Black MBA - Fall 2008 - (Page 214)

IN FOCUS Allen Thomas Four Questions with… Allen Thomas, Chief Diversity Officer, Deloitte LLP By RM Johnson ALLEN THOMAS, MANAGING PARTNER, Partner Services and Chief Diversity Officer at Deloitte LLP, will present the keynote during this year’s CEO Executive Tour at the 30th Annual Conference & Exposition in Washington, D.C. Black MBA Magazine had a chance to ask Thomas these questions. What does the Chief Diversity Officer do? Thomas says his role is “about being at the forefront of ideas around diversity and getting most senior leaders at Deloitte to buy into and understand those ideas, urging them to be very aggressive champions for their implementation.” “People don’t change on their own – they need an impetus. Once that happens, they also need strong leadership to hold them accountable to that change and force them to keep striving to greater execution and standards of excellence. Without the commitment from the top, you don’t get the change.” How would you characterize the importance of diversity in today’s business world? RM Johnson is the best-selling author of nine novels; his latest is With the talent shortage in the United States, Thomas says “The Million Dollar Deception” by Simon & Schuster. corporate America will realize it has to be much more inclusive in terms of looking for, developing, promoting and deploying talent of all backgrounds. Allen Thomas This doesn’t mean a workforce that mirrors sociMarried/Kids: Married 21 years, no ety. “When looking at the talent pools from which people are being recruited, and taking into account children. the clients Deloitte serves, we strive to balance the Educational background: BS in demographic of that talent pool with the diverse Agricultural Economics from Cornell needs of our clients and the complex problems they University, and a MBA in Accounting/ face. That demographic makes sense to us. It’s not Finance from Columbia University as simple as saying the United States is a certain perYears at Deloitte/Years in Current centage of a certain group, and that’s what each comPosition: Joined Deloitte in 1982. pany should be.” He does recognize that, as a whole, In 2003 he took over leadership of corporate America should strive to at least resemble the demographic of the country. “If it doesn’t, there is human resources for the 4,500 Partners, Principals and a missed opportunity in that paradigm.” Directors in the U.S., and in December, 2007, he added the What advice do you have for new MBAs coming role of Chief Diversity Ofﬁcer. into the workforce in the current economic BlackBerry or iPhone: BlackBerry and iPod Touch climate? Get up early or stay up late: Both. Up at 5:30 or 6 a.m. Thomas suggests adopting four qualities: flexibilInto the ofﬁce around 7:30 a.m., leaving 12 hours later and ity, eagerness, dedication and development. is often still checking e-mails or preparing for the next day “Having a singular view of the path to go down when retiring around midnight. “But I have fun,” Thomas is not helpful. Being flexible about what you want to do is generally a requirement in today’s workforce. says. “I have fun everyday.” Eagerness – people want to be around people who Biggest obstacle: Time. “Deloitte is very committed to are happy and eager. If you are, let people know diversity. But the challenge is not having enough time to that. They gravitate toward that. Dedication – hard deal with all of the different opportunities that we really want work is what gets people to the top. One doesn’t to put on the table.” have to work 80 hours a week. But they should put 214 BlackMBA • Fall 2008 • www.nbmbaa.org forth superior value in the work process. Development – it’s not over after the MBA has been earned. You have to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. And that doesn’t just mean coursework. It means what assignments you have, what task forces you associate yourself with and what outside groups you associate with that build your networks and confidence. Those four things are universal and will not change.” You’re giving the keynote to the Executive Tour at this year’s NBMBAA Conference – what is the message you hope the CEOs on the Tour take away from your talk? “That CEOs hold a lot of keys to opportunities. I would like them to open their minds to those possibilities, dedicate themselves to diversity and inclusiveness in the workforce, understand the power in the room at the Black MBA conference and make sure they are mavericks for change in their organization, especially if that organization doesn’t reflect the diversity in America today.” mba http://www.nbmbaa.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Black MBA - Fall 2008

Black MBA - Fall 2008 Contents Online From the Chairman From the President & CEO Up Front Who is Middle Class? Life and Times of the Middle Class Modern Times CEO to CEO: Why Didn’t I Think of That? Pass it Forward 30 Years of Conference NBMBAA Board of Directors Honorary Co-Chairs Conference History Speaker Showcase Industry Theatre NBMBAA Case Competition® Scholarship Winners NBMBAA Chapter Presidents Conference 2009: New Orleans The New Face of Recruitment Part-Time is the Right Time Across the Pond On Campus Board Bound MBAs for the USA Market Reality: Good Tapping Company Resources On the Move Employer Profiles Leading Bias-Free Mentoring Matters Faith in Corporate Circles Mideast Region Steps Up its Game Collegiate Chapters All in the Family How to… International Markets Are You Happy? Survive and Thrive Striking a Balance Advertiser Index In Focus

Black MBA - Fall 2008

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