Videos
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4 Ways to Redefine Power at Work to Include Women of Color | Rha Goddess & Deepa Purushothaman | TED -
Deepa Purushothaman: The workplace, redefined by women of color -
Dorie Clark and Deepa Purushothaman - Redefining Power at Work
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Shedding and Carrying to Step Into New Leadership | Deepa Purushothaman | TEDxCherryCreekWomen
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CWIB 2024 Conference: Advancing Women in the Evolving DEIB Landscape -
Fireside Chat with Deepa Purushothaman - Author of "The First, the Few, the Only"
Learn More About Deepa Purushothaman
Great leaders bring the best parts of themselves to work while empowering employees to do the same. How can managers find their individual voice, setting an important example for their teams to follow suit
According to former top Deloitte executive Deepa Purushothaman (per-SHOT-a-man), leaders must look within to determine their mission, their strengths, and their values, and utilize these as north stars on an authentic path to individual and organizational success.
“When I work with individuals, I’m helping them figure out how to make work work for them before they reach crisis,” explains Purushothaman, Deloitte’s first Indian-American woman and one of the youngest people to make partner in the firm’s history. “When I work with companies, it’s really about teaching leaders how to advance their people in healthier ways to build cultures that can help employees truly thrive.”
Founder of The re.write, an unconventional think tank advancing a new story of work, Purushothaman’s seasoned, visionary approach to leadership grants individuals and companies the courage and permission to challenge the status quo of ambition, success and power.
Building a Formidable Workforce: Recruit Nimbly, Retain Skillfully, Advance Boldly
For an organization to thrive, it’s vital to attract – and keep – top talent. How can today’s leaders ensure their company is bringing in and advancing the best people?
Purushothaman reveals to executives the three priorities of building a deep bench of talent: recruit creatively, keep them interested, and ensure those employees have great growth and advancement opportunities.
“Many leaders struggle with what it looks like to not only create but keep the best teams,” explains Purushothaman, a board member of Avasara, India’s first leadership academy for girls, and the Rutgers University Center for Women in Business. “My accessible frameworks help leaders become driving forces for enhancing all aspects of the workplace experience, creating highly sought after destinations for workers of all backgrounds, skill levels and experience.”
Through engaging presentations and highly collaborative advisory arrangements, Purushothaman shares actionable strategies for forming higher performing, more dynamic cultures where everyone is included and has been equipped with the tools and resources to thrive.
Creating Authentic Leaders Who Bring Out the Best in Everyone
There are plenty of well-worn “conventional wisdom” leadership philosophies that have been unchanged for decades, but do they still resonate with today’s workforces, especially in these uncertain times?
Purushothaman challenges stereotypical leadership qualities that have faded from relevance, replacing them with often-overlooked traits such as wisdom, inner power and empathy.
The best leaders, she explains, are those who can successfully address all types of uncertainty – about the world around us, such as society, technology and politics, as well as the inner doubt many experience in relation to their place at work.
“Managing through change is as much about the uncertainty of our times as it is about the feelings many experience when wondering if their voices and opinions in the workplace really matter,” explains Purushothaman, the former US Managing Partner of WIN, Deloitte’s renowned Women’s Initiative. “Leaders have to be able to make space to just hold conversations and hear one another. Doing so brings out everyone’s best, increases innovation, boosts resilience and minimizes burnout.”
With rich, personal stories of facing her own uncertainty as well as deeply researched examples from a variety of top leaders, Purushothaman provides accessible strategies for uncovering new pathways to evolved leadership, empowering anyone to lead in today’s world while remaining authentic to their core.
Leadership Strategies for Today’s World of Work
With the needs of today’s workforce continuously evolving, many organizations are desperately searching for ways to build stronger, more connected teams. How can company leaders navigate shifting political views while continuing to give voice to all employees?
Author of the award-winning, Financial Times best business book pick “The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America” (Harper Business, March 2022), which was hailed by Daniel Pink as “a category defining book for the corporate world,” Purushothaman points out that understanding today’s challenges and opportunities is the vital first step in crafting new conversations.
“It can feel like the art of how to talk and how to listen to each other has been lost, so it’s important to move the narratives away from a zero-sum paradigm of ‘winners and losers,’” explains Purushothaman, whose TED Talks have garnered over 3 million views. “Managers can take the lead in making space for holding constructive conversations and supporting each other’s voices.”
Empowering leaders to create positive, productive work cultures, Purushothaman’s impactful, lasting and transformative strategies allow organizations to benefit from their workforce’s wide variety of viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences.
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Deepa Purushothaman spent more than 20 years at Deloitte helping clients transform and grow. She was the first Indian American woman and one of the youngest people to make partner in the firm’s history. As a senior partner, Purushothaman was the US Managing Partner of WIN, Deloitte’s renowned Women’s Initiative.
In 2022, Purushothaman’s debut book, “The First, the Few, the Only” (Harper Business, March 2022), was published to international acclaim. It was a Financial Times best business book pick and won multiple awards.
She is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School and has worked closely with the Aspen Institute, both as a fellow and now as an advisor, to roll out nuanced and necessary conversations around the future of talent.
Purushothaman’s passion to advance women extends to her board work; she serves as a board member of Avasara, India’s first leadership academy for girls, and the Rutgers University Center for Women in Business. Purushothaman counts Indra Nooyi, who blurbed her first book; Simon Sinek, who sought her help with programming around inclusion; and Billie Jean King, who she partnered with on groundbreaking research as advocates of her work.
As a keynote speaker, Purushothaman has addressed tens of thousands of people around the world, and at prestigious organizations such as the United Nations, Delta, Amazon and Yale. She is a TED and SXSW speaker and has been featured in TIME, PBS, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review. Purushothaman’s TED talks have over 3 million views and she is a regular contributor for the Harvard Business Review.
She has degrees from Wellesley College, Harvard Kennedy School, and the London School of Economics.
Deepa Purushothaman is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
Create an Empowering Culture Where Employees Can Show Up in Full Voice
Great leaders not only bring their full selves to work, but they also empower employees to do the same. How can managers find their voice, setting an important example for their teams? According to former top Deloitte executive Deepa Purushothaman, leaders must look within to determine their mission, identify their values, and use them as guiding principles on an authentic path to success in any endeavor. In this deeply personal presentation, Purushothaman details how she found her own path to define her unique voice and navigate unseen challenges. Audiences will learn practical strategies for unlocking their full voice and creating a psychologically safe culture that enables all to follow suit.
Building a Formidable Workforce: Recruit Nimbly, Retain Skillfully, Advance Boldly
For an organization to thrive, it’s vital to attract – and keep – top talent. How can today’s leaders ensure their company is bringing in and advancing the best people? According to former Deloitte executive Deepa Purushothaman, there are three priorities when it comes to building a deep bench of talent: recruit creatively, keep them interested, and ensure they receive the right growth and advancement opportunities. In this engaging presentation, Purushothaman shares actionable strategies for creating higher performing, more dynamic cultures where everyone feels included and has been equipped with the tools and resources to thrive. Audiences will leave with frameworks for leaders to become driving forces for enhancing all aspects of the workplace experience. In the process, organizations can become highly sought after destinations for workers of all backgrounds, skill levels and experience.
The New Rules of Modern Leadership
There are many well-worn “conventional wisdom” leadership philosophies, but do they still resonate with today’s workforces? In this eye-opening presentation, former top Deloitte executive Deepa Purushothaman challenges stereotypical leadership qualities that have faded from relevance, replacing them with often-overlooked traits such as wisdom, inner power and empathy. She provides real world examples through several personal defining career moments when she had to choose courage, honesty and humor to gain influence and be seen as a trusted partner and advisor. Audiences will leave with Purushothaman’s accessible strategies for uncovering new pathways to evolved leadership, empowering anyone to lead in today’s world while remaining authentic to their core.
Overcoming Uncertainty to Lead Confidently
Uncertainty takes many forms – uncertainty about the world around us, such as society, technology and politics, and the inner uncertainty many experience in relation to their place at work. According to former Deloitte executive Deepa Purushothaman, the best leaders are those who can successfully address all types of uncertainties. In this inspiring presentation, she draws on her own experience to share instances of overcoming personal uncertainties in her journey to becoming a top executive. Purushothaman also provides real world examples of leaders who have faced challenges and found their full voice to manage through such inner uncertainty. Attendees will learn how doubts can be turned into strengths to become leaders who create uplifting spaces where people can truly hear each other, bringing out the best in everyone.
Building Thoughtful Inclusion Strategies for Today’s World of Work
With the language around diverse workforces changing, many organizations remain committed to building inclusive teams. How can company leaders navigate the shifting views of such initiatives while continuing to give voice to all employees? According to Deepa Purushothaman, former top Deloitte executive, author, and a deep researcher on topics of belonging, understanding today’s challenges and opportunities around inclusion programs is the vital first step. In this revealing presentation, she helps leaders craft new conversations around building workforces that bring in a variety of viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences. Audiences will leave with impactful, lasting and transformative strategies that move the inclusion narrative away from a zero-sum paradigm of “winners and losers.” Leaders will be empowered to create positive, productive work cultures that bring out the best in an organization’s diverse talent pool.
Additional speech topics Deepa can customize to your needs include but are not limited to:
- The Power of Writing Your Own Success Story
- Advancing Women Leaders
- Me + We: The Key to Long Term Sustained Success
- Leading with Inner Wisdom and Power
- Unlocking Your Best Self: It’s an Inside Job
- Lessons from the Top: New Approaches to Leadership, Power, and Success
- Beyond the Corporate Fairytale: How Employees are Rewriting the Story of Work
- Boost Wellness by Understanding Burnout and Stress to Perform at Your Best
- Rewriting the Leader Code: Confident Leadership in the New World of Work.
- Thriving Cultures: Surviving Super Moments
- Actionable Insights & Inclusive Leadership: Patterns, Permissions and Practice
The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America
(Harper Business, March 2022)
"Dear Deepa, I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for your participation in our Women’s Conference. It was a pleasure to have you with us and to share such an inspiring experience. Your insights and actionable advice provided our attendees with valuable perspectives and empowered them to embrace authenticity and personal growth. Your contributions shared during your inspired session added tremendous value to the conference. It was our honor to have you as a speaker, and we are incredibly grateful for the time and effort you dedicated to making the event a success. Thank you once again for sharing your knowledge and passion with us. We hope to have the opportunity to work with you again in the future." Thank you once again for being a part of this special event.
"Deepa was phenomenal! Knowledgeable! Her talk was exactly what we were hoping to achieve and exactly what the participants needed to hear. We've received such positive feedback about her session."
"[Deepa's] energy, examples and data points made a real case for our opportunity to create a #future that 'makes work, work for everyone." The work is never done."
"On behalf of the entire Credit Suisse team, I would like to thank [Deepa] for engaging in such an insightful and impactful conversation for this year's Women's Financial Forum. I was moved by both [her] honesty and candor."
"Deepa Purushothaman was phenomenal! Such an impactful conversation."
Praise for "The First, the Few, the Only"
Axiom Award Bronze Medalist for Women / BIPOC in Business
“The rare book that can simultaneously make professionals of color feel seen and give white male colleagues a comprehensive education.”
"Empowering . . . A fresh, worthy addition to the growing body of work on diversity in the workplace.”
"'The First, the Few, the Only' is full of eye-opening stories and empathetic advice that will benefit anyone who wants the inside scoop on power in today’s companies. This insightful book is a rallying cry for women of color to find their leadership pathway and blaze the trail toward more inclusive organizations that are more appealing to everyone. A must-read for managers too."
"Deepa’s firsthand experience as a senior executive, combined with the stories of the influential women she spoke with, has yielded a powerful collective narrative that business leaders would be wise to study closely in their quest not only to recruit and retain the top talent, but also to lead with empathy and understanding."
"'The First, the Few, the Only' is a deeply personal call to action, encouraging readers to learn and feel seen from its stories and messages. This important and engaging book will help build bridges, dismantle barriers, and change how we lead in the workplace."
"We need more books by women of color for women of color—books that highlight our unique experiences and challenges in the workplace—so we can feel seen and reclaim our whole, unfiltered identities. Deepa does an amazing job of sharing her own story while also highlighting the journey of hundreds of other women of color navigating corporate spaces. You will walk away seeing yourself in the pages, experiencing a rush of validation, and feeling emboldened to find success on your own terms."
"A category-defining book for white colleagues, managers, and leaders at all levels of the corporate world. Deepa examines the limiting ideas that businesses often still carry about what power and leadership look like, and how that definition leaves many behind. In a world where success is often presented as a singular path, we need books like this to show us all that leadership takes many forms and has many voices."
"For too long, women of color have been the ‘first, few, or only.’ The time is now for us to hear their stories, learn from their resilience, and evolve our vision of leadership. Deepa serves as a courageous and honest resource, empowering women of color to boldly venture into their full power."
"A must-have resource for women of color struggling to overcome established power structures in corporate America. Deeply inspiring and uplifting, 'The First, the Few, the Only' highlights the power of community, encourages women of color to be unapologetically themselves in a white male-dominated environment, and provides the necessary tools to help women thrive in an environment not designed for them."
