“Lift As You Climb”: Our increasingly diverse associates are cause for optimism

Today will be my first day as PwC US chairman and senior partner. I am excited and humbled by this remarkable opportunity, particularly since I was not exactly “most likely to succeed” in high school. To the contrary, my high school biology teacher told me—in front of my whole class—that I would never amount to anything. The silver lining, however, was my mother’s advice after that incident: “Never let anyone define you.” I’m very happy to report that, between my mother and the bio teacher, my mom carried the day.

I shared that story this week with a fantastic group of young professionals. I can’t think of a better lead-up to my chairmanship than spending an afternoon with a group that will define this firm and our profession in 25 years (or less). The occasion was the Center for Accounting Education’s annual “We’re About Success!” program. Run by the Howard University School of Business, the program brings together high-performing African-American associates from accounting firms across the country for four days of training and networking. The exceptional, young professionals I met with are our future, and as I begin my tenure as US senior partner, they and what they represent are top of mind for me for several reasons.

First, these experienced associates are digital natives. Social media and cloud computing are second nature to this group, and their ability to deploy technology innovatively and efficiently will significantly impact our profession and our world. Data analytics, mobile, social, and cloud are our tools to solve complex challenges like resource scarcity and rapid urbanization. We will need the tech savvy of our young associates to come up with the best responses.

Second, this group of about 125 young accountants and consultants represents the growing diversity of our profession and our country. I’m thrilled that PwC sent 33 attendees this year—our largest group ever and more than any other firm. I aim to keep up that good work in years to come and hope other firms will continue to join us in striving to provide this and similar opportunities to our increasingly diverse organizations.

In the next few decades, the US will not have a majority racial or ethnic demographic. As we head toward that exciting milestone, we must ensure that opportunities are evenly distributed among our diverse population. One of the themes at this meeting was “lift as you climb.” As PwC partner Lawrence Ballard explained, no matter where you are on the ladder, make the time both to seek out mentors and to counsel those who look up to you. I hope it comes as no surprise that some of my most rewarding mentor relationships have been with people who did not look like me.

Finally, this group is excited about leadership. The attendees were selected by their firms because of their strong performance, and many had recently been promoted.  During the robust Q&A session, each and every question they asked was about my own leadership development and what advice I could offer as they develop their own leadership style and integrity.

Helping these young leaders excel and contribute at each stage of their careers is essential to my firm’s success and to the profession more broadly. It is an opportunity I look forward to pursuing vigorously as US chairman.

And, if anyone would like to share this update with my biology teacher, please don’t hesitate.?