Author: Dani Aditi, Team Lead (Consulting Solutions Proposal Manager), PwC  

What would make you feel like you belong at the company where you work?

After 17 years with the same firm, I feel that I belong now more than ever. What originally attracted me 17 years ago might have been the history, the spit-and-polish professionalism and being in a room with so many smart people … but what kept me here was its deeply entrepreneurial culture and its focus on people. (Especially that focus on people.) Put those two things together and you’ve got people doing creative things with permission to fail… fail fast, learn the lesson and move on. The pace can be breathtaking, but the energy is very engaging.

Over the years, my needs as an employee have naturally changed, from young motherhood to mature professional, and the firm culture has evolved as well. Because every employee is encouraged to continually challenge themselves — to grow personally, professionally, and diversify — I suspect that I’ve grown into belonging.

Why did you aspire to be a leader? When did you realize you had leadership capabilities?

Leadership was more of a retroactive realization than a conscious aspiration for me. There was a period of frustration for me a few years ago in which I was missing the usual back and forth with my colleagues, and I couldn’t understand why they weren’t speaking up, addressing issues, offering up alternative ideas. At first, I tried to carefully cultivate silence, worried I was drowning out the collaborative discourse I enjoyed so much. But a while later I realized they were listening to me, accepting and following my ideas, and I’d fallen into a de facto leadership role that would eventually turn into a formal leadership position.

Now that I’ve moved officially into a leadership role, I realize I do aspire to be a certain kind of leader. Professionals spend a greater part of their day working, and with the same focus on people that I’ve seen portrayed by firm leadership, I want to do what I can to make that time as inspiring, enjoyable, affirming and satisfying as I can.

What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader? How does/has POWER helped?

I’m sure this list will grow conspicuously over time, but these habits have served me well so far:

• Be empathetic: What did I want from my leaders? Do that.
• Create opportunity: What were the conditions under which I felt like I experienced periods of professional growth, and how can I create those for others?
• Ask for feedback: Since we’re all different and what worked for me won’t necessarily work for all, ask for real-time feedback. Then ask again, in a different way.
• Seek opportunity: Continue to ask for opportunities that push me outside my comfort zone, so I can continue to grow personally and professionally.

The POWER Mentoring Circle is an opportunity my leadership provided to push me outside my comfort zone, to grow professionally, and the discussions we’re having are helping me explore ideas in a safe space, and hear feedback, perspectives and coaching from the mentors. Those discussions help connect me with women who are willing to be real and share their own challenges and uncertainties and help ground me in the fact that I’m in good company.

What advice would you give your 25-year-old self?

“Speak up, you don’t have to be the expert on a topic to contribute value or help a team reach consensus.” While it is thrilling to be in the room with a bunch of smart people, it can also be its own challenge, especially when you’re a young professional trying to establish yourself.  Remember:  If you’re in that room, there’s a reason for it. If you don’t have the answers, a smart question can often be just as effective in getting a team moving in the right direction. If you find yourself struggling to interject your perspective with a team you’re not fully established with, prepare a couple smart but general questions you might inject into the conversation. Not only will you learn something from the response, but you might inspire the team to think about the issue at hand in a different light.

What’s the best thing that happened to you this year?

Without a doubt, it is taking the plunge and finally purchasing my first house… my own little piece of 1912 history in one of the largest intact, historic neighborhoods in Washington state. As a pair of Gen-X latch-key kids, my husband and I weren’t sure what all the fuss was about, owning a home. But the appeal of an old house close to the ocean proved to be greater than our apathy and the Fed’s interest rates combined. Leaving Seattle for a time capsule with “woods” for a backyard is quite the change of pace!