Julie Sweet

It's important to reflect upon how far we've come in achieving gender equality in the workplace and how we could move faster toward even greater goals.

When you come into a role, there seems to be just a ton of different places you can make an impact. But it's critical in that first year to be seen to be a leader that can actually accomplish things and has a sense of priorities.

There are three things that I have found were really critical in my first year: listening, prioritizing, and communicating. I don't think they're different for women. It's really about that first year as a CEO.

Diversity is critical to our business outcomes.

Diversity is critical to innovation.

We want the brand of Accenture to be innovation.

Innovation hubs are going to be in cities focused on the industries and clients of that city. So in Houston, it's focused on our industrial companies, particularly the energy sector, robotics, and automation.

Innovation is the new competitive advantage.

If you aspire to senior leadership, you're going to have to work hard. That doesn't mean you have to give up everything.

Through our Building Bridges dialogues at Accenture, where we have brought together people from diverse backgrounds to have sometimes difficult conversations, such as around race, I have experienced the power of storytelling to help people from diverse backgrounds understand each other.

This goes to show how much of an impact culture has. Even in countries where online access is readily available, there may not be the same expectation for women.

I'm driven by making an impact on the individuals I interact with and leveraging my success to give back to the world.