Career Advice from the Pros
At the 2018 KPMG Leadership Summit we had the chance to speak to CEO’s and other industry experts to get their do’s and don’ts for how to navigate your way to a successful career.
Do: Find an Advocate
“Mentors are the people who are going to talk with you and help you. But an advocate or a sponsor, that is someone who is going to speak for you. And I think it's important to be very purposeful about the people that are in a position to help you, and to specifically ask for that help. And you'd be surprised that people are more than willing to help you when you ask for it. So I really encourage people to speak up about the things that they want to accomplish, the experiences they are looking to get, and ask for them.” – Lynne Doughtie, U.S. Chairman and CEO of KPMG
Don’t: Be Afraid to Be an Outsider
“I was asked to relocate to my company’s European headquarters in Budapest, Hungary. And for me, that was a real defining moment because it totally took me out of my comfort zone. I was an outsider. And it taught me how important diversity and inclusion was in addition to the broadening of my business skill set… Whether it's gender diversity, ethnic diversity, generational diversity—it gets you the power of better ideas and more debate, which leads you to more engaged employees, which leads you to a better shareholder return.”
– Eric Foss, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aramark
“If everybody is doing one thing, do something else. That's a way to contribute more and you're going to stand out more. I think that there is such pressure on people to conform, to go with the crowd. But what I've seen over the years is that no one ever regrets zigging while everybody was zagging. One of the most powerful human emotions is regret. And what people regret is conformity. They rarely regret trying something cool and having it fail.”
– Dan Pink, Best-selling author and motivational speaker
“Go ahead and try things that are difficult for you. But never forget that there are people there who want you to succeed. And so when there are difficulties and it gets a little bit hard and you don't really understand what happened, don't feel that you're all alone. Go and get some help. We have this conceit sometimes: ‘I did it on my own.’ Nobody does it on their own.”
– 66th U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice
