his school’s newspapers.
“I started to fall in love with this thing called communications because I ultimately thought that it was the true way to express who I am.”
His love of communications took him down another path, incorporating both diversity and inclusion.
“Diversity is who we are and inclusion is how we work together,” Carter said. “Communications is the understanding of all of that.”
In 2002, Carter joined Johnson & Johnson as Director of Corporate Communications, and in 2005 he was promoted to Vice President of Corporate Communications.
A day in the life of Carter involves sifting through hundreds of emails and doing exactly what he loves — creating an atmosphere of transparency with those he works with.
“My passion in that work [communications] makes me really comfortable in that space.
“Communications is the essence of my existence.”
Carter explained that diversity is a part of his everyday routine, but he also believes that it is in all aspects of life.
“Diversity is a universal language that enables us to tap into our consumer base and our patient base with eyes wide open to serve the best needs to those who are in need.
“It’s learning to be in an environment with this exchange of opinion, fact, culture, background, [and] allows the conversation to become richer — allows you to honestly convey your feelings. That’s what I do every day for Johnson & Johnson.”
Through his career, Carter has taken away a few key lessons that he believes are critical to today’s communicators.
These key lessons are the importance of listening and accepting criticism.
“As we talk with folks, we’re already thinking about what we want to say, but we’re not listening. As we start sharing ideas, we think our ideas are probably better than the last one we just heard.
“We don’t appreciate the process that is so close to communications, and that’s listening, because we have our own point of view.”
Carter said that hearing others’ view points can be uncomfortable at times, though.
“Sometimes in our bubbles we get away with doing things that make us comfortable.
“Diversity is uncomfortable.”
Although it may seem difficult to create a transparent atmosphere at times, Carter encouraged the young audience to prepare for the diverse workplace now.
“I’m going to challenge you and I’m going to be really bold, I’m going to tell you if you think about what you’re really going to get out of this school, in terms of making yourself a better person, it’s how you take advantage of the diversity in this school.
“You have by default an obligation to be the very best that you can so you can give others hope.”