— Cathy Englebert, the newly named CEO of Deloitte, recounting the kind of advice she received along the way that helped her become a leader. She is the first woman to become CEO of one of the “Big Four” accounting firms.
In an interview with Fortune, she was asked, “What’s the best advice you ever received?”
Her reply: “To take some risks in my career and do some different things. I wouldn’t be a CEO today if I didn’t do different things to build capabilities and build experiences because to become a leader you need varied experiences. So the people throughout my career who said, ‘Don’t stand still, take risks and take on new responsibilities and opportunities,’ they were absolutely right.”
The accounting profession, like the supply chain profession, has devoted attention to correcting an obvious gender imbalance among its top leaders. According to a 2010 study by Public Accounting Report, more than 60 percent of U.S. accountants and auditors are women, yet women comprise only about 18 percent of equity partners at the large firms.