Transcript
Cheryl Gilberg
Welcome, Julie. Thank you for being here today.
Julie Sweet
Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here Cheryl.
Cheryl Gilberg
On September 1st, you became the global CEO of Accenture. What was your first message to the 500,000 worldwide employees?
Julie Sweet
Well, as you can imagine, when I thought about what my first message should be, when you're sending it to 500,000 people, you think carefully. And I thought it was really important in my first message to establish something that's very important to me, which is the importance of learning. And I wanted to be clear that at Accenture we have leader-led learning, meaning I am going to be the role model for what we believe all of our people should be doing, and what we need to do for our clients. And so I talked about, in my very first message, about how I set a quarterly learning agenda for myself. And I created my own, what we call a learning board, where any of our 500,000 employees can actually look online and see what I'm learning about and what materials I'm using. And we'll update that quarterly to reflect my quarterly learning agenda.
Cheryl Gilberg
In the fast-paced, technology driven industry such as yours, what do you see as the biggest roadblock to progress with your clients?
Julie Sweet
When we look at the environment today that our clients are operating in, one of the biggest roadblocks is the ability for large companies to act with speed. And often that is rooted in a culture that grows up in large companies, which, as they become larger, become more risk adverse frequently, and wanting everything to be perfect. And when you're trying to move quickly, you cannot be, have the standard of perfection. You can have a standard of excellence, but not of perfection. And so helping companies understand that they've got to move fast enough, and that they're not, by the time they get the perfect design, where they were going has already changed, is an important part of what we do, and to a service of how to be excellent, but fast.
Cheryl Gilberg
Let's talk a little bit about communication styles. I understand you're a big believer in the power of storytelling, and I was wondering how do you marry that and balance that with the metrics-driven, data intensive world of consulting?
Julie Sweet
Well, the first thing when I think about the importance of storytelling in a consulting environment, or frankly, in any corporate environment, is I start with the result that you're trying to achieve is never about the metric. And if you always begin with what am I trying to achieve, and whether that you're in the corporate world or the consulting world, and then talk from the goal backwards, that's why you have the power of storytelling, right. And too often, metrics become the end, when the end is actually an outcome, and that's why storytelling can really force you to focus on the outcome and not the inputs and the metrics.
Cheryl Gilberg
I understand Accenture's committed to achieving a gender-balanced workforce by 2025. How do you plan to get there, and what tools should companies use to build diverse workforces?
Julie Sweet
Well, we are really excited that we announced a recent milestone towards our goal of being 50/50 men and women by 2025, which we are now at 44%, which is really exciting. And there's really been two key parts to our journey towards gender equality. The first is that we set, as a business strategy, becoming a more inclusive and diverse company. We truly believe that the reason we've been so successful in digital technologies and innovation is because we are committed to inclusion and diversity, which means we have leaders who are accountable, we have plans, and we measure it. And the second reason we've been so successful and are confident in meeting our goals, is around data, because in order to measure it, you have to have good data, and you have to use that data. And what we've found in some of our research is that, while many companies talk about a commitment, and they truly are committed, they're missing both a business strategy, but also, they're often missing the data that's needed to provide the insights, and how do you make the changes to achieve your goal.
Cheryl Gilberg
If you were to look back on your career now, what is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Julie Sweet
You know, when I think about the advice I've received over the years, one particular piece of advice stands out for me. One of our former directors was speaking to a group of us, and she said that if you're given the opportunity to take a role that you feel like is a stretch role, when you're given that opportunity, simply say "Yes." And then go and tell your friend, or your husband, or your partner how nervous you are, because chances are, that the person giving you the stretch role is as nervous about giving it to you, as you are about receiving it. And I think it's really important as each of us are challenged to take on new roles, to remember that it's natural to have doubts, but don't share them with the person that is giving you the role.
Cheryl Gilberg
Because most often, you probably can do it too, even if you're nervous about it.
Julie Sweet
Well, you know, I think a lot about this idea of taking risks, and I've reframed it in my career as opposed to taking risks, is about challenging myself. So, my husband put this plaque on the wall that says "If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough." If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough. And for me, that's really about, if you think about your career in terms of taking risks, that doesn't feel good. If you think about your career, about having big dreams and challenging yourself, that's inspiring and exciting. And so I think it's important to think about taking on these new challenges, is that having big dreams.
Cheryl Gilberg
Thank you very much for joining us in the studio, and we look forward to your talk soon.
Julie Sweet
Great, thanks for having me.