Leading Outside the Lines:
- Relate Search
- Feb 11
- 3 min read
Building Leaders Through Purpose, Representation & Impact
Some leaders follow a traditional path.
Others redefine the path entirely.
For Chakla Davis, her career has been shaped by what she calls her “non-linear lens”, a perspective built through experience across Manufacturing Operations, Accounting, Financial Management, and HR Leadership.
That interdisciplinary foundation gave her a rare vantage point. As Chakla puts it, she doesn’t just understand the people side of the business, she understands the P&L too.
Her turning point came while serving as a site Financial Manager/Controller at one of the largest facilities in her company, a site facing major organizational challenges. Instead of staying within the comfort of the balance sheet, she looked at the open HR Manager role and asked a question that would change everything:
“Why not me?”
A visionary leader took a chance on her, moving her from Finance into HR leadership for a large, complex operation. That first HR role became the catalyst that launched her into a career defined by strategic influence, cultural transformation, and people-first leadership rooted in business impact.
Chakla doesn’t lead from a standard HR playbook. She leads “outside the lines,” proving again and again that when HR thinks like the business, the business becomes unstoppable.
Early in her first HR leadership role, Chakla faced a defining moment that helped solidify her confidence as a leader. She found herself in a fundamental disagreement with the Plant Manager, a leader she deeply respected and felt loyal to. But Chakla also knew the decision being considered would have damaging long-term implications for the site culture and the leader’s credibility. Despite being a first-time HR manager, she had the courage to push back and elevate the issue to corporate leadership, who ultimately validated her perspective and helped redirect the course. Later, that same Plant Manager returned to thank her for having the integrity to challenge him. For Chakla, it was an early “unlock”, a reminder that leadership isn’t about comfort, it’s about protecting the mission.
But her story isn’t just about professional success. It’s also about the lived experience that shaped how she shows up in leadership spaces.
Throughout her career, Chakla has been keenly aware of the assumptions others project onto her based on her identity as a Black professional, her Southern accent, or even her stature. She speaks candidly about what many professionals of color experience:
Having to “prove” yourself, an unnecessary tax.
Rather than allowing those underestimations to define her, she has used them as fuel, choosing to lead with poise, grounded presence, and authenticity.
Her approach is simple, yet powerful, meeting people human-to-human, building trust through mutual respect, and creating a culture where teams can move beyond bias and focus on solving real problems together.
And when asked what advice she would give to Black professionals earlier in their careers, Chakla doesn’t hesitate. She coined what she calls:
The Davis Principle: VTAW
Vulnerability | Trust | Authenticity | Work
A philosophy centered on rejecting performance, owning your seat at the table, embracing authenticity, and doing the hard work that creates undeniable impact.
But perhaps the most powerful proof of Chakla’s leadership is what she is building beyond the workplace.
In 2023, she established the Bigby-Davis Phoenix Rising LLC Scholarship, using her own personal funds to create a scholarship at her alma mater, Pendleton High School in South Carolina. It supports underserved students pursuing degrees in Business, Healthcare, and Education, the fields where Chakla believes representation matters most.
Even more impactful, she has invested in the scholarship so it will live on in perpetuity, becoming a legacy her children will continue long after she is gone.
Because for Chakla, legacy is measured by one standard:
Leaving every person and every project better than she found them.
This Black History Month, we’re proud to spotlight Chakla Davis, a visionary leader who proves that non-linear paths create differentiated leaders, and that representation is not just something we celebrate, it’s something we build.
