Future leaders: Small changes drive big impact for you and our world

Last year I got some good advice on taking on tough problems. I was speaking to Ariel Investments CEO Mellody Hobson about the issue of race in America. Her advice for making a difference was “stay in your lane.”

In other words, make the changes you are able to make with the talents you have, in the world where you live. And, as importantly, every action you take can influence others to see problems through a broader lens and seek diverse perspectives.

That good advice came back to me last week as PwC took on another challenging topic: gender equality. This week, at our Aspire to Lead event we brought together women and men from 106 countries--many of them on college campuses--to be part of a discussion about how we build a world where both women and men reach their full potential. Award-winning actor Geena Davis, Co-Founder of the Bentonville Film Festival and Founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; PwC Global Talent Leader Michael Fenlon; Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Academy Award nominee and director, and PwC Senior Associate Peter Yobo examined various aspects of gender equality and the advancement of women.

This is an issue that I care about, as a business leader, as the father of a daughter and son, and as a citizen of a world that is facing some big challenges. We cannot afford to have half of our population not contributing to the best of their abilities--and you cannot have limitations placed on them explicitly or implicitly. That’s not good for businesses like PwC, for our country, the world, or, most importantly, for our future.

Geena Davis gave us a sense of the landscape in Hollywood. A study sponsored by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media found only 30.9% of the characters within films are female. And 85% of films had no female director, 80% had no female writers, 33% had no female producers, 78% had no female editors and 92% had no female cinematographers. We have to do better.

As a business leader, I’m playing in my lane by driving dialogue in my firm, helping create programs and policies, asking questions, doing my best to lead by example, and consequently influencing others to think about how they can do the same. And while that’s important, I can only imagine how much further and faster we could drive change if all of the students and young professionals who joined the webcast this week made small changes in their world.

For example, I was so moved and impressed by the commitment of my colleague Peter Yobo. Growing up, Peter saw that his mother--who worked hard as an employee and parent--did not receive the respect she deserved. Inspired by this, Peter has chosen to drive change one person at time. He’s playing in his lane by looking around the teams he works with and being brave enough to ask someone who is different from him to have coffee or lunch. He’s fostering dialogue that builds stronger teams and helps them bring the best of each individual to the work at hand--and Peter is not a CEO or a PwC partner--he is someone that cares enough to take action. I imagine there are others like me who heard Peter speak and can see the effect one person’s actions can have on his or her entire network. To me, that’s what being a leader is all about.

Following the event, PwC held several local panel conversations to extend the discussion on the themes from Aspire to Lead. I was in New York with PwC US CFO Carol Sawdye. Carol and I started our careers at PwC on the same day and always stayed in touch. We were part of each other’s networks, and have encouraged each other to grow and learn more. Indeed, having a broad and deep network was an important point made by the speakers at the Aspire to Lead event. As Mike Fenlon writes, “Expanding your network also means doing an “audit” of your personal network - push yourself and make sure your network reflects gender diversity, as well as other dimensions of diversity.”

I hope that the thousands of students, professionals, and PwC people who joined us last week think about the small changes they can make--and collectively drive big impact.  You don’t have to wait until 10 or 20 years into your career to drive change. You can get started now, and by doing so, prepare yourself to lead and to realize your full potential.?