Cathy Engelbert made history this month by becoming the first woman CEO of one the nation’s largest consulting and accounting firms. Engelbert joined Deloitte in 1986, but she says her leadership training began long before that, as a Collingswood kid growing up with seven siblings.
As Engelbert begins her tenure overseeing the work of nearly 70,000 employees from her office in Parsippany, she took some time to reflect on past triumphs, one regret and her vision for the future.
Q. You’re the first female CEO of a Big Four consulting and accounting firm. Do you feel that distinction brings with it additional pressure, beyond what other CEOs — those who aren’t breaking glass ceilings — feel?
It’s actually a real positive. I can’t tell you how overwhelmed on the positive side I’ve been by the support, the letters from young men and women around the country, in universities, in our workforce, outside of our workforce.
Alice Gomstyn 