Accenture CEO Julie Sweet shares career advice she got from her father at 15: ‘You're never going to…'
recently shared the most important lesson of her career came when she was just 15 years old. Sweet told Fortune that after losing a local speech contest to 'the daughter of the president' of the Lions Club, she complained to her father. His response left a lasting impact. 'First of all, Julie, you're never going to be the daughter of the president of the Lions Club. That's not the family you were born into… and I believe you can do anything, but you have to be so much better than anyone else that they have to give it to you. Tonight, you weren't that much better,' Julie Sweet's father told her.
Sweet, who grew up in Tustin, California, later described her father's words as a lesson in being fearless but prepared. 'You should be fearless, but you have to be ready,' she told the publication. That advice,
Julie Sweet
says, taught her to be brutally honest with herself and to keep improving — a habit she developed early, working as a teenage reservations clerk where she 'learned to change, to grow very, very fast.'
Julie Sweet quotes JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon
During her interaction, Julie Sweet also pointed out that adaptability is crucial for all business leaders. She cited JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who often warns against complacency and urges constant learning.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
has a similar approach, saying his focus is always on 'doing things that are going to be relevant tomorrow.' Nadella credits this mindset for Microsoft's three decades of continuous growth.
Sweet's own journey — from losing a speech contest to leading one of the world's largest consulting firms — reflects the value of staying ready and always improving.
Julie Sweet graduated from Columbia University with a law degree and began her career at the elite law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore in Manhattan. She joined Accenture as General Counsel in 2010, became CEO of North America in 2015, and was appointed Global CEO in 2019. Transitioning from law to leading cloud services and generative AI projects, Sweet's journey has been marked by constant adaptation.
Under Sweet's leadership, Accenture has spent $6.6 billion on acquisitions over the past two years and raised its AI bookings to $1.4 billion. These moves led to a higher revenue forecast in March, according to Reuters. Sweet says these strategies follow the same principle her father taught her — to be 'so much better' that clients have no choice but to work with you.
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