Jesse Cortez, a Leader in Motion
written by: Raymond J. Arroyo, Managing Partner, Chapman Farrell Group
Jesse Cortez is a former minor league baseball player who exchanged his cleats for a business suit and a corporate life, while retaining his love and passion for baseball, particularly his beloved Chicago Cubs. Jesse is also an insightful Latino executive who discovered early on that, to be successful, he didn’t need to hide or disguise his true self in front of others. He owes it to himself to be an authentic person at home and at work with real impact at work and in the community and a true desire to help those with whom he comes in contact.
Jesse now practices his athleticism serving as the Vice President, Executive Talent at McKesson. In this role, Jesse leads McKesson’s in-house executive search function, working closely with business and HR leaders to creatively source executive talent. Prior to McKesson, Jesse held Human Resources executive roles, with a major focus on Diversity and Inclusion at blue-chip companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Accenture.
Jesse, who holds a BS degree and an MBA from the University of North Texas, joined McKesson, a Fortune 8 global leader in healthcare, in August 2019. Traci Dunn, Vice President, Inclusion, Diversity & Corporate Impact introduced him to Ximena Juncosa, Senior Vice President Rx Technology Solutions at McKesson. Ximena and Jesse hit it off splendidly and quickly. Jesse met Ximena informally for a cup of coffee that turned into a spontaneous pipeline strategy session, including whiteboarding potential scenarios. Jesse was so impressive that he was hired shortly thereafter and promoted exactly 12 months later. The current role allows and enables him to leverage his significant experience and strategic mindset to fiercely drive internal change by building tools, increasing awareness, and creating external and internal talent pools that support the company’s aggressive talent-related needs and diversity-related goals.
Jesse feels blessed to have landed at McKesson and aspires to continue to grow in his career by doing his job exceedingly well and helping as many people as possible along the way. He also feels blessed to be working with so many selfless, talented and influential Latinos who will push forward and pull up Latino talent so they can reach higher and further than ever before.
Jesse and the McKesson team are relentless in their pursuit on talented Latinos and other groups who’ve been under-served in the past. He’s confident that it can be done because he’s used to doing difficult things, and he has also received a total commitment from the company and its top executives.
An example of Jesse’s strong influence is the recent addition of Maria Teresa Lensing to the McKesson CIO team. She joined McKesson as chief technology officer in September 2020. Jesse worked with Nancy Flores, executive vice president and chief information officer (CIO) and chief technology officer (CTO) to identify, attract, and hire Maria Teresa Lensing.
Jesse learned from his parents, who came from humble beginnings, that perseverance, discipline, and focus, along with education, were the most important attributes to achieve success over the long term. A constant learner and fervid family man (who’s favorite days in his life are his wedding day and birth of his children), he always aspires to do more, as inspired by his parents, his wife, and his children. Jesse has taken his son to baseball games to share his passion for the America’s game while demonstrating his love to, and devotion for, his family.
For those who wish to follow in his footsteps, he urges us not to be afraid in setting the bar high. He tells us to be unafraid and tenacious in chasing the role we desire. He asks us to ignore the naysayers, who put limits on our capabilities. For Latino managers who aspire to join the executive ranks, he asks that they continue to fight hard to be successful where they are, while performing with the next level in mind. He says shares that performance is a differentiator and suggest we leverage our own network, inside and outside. Identify key leaders who can influence our paths and join organizations like Hispanic IT Executive Council (“HITEC”), which can help us grow, while we simultaneously help them grow. Jesse is a proud champion of people who creates opportunities for all to succeed, while making their own companies stronger.
Cortez Family
We asked Jesse for his definition of success and he said: “it’s reaching a desired impact. It’s how we dedicate ourselves to a broader purpose, as we create opportunities for ourselves and for others.” We like this philosophy of lifting others as we also climb ourselves.
How is Jesse feeling these days? “I’m loving my time here at McKesson,” he says. With his immense energy and positive outlook, we totally believe him and know that he’ll achieve greatness as he continues to climb the corporate ladder while helping others do the same.