CEO Of Deloitte & Touche On Being Vulnerable, Crucial Traits For Leaders, & Future Of Work Trends

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As Chair & CEO at Deloitte & Touche, Lara Abrash brings more than 25 years of experience in the audit and assurance services sector. She has had the opportunity to work with some of Deloitte’s largest, most complex multinational clients in several roles, including deputy CEO and chief operating officer. Lara’s varied trajectory has provided her with in-depth knowledge of complex accounting and auditing matters as well as managerial experience that has shaped her leadership style and career success. “We're gatekeepers to the capital markets,” says Lara. “People are … really relying on the information we provide, and they're doing it without question. Our job every day is to come in and fulfill that responsibility and trust.”

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How Lara came to fall in love with accounting – and why.

If there were a professional equivalent of love at first sight, it would be Lara’s response to a 7th-grade project in which she became an accountant for local Firehouse 123. Right from the start, it was just a perfect fit and point of entry to so many things she found important and engaging: Understanding money and how it works; providing financial accountability; meeting the bar for integrity set by trusting investors of all kinds and advancing the role of women in a historically male-dominated domain. It checked all the boxes and once she understood the path forward out of college, there was no looking back. “It's a really important job that we do each day, our people are essentially responsible. We're gatekeepers to the capital markets,” says Lara. “I have a huge passion for the profession of accounting.”

About Lara’s formidable mom and her outsized influence.

The story of Lara’s mom initially traces a traditional post-World War II path from Brooklyn to the Long Island suburbs, where she got the message as a girl that she could study to be a secretary or nurse or find a husband. She married Lara’s father and had four children, but when that marriage ended in divorce Lara saw a different tableau unfold as her mother took on the role of a single mom, working full-time – often juggling more than one job. As Lara was coming of age in the 1960s and 70s the women’s movement was in full swing and her mother exemplified the spirit of activists who were trying to forge a new path that would offer their daughters more opportunity. Not too far down the road, Lara, and her mother both earned college degrees within a year of each other.? “She would say to me, ‘Baby, you can be whatever you want to be!” recalls Lara. “It was really that example. When I did enter the workforce, it was always there behind me, this special wind of somebody telling me I could do anything. And that really does matter.”

The special power – and purpose – of vulnerability.

Lara believes a willingness to be open and share personal stories binds together workplace cultures and relationships. It breaks down barriers and invites both trust and empathy. “There's a relatability that you are not, in fact, perfect; that you are constantly looking to learn and evolve and looking to others for input,” she explains. Only six months into her new tenure as CEO when the pandemic descended, Lara’s response was immediate and clear: She got on weekly phone calls with 15,000 employees and set the standard for candor, sharing worries about the risks and fears she had for her 80-year-old mom, who had Rheumatoid Arthritis, and her high school-aged kids now separated from their peers. It was like a communal place to breathe and feel safe, outside of politics or CDC recommendations. Although over the course of her career Lara had connected well in smaller groups, this was leaping onto an exponentially larger stage. She didn’t know how her vulnerability would land but had the courage to try. “After the first or second call, the number of emails and notes I got from our people about how appreciative they were (was huge),” says Lara. “They’d never seen a CEO be so open with them … feeling like we were all in this together.” It was a powerful lesson about the power of authenticity.

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How Lara’s innate character has grown and evolved as a leader.

Growing up Lara was the reliable friend, the person to whom people turned for advice or to smooth things over. In her professional life, moving through the ranks, she avoided drama, minimized conflict, and did what she could always to foster the team’s progress. She was successful and personable in all her corporate roles, but consistently fairly risk averse. Pandemic, however, called upon her to step up in a new way. It was the right moment for vulnerability and transparency, she felt, so that’s what she brought as a leader – regardless of some of the skepticism she heard from colleagues who suggested she might be overreacting. She thinks not. Lara was called upon to stretch as an executive and that’s what she did: “I always had it in me, but (openness) was something I didn't think was important to us. Once I did it, it gave me a ton of energy.” Fast forward to 2022 and Lara is grateful that the pandemic pushed and changed her, along with her management style. It has engendered a sense of safety and trust among employees that she hears about at every level of the organization. Far from being perceived as weak, Lara’s vulnerability has only underscored that she has the strength to be bold, decisive – and honest!

Diversity and Inclusion: Lara personally knows both sides of the corporate equation.

Lara is very committed to DEI on many levels – as a woman, as the mother of a child who was chronically bullied, and as a human affected by the inequity all around us. She believes true diversity and inclusion requires intentionality: “If you're running a world-class organization, you want to be a place where you bring people (of all kinds) – whether it's their skin color, their gender, their gender identity, their race, their religion.” Why? Because it’s the only genuine way to incorporate a true array of perspectives. The need for diversity “is immense, not just to us at Deloitte. It's immense to the world,” says Lara, “and I think right now we need more than ever some courageous voices to really acknowledge that we are in a moment. We're in a moment as my mom was in the 60s. (And) if we just let it go, we'll be right back to the way we were.” In terms of practical initiatives, Deloitte has been examining the barriers to entry for people of color, who are underrepresented in the accounting industry. Her team is committed to bringing education to students and dedicating funds specifically to historically black colleges and the Latinx community.

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There are 6 trends that are transforming leadership forever do you know what they are and are you ready for them??Download the PDF?to learn what these 6 trends are and what you should be doing about each one of them. These are crucial for your leadership and career development in the future of work!

The changes Lara is observing and what they mean.

First and foremost, the pace of change and digitization, the onslaught of information, and developing technology is head-spinning. With that progress comes opportunity and connection unseen ever before in history, which is exciting. But Lara believes there’s a need for vigilance regarding the growing divide between society’s haves and have-nots. With all the emphasis on the importance of STEM training and skills, Lara sees an equally vital role for softer skills that value empathy and emotional quotient, environmental sustainability, and social justice. The routinized jobs upon which generations have relied are disappearing with the emergence of robotics. Other jobs, too, such as translation or title insurance, will also eventually be displaced by AI. Lara believes we’re at an intersection and must think about how we want to be as a society.

Finding the heart of a company’s culture – and striking the right balance.

Lara believes that leadership is responsible for two central corporate elements: Enablement and Accountability Over Time. Fostering positivity and opportunity, with mental health and wellness, employee satisfaction, and morale – these are all essential elements to corporate health. Leaders want to create an environment in which people feel free to be vulnerable, take chances, and show their authentic selves. But the accountability piece is equally important. From her experience, Lara believes that providing a framework for the former pays off with the latter. She has seen tremendous commitment and results during a tumultuous, highly stressful period in which her 15,000 employees rose to the challenge. Lara makes a distinction between being vulnerable and being confessional. You don’t have to share your deepest fears or insecurities to create a sense of communal understanding. It’s possible to resonate in very simple ways and when in doubt, tap mentors and trusted colleagues for feedback and direction. Don’t be afraid of flexibility, another leadership trait critical to building healthy cultures!

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