#BeBoldForChange

Today, on International Women’s Day, I reflect on one thing that I’ve learned over the years as a leader—that when you set high standards, people hold you accountable. Sure enough, an article recently argued that while accounting and professional services firms say they promote diversity and inclusion, they haven’t done enough. It was tough criticism, and frankly, unfair. As a CEO of one of these firms, I know that while we’ve made tremendous strides when it comes to diversity and inclusion, we have work to do. With the seemingly constant stream of news related to challenges companies face when it comes to creating a diverse workforce, it can be easy to lose perspective, and today I want to reflect on the incredible progress our profession has made in achieving diversity in our ranks and promoting it in the communities we serve.

It is important to note that the Big 4 professional services firms routinely rank in the top 20 of all companies in various diversity surveys. There are dozens of woman and minority-owned firms who have associated themselves proudly with the Big 4. I am proud of the progress of our profession and commend my counterparts who have also broken through glass ceilings.

I think of all the firsts just at my own firm: At Deloitte, we elected the first female Chairman, first minority Chairman, first Latino CEO, first female CEO, first female head of the audit business, and first female leader of the consulting business. This isn’t tokenism—it’s an outcome of concerted efforts we’ve taken to shape our firm. And it’s tangible proof that we are moving the needle.

We can’t be satisfied that our work is done. It isn’t. But we have come so far—and we have learned so much about what works. But it would be a misguided criticism to dismiss our efforts and our success—we’re among the best at doing this important work.

When I joined Deloitte over 30 years ago, I didn’t see many women or people of color in leadership positions. But, a decade into my career, things started to change. Our leaders recognized we were losing high-performing women, and we needed a more diverse talent pipeline. So we did three things. First, we developed programs to help attract and retain more diverse individuals. Second, we focused on nurturing a culture of inclusion that recognized diversity of people was not just the right thing for our people, but the right thing for our business and clients as well. And third, we looked for ways that we could invest in the diverse talent in our communities and their future.

These things worked. Together with other professional services firms, we led a transformation of how to recruit, promote, and retain more women, more minorities, and other professionals like veterans, regardless of background, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation.

We learned the most important lesson of diversity and inclusion: You build diversity and inclusion in small acts and big initiatives—because it has to happen every day and at every level.

At Deloitte, the results are clear-cut. Roughly two-thirds of our professionals are women and minorities. In our highest leadership ranks (our partners and managing directors), we have more than 2,000 women and minorities. Over 55 percent of our board is comprised of women and minorities.

We know things have to change further to reflect the needs of a diverse workforce. We do this by focusing on the needs of our professionals through their career journey. For example, we know that all professionals have special responsibilities outside of work. So at Deloitte, we’ve built profession-leading flexibility programs, including 16 weeks of fully paid family leave for caregiving—for eligible women and men for various family care needs. People shouldn’t have to choose between succeeding at work and enjoying or taking care of life outside of work—they can deliver on both.

Clearly, it’s working. And it’s working because it’s not just a business imperative for us. It’s also at the heart of our culture. Wherever we recruit, people hear the same message: You can make an impact that matters at Deloitte. Just see what we’ve done already.

Can we do more? Absolutely. Sometimes, progress is stubbornly slow. There isn’t an organization, profession, or industry in America that can be satisfied with the status quo of their diversity and inclusion efforts. Too much talent remains untapped; too many careers stop short of their potential; too many jobs go unfilled. We know we can continue to do better—a culture built on diversity and inclusion is essential to getting this right. From the top down, we will continue to make room at the table for more diverse leaders—on our executive teams, on our boards, and across our entire Deloitte organization. We are also committed to fostering an environment where our people can show up every day to live out our inclusive values and culture. And when we do this, our clients benefit by having a group of people with diverse thoughts and different perspectives to help them solve their most complex business issues.

We know the expectations are high—and we gladly join in setting them higher all the time. This isn’t about hitting numbers or quotas or some other arbitrary goal. It’s about people and potential. We don’t gain anything by putting down the efforts of a great profession and committed leaders. We all recognize the effort, and learn from it. We will continue to do whatever it takes to #BeBoldForChange—at Deloitte and throughout our profession.