
? 埃森哲首席執行官(Accenture)沈居麗(Julie Sweet)從未料想,自己有朝一日會成為公司最高職位的候選人——她并不符合傳統意義上的晉升標準。然而,當前任老板詢問她是否有意接任這一要職時,沈居麗并未讓自我懷疑的本能占據上風。相反,她聽從了摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)前高管的建議:倘若收到超出自身能力范圍的晉升邀約,切不可心生質疑。
你永遠無法預知機遇何時會敲門。對沈居麗而言,那扇機遇之門在2014年底開啟——就在她被確診乳腺癌前一個月。當時,她與時任埃森哲首席執行官南佩德(Pierre Nanterme)進行例行一對一談話。
“會議臨近尾聲,他合上筆記本,將其推到一旁,突然對我說……‘我認為你有朝一日能執掌這家公司。’”沈居麗在接受《財富》雜志《行業巨頭與顛覆者》播客主持人尚艾儷(Alyson Shontell)采訪時,回憶起職業生涯中這一至關重要的轉折時刻。
對當時的沈居麗而言,這一幕宛如夢境。彼時她擔任總法律顧問,與典型首席執行官形象相去甚遠:她擁有法律背景,而非傳統意義上的商業背景;她身為女性,而該公司歷史上一直由男性執掌;且與歷任領導者不同,她的整個職業生涯并非都在埃森哲度過。
就連她的上司也承認,從總法律顧問直接晉升首席執行官并不現實,直言她需要“先管理其他業務部門”。
但現年57歲的沈居麗并未表露絲毫疑慮,而是聽從摩根大通前首席財務官、埃森哲董事會成員迪娜·杜布隆(Dina Dublon)的建議:“當有人給你一份挑戰性工作時……給你這份工作的人很可能和你一樣心懷忐忑,甚至比你還要緊張。所以,千萬別問‘你確定嗎?’這類問題。”
秉持這份清醒認知,沈居麗毫不遲疑地回應道:“我看著他,迪娜的忠告在腦海中回響,便說道‘當然,我很感興趣。您對此有什么具體規劃嗎?’”
這一回應推動她的職業生涯向頂峰邁進:2015年,她開始執掌這家科技咨詢公司的北美業務,最終在2019年被任命為全球首席執行官。
自信的力量
在職場中保持自信,不僅關乎斬獲工作機會,更是每位從業者的每日必備。
事實上,沈居麗表示,在這家市值高達1500億美元、員工數量多達77萬人的公司里,自信(謙遜和卓越)是打造“卓越團隊”的核心要素。
“我們不斷挑戰彼此,也不斷挑戰固有假設,”她解釋道,“當你打造的團隊將質疑假設、擁抱變革視為常態,這便意味著持續的自我反思。無需停下腳步制定宏大戰略……因為團隊始終在優化戰略。”
即便已然躋身高管行列,她仍敢于提問——她將尋求幫助視為自己的“超能力”之一。
“我認為高層領導成為深度學習者這一理念至關重要,然而在眾多公司里,這卻并不常見,”她表示,“因為很多時候,高層領導者——無論是首席執行官,還是低一級的管理者——都被視為‘全知全能’的智者。他們身居高位,因此讓領導者接受培訓的想法往往會讓人覺得十分荒誕怪異。”
這種理念源于她在法務部門的早期經歷——她坦言,自己當時對技術領域知之甚少,不得不主動尋求指導。
“我很快意識到,若想成為具備法律背景的商業領袖,就必須深入了解業務。”沈居麗表示。
她最終憑借這一技能脫穎而出,成為首席執行官候選人:“透明度能建立信任,”她補充道,“因為你為公司創造的價值越多,就越有可能獲得下一份最佳工作。”(財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
? 埃森哲首席執行官(Accenture)沈居麗(Julie Sweet)從未料想,自己有朝一日會成為公司最高職位的候選人——她并不符合傳統意義上的晉升標準。然而,當前任老板詢問她是否有意接任這一要職時,沈居麗并未讓自我懷疑的本能占據上風。相反,她聽從了摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)前高管的建議:倘若收到超出自身能力范圍的晉升邀約,切不可心生質疑。
你永遠無法預知機遇何時會敲門。對沈居麗而言,那扇機遇之門在2014年底開啟——就在她被確診乳腺癌前一個月。當時,她與時任埃森哲首席執行官南佩德(Pierre Nanterme)進行例行一對一談話。
“會議臨近尾聲,他合上筆記本,將其推到一旁,突然對我說……‘我認為你有朝一日能執掌這家公司。’”沈居麗在接受《財富》雜志《行業巨頭與顛覆者》播客主持人尚艾儷(Alyson Shontell)采訪時,回憶起職業生涯中這一至關重要的轉折時刻。
對當時的沈居麗而言,這一幕宛如夢境。彼時她擔任總法律顧問,與典型首席執行官形象相去甚遠:她擁有法律背景,而非傳統意義上的商業背景;她身為女性,而該公司歷史上一直由男性執掌;且與歷任領導者不同,她的整個職業生涯并非都在埃森哲度過。
就連她的上司也承認,從總法律顧問直接晉升首席執行官并不現實,直言她需要“先管理其他業務部門”。
但現年57歲的沈居麗并未表露絲毫疑慮,而是聽從摩根大通前首席財務官、埃森哲董事會成員迪娜·杜布隆(Dina Dublon)的建議:“當有人給你一份挑戰性工作時……給你這份工作的人很可能和你一樣心懷忐忑,甚至比你還要緊張。所以,千萬別問‘你確定嗎?’這類問題。”
秉持這份清醒認知,沈居麗毫不遲疑地回應道:“我看著他,迪娜的忠告在腦海中回響,便說道‘當然,我很感興趣。您對此有什么具體規劃嗎?’”
這一回應推動她的職業生涯向頂峰邁進:2015年,她開始執掌這家科技咨詢公司的北美業務,最終在2019年被任命為全球首席執行官。
自信的力量
在職場中保持自信,不僅關乎斬獲工作機會,更是每位從業者的每日必備。
事實上,沈居麗表示,在這家市值高達1500億美元、員工數量多達77萬人的公司里,自信(謙遜和卓越)是打造“卓越團隊”的核心要素。
“我們不斷挑戰彼此,也不斷挑戰固有假設,”她解釋道,“當你打造的團隊將質疑假設、擁抱變革視為常態,這便意味著持續的自我反思。無需停下腳步制定宏大戰略……因為團隊始終在優化戰略。”
即便已然躋身高管行列,她仍敢于提問——她將尋求幫助視為自己的“超能力”之一。
“我認為高層領導成為深度學習者這一理念至關重要,然而在眾多公司里,這卻并不常見,”她表示,“因為很多時候,高層領導者——無論是首席執行官,還是低一級的管理者——都被視為‘全知全能’的智者。他們身居高位,因此讓領導者接受培訓的想法往往會讓人覺得十分荒誕怪異。”
這種理念源于她在法務部門的早期經歷——她坦言,自己當時對技術領域知之甚少,不得不主動尋求指導。
“我很快意識到,若想成為具備法律背景的商業領袖,就必須深入了解業務。”沈居麗表示。
她最終憑借這一技能脫穎而出,成為首席執行官候選人:“透明度能建立信任,”她補充道,“因為你為公司創造的價值越多,就越有可能獲得下一份最佳工作。”(財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
? Accenture CEO Julie Sweet never thought she would one day be in the running for the top job at her company; she did not fit the traditional mold. However, when her former boss asked if she was interested, Sweet did not let her instincts of self-doubt kick in. Instead, she leaned on the advice of a former JPMorgan Chase exec who says never to question a promotion you don’t feel ready for.
You never know when your big break will come knocking. For Julie Sweet, it came just a month before she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2014, during a regular one-to-one with her boss—then-CEO of Accenture, Pierre Nanterme.
“At the end of the meeting, he closes his notebook and he pushes it aside, and he says to me, completely out of the blue… ‘I think you could run this place someday,’” Sweet recalled the pivotal moment in her career to Fortune’s Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast with Alyson Shontell.
It was a surreal moment for Sweet, who was serving as general counsel at the time and did not fit the mold of a typical CEO: she had a legal background, not a traditional business one, she was a woman in a company historically led by men, and unlike previous leaders, she had not spent her entire career at Accenture.
Even her boss admitted that jumping from general counsel to CEO was not a feasible jump, leveling that she would have to “run something else first.”
But instead of letting doubts slip out, the now-57-year-old leaned on the advice she once heard from Dina Dublon, the former CFO of JPMorgan Chase who served on Accenture’s board: “When someone gives you a stretch role… chances are that the person offering you a stretch role is as nervous or more nervous than you are. So, don’t say anything, like: Are you sure?”
Armed with that wisdom, Sweet did not flinch: “I looked at him and I said—with Dina in my head—’why, yes, I’d be interested. What did you have in mind?’”
And it set her career in motion toward the top of the ladder, leading the tech consulting firm’s North American practice in 2015, and eventually being named global CEO in 2019.
The power of confidence
Being confident in the workplace is something that extends beyond just being offered a job—it’s something that is needed every day from all workers.
In fact, Sweet said that confidence (as well as humility and excellence) is core to what makes a “great team” at the $150 billion company with a 770,000-strong workforce.
“We are constantly challenging each other and our assumptions,” she explained. “When you build a team that thinks that the status quo is challenging assumptions, embracing change, it means you’re constantly questioning. You don’t need to stop and have a big strategy… because you’re always working on the strategy.”
And having the confidence to ask questions doesn’t stop just because she’s in the C-suite—she calls asking for help one of her “superpowers.”
“I think the idea of being a deep learner at the top is really critical, and that is not usual in a lot of companies,” she said. “Because many times, the senior leaders, whether it’s the CEO or one level down, they’re the ones with all the wisdom. They’ve gotten these big jobs, and so the idea of training for leaders is often really odd to think about.”
That mindset began during her early years in the legal department, when she admits she wasn’t super tech savvy—and had to ask for guidance.
“I figured out pretty quickly that if I wanted to be the business leader with legal experience, I had to deeply understand the business,” Sweet said.
It’s a skill that ultimately helped her stick out from the pack—and be in line for the top CEO job: “transparency builds trust,” she added. “Because the more value you can contribute [to] your company, the more likely you’re going to get that best next job.”