Stephen R. Howe, Jr.
Americas Managing Partner & Managing Partner of the US firm EY
Headquarters: New York, New York
Education: NYU–Leonard N. Stern School of Business, MBA, finance;
Colgate University, BA, mathematical economics
First Job: bus boy & golf maintenance staff
What I’m Reading: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Best Advice: Achieve balanced success across multiple spectrums—family, health, education, career, and community.
“Leaders who create high-performing teams that are greater than the sum of their parts value differences as opposed to merely tolerating them. They encourage discussion, actively engage conflicting points of views, and inspire teams to think creatively, all while pursuing a common mission.””
Putting D&I at the Center of All We Do
At EY, Diversity & Inclusiveness (D&I) is an integral part of building the highest-performing teams and delivering exceptional client service. Diverse and inclusive teams are critical to us performing at a consistent, exceptional level. It makes our organization better, more insightful; it helps us solve problems, manage risk, and seize opportunities. In our industry, clients want to be served by a truly global organization. This comes down to how we team on the ground and the need to have more cross-border teams led by women and men, representing different types of cultures, backgrounds, and skill sets. Building diverse teams that respect and value differences is embedded in the EY culture, which is a competitive advantage that has helped our organization succeed and continue to grow in today’s competitive market.
One of the challenges in managing a diverse workforce is addressing unconscious biases. In order to address unconscious biases, organizational leaders must clearly communicate how teams, and the overall organization, succeed when people value the differences and backgrounds we all bring to the table. At EY, we have seen that diverse teams, which are led inclusively, perform better than homogenous teams. And this ultimately helps us deliver exceptional client services on a global scale.
To be successful, D&I efforts must start from the top! Leaders who create high-performing teams that are greater than the sum of their parts value differences as opposed to merely tolerating them. They encourage discussion, actively engage conflicting points of views, and inspire teams to think creatively, all while pursuing a common mission. At EY, our leaders embed core principles of D&I in all processes and across the entire organization, so that it becomes part of our culture and part of all the work that we do.
EY’s inclusive culture has been the catalyst of our success and holds great promise for our future. When we put D&I at the center of every decision we make, our organization wins, creating better opportunities for all our people and better experiences for our clients.
