Behind the Box: Shardé Marchewski

Building trust within your teams has proven to be a successful tactic in employee success and team morale. Shardé Marchewski, Global Head of Purpose & Inclusion. Along her career journey, Shardé has seen a variety of leadership methods, some of which have worked, some of which haven't. What has always worked in her experience is building trust among your teams. As the leader of Wayfair's Purpose & Inclusion team, she believes in making sure trust is at the forefront of her leadership style. Learn more about the importance of trust in leadership and how Shardé builds a trusting relationship between her and her team.

Can you tell us about your background and why you came to Wayfair?

My background is actually in finance. I began my career in commercial banking and transitioned to investment banking. I have always been fascinated by the retail industry so I covered consumer retail companies during my career in banking. My husband and I had the opportunity to move to Boston and I used our move as an opportunity for me to make a career change and move from advising companies to rolling up my sleeves and working at a corporation with exciting challenges to solve. Wayfair was everything I was looking for - fast paced, exciting, filled with smart people and at the intersect of retail and tech. I strongly believe that e-commerce will continue to be the way that people shop and I wanted to be a part of an organization that was doing something innovative and shaping the future.

What is the Purpose & Inclusion team? What is your role?

The Purpose & Inclusion team owns Wayfair's DEI and Social Impact initiatives. Our mission is to drive positive change and empower the creation of strong, supportive communities, both within our workplace and in external communities.

For Inclusion: We address inequalities in the employee journey at the root and create specific resources that bring awareness to and eliminate barriers that prohibit Wayfair from having a fair and inclusive workplace experience for all.

For Purpose: We spearhead initiatives that bring positive change to our communities, partnering with nonprofits focused on supporting housing and a sense of home for all and empowering our employees to give back in meaningful ways.

What does Purpose & Inclusion mean to you and how are you making an impact at Wayfair?

Purpose & Inclusion means being intentional about driving positive change. Our team helps to enable the rest of the organization to directly impact their communities via donation matching, volunteering and more. We're also here to help the entire organization think about the ways they can help support one another and ensure every individual is supported and feels they belong at Wayfair. We foster community for everyone through our employee-led Resource Groups (ERGs) and equip ERG leaders with best practices to effectively engage and support their members. The P&I team also organizes centralized events, such as Habitat for Humanity builds and outings like WNBA games, to encourage networking and expand connections across the organization.

In your experience as a leader, why is trust an essential tool?

Trust is an essential tool for creating psychologically safe, open and transparent team environments. When you trust your manager, you're more likely to feel engaged and motivated in your work. This engagement encourages collaboration and teamwork, which can ignite creativity and lead to innovative solutions, ultimately enhancing the organization's performance.

How can leaders build trust among their teams?

There are many different ways that leaders can build trust with their teams, but the things I feel have worked best with my teams have been building personal connections, showing empathy, being transparent and coaching from a standpoint of genuine care. I've found that taking the time to get to know your team and treating each team member as a unique individual goes a long way. Learning about what motivates and demotivates people can help you unlock the most in them. People tend to trust leaders that are honest and admit their mistakes. Being transparent and knowing when to own up to a mistake can help teams better relate to and humanize their leaders. Coaching from a standpoint of genuine care goes hand-in-hand with being empathetic. When giving feedback, I try to be mindful of what the person needs to take away from the message in order to be more effective. I lead these sessions with empathy and make it clear that my team should always feel psychologically safe with me. I aim to provide opportunities for them to learn safely and help them realize that every area of opportunity should be seen as just that, an opportunity to learn a new skill set.

When you aren't at work, what are you doing?

When I'm not working I am a mom to three littles. Before kids, my husband and I were big time travelers and visited over 50 countries. You can see in the photo to the right that we once gorilla trekked in Uganda!

What is your favorite Wayfair purchase?

I am obsessed with the designer Sheila Bridges, she created a really beautiful modernized take on Toile called Harlem Toile, which depicts African American life and culture in Harlem. Sheila recently launched a line of fine China with her Harlem Toile illustrations and we have the line on Perigold as part of our Black Owned and Founded collection. This appetizer plate is my favorite!

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