This story is part of the Behind the Desk series, where CNBC Make It gets personal with successful business executives to find out everything from how they got to where they are to what makes them get out of bed in the morning to their daily routines.
René Jones says banking executives have a "bad rap." His reason might surprise you.
"I think it's because we're not really good storytellers," Jones, 56, tells CNBC Make It.
Jones, who has served as the chairman and CEO of Buffalo, New York-based regional bank M&T since 2017, is currently one of only four Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. He started there as an executive associate in 1992, and today oversees its 17,000-plus employees and market valuation of $23 billion.
Over time, he says, he's learned to lean into his own personal story as his "secret weapon" — sharing it with employees has helped him form deeper and more meaningful workplace relationships. Growing up with five siblings in a biracial family, for example — especially as the lightest-skinned of his siblings — taught him early on not to form stereotypes about people.
Jones says detailing his background, both personally and professionally, helps his employees find "commonalities" with him. "It will take conversations and relationships to a different level," he says. "That was really a turning point for me."
Here, Jones discusses growing up in a biracial family, how stereotypes affect him in the workplace and the secrets to his career success so far.
On growing up in a biracial family: 'I think that really helped me be aware of stereotypes'
I grew up in Ayer, Massachusetts, which near Fort Devens, a military base. My dad is African-American. In 1941, he decided to join the army early at age 17.
He went overseas and met my mother [in Belgium] at age 19. She was 17. They decided to come to the U.S. in a mixed-race marriage in 1946.
Now, think about what we know about that period — 1946 through the 1960s. When I tell my story, I typically never talk about that. Then, people tend to open up and ask questions that are different than they might have asked otherwise. It changes the possibilities of our relationship.
I'm the youngest of six kids with an 18-year-span. We cover every shade of the light-to-dark spectrum, in terms of complexion. And with the military base nearby, your friends come from all over the world. My friends were from Samoa, the Philippines, Korea, Barbados and all over.
I think that really helped me be aware of stereotypes, and things that put limits on people.
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