Lynne Doughtie Quotes

Powerful Lynne Doughtie for Daily Growth

About Lynne Doughtie

Lynne Doughtie, an accomplished leader, author, and philanthropist, was born on September 14, 1958, in Houston, Texas. She is best known for her distinguished career with Deloitte, a multinational professional services network, where she served as the Chair from 2013 to 2017. Doughtie's journey began at the University of Mississippi, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. Her early professional life was marked by her dedication and hard work at Deloitte, rising through the ranks to become the first woman and African American to lead the organization as its Chairman. Throughout her career, Doughtie has been a trailblazer, breaking barriers and championing diversity and inclusion. She is the author of "The Real-Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career," published in 2018. In this book, she shares valuable insights gained from her professional journey, offering practical advice for career development and leadership. Doughtie's influence extends beyond business. She is deeply committed to giving back to her community and helping others achieve their potential. Her philanthropic efforts focus on education, women's empowerment, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Today, Doughtie continues to inspire through her leadership roles, writing, and philanthropy. Her story serves as a testament to the power of determination, resilience, and a commitment to making a positive impact in the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

This quote suggests that instead of trying to guess or predict what our future will be, we should actively shape it through our actions and decisions today. It emphasizes personal responsibility and the power each individual has in determining their own destiny. Essentially, if we want a specific future, we must work towards creating it ourselves.


"Leadership is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge."

This quote by Lynne Doughtie emphasizes that leadership is more than just authority or control; it's about ensuring the well-being, growth, and development of the people one leads. It's a mindset of service, empathy, and responsibility towards those entrusted to one's care. Great leaders understand that their primary role is not to wield power but to nurture, guide, and empower those under their leadership for collective success.


"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against that opposition."

This quote suggests that success isn't defined solely by achievements or accolades, but by the challenges overcome and the resilience demonstrated in the face of obstacles. It implies that every victory is significant not because it was easily achieved, but because it required courage to persist through adversity. In other words, it emphasizes the importance of determination and perseverance in the journey towards success.


"Innovation doesn't happen overnight. It takes a relentless focus on the customer to drive change and create new solutions."

This quote by Lynne Doughtie suggests that innovation, which refers to the process of introducing new ideas, methods, or products, does not occur suddenly or without effort. Instead, it is the result of a persistent and unwavering focus on understanding and meeting customer needs. This focus drives the necessary change and enables the creation of novel solutions that cater to those needs effectively. In essence, Doughtie emphasizes that successful innovation requires a deep commitment to understanding and serving customers over time.


"The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."

This quote emphasizes that there are no inherent limitations to what one can achieve; instead, personal aspirations and the effort put into realizing them determine success. In essence, it suggests that if you dream big and are prepared to work diligently towards those dreams, your achievements will be commensurate with your vision.


Don't wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder. Make your goals known and proactively develop relationships with those that can help get you there either in the form of mentors or sponsors.

- Lynne Doughtie

Wait, Develop, Your, Tap

Sponsorship is about putting your name and reputation on the line for someone else. It could be as simple as recommending someone for a new role, yet it's one of the most powerful cultural tools any organization has.

- Lynne Doughtie

New, Role, Putting, Cultural

Providing career growth and development opportunities for our people is of paramount importance, and that's why we surround and support our diverse employee team with investments in innovation, technology, training, and a wide variety of programs so they can build great careers. 'Fortune' saw that in KPMG, and we're delighted.

- Lynne Doughtie

Career, Why, Providing, Employee

As part of KPMG, Cynergy's people and processes can help clients leverage digital and mobile technologies to transform existing customer engagement and employee mobile enablement into seamless experiences for end users across multiple platforms and devices.

- Lynne Doughtie

Clients, Leverage, Part, Seamless

The importance of inclusive behavior was modeled for me early in life. I have many childhood memories of my mother - an entrepreneur and business owner - drawing people to herself and inspiring them with the genuineness of her interest in them.

- Lynne Doughtie

Life, Importance, Inspiring, Business Owner

Mentors and sponsors are beneficial for personal and career growth.

- Lynne Doughtie

Career, Mentors, Beneficial, Sponsors

Culture is nourished by human motivation - a limitless resource that can sometimes be underestimated.

- Lynne Doughtie

Resource, Underestimated, Nourished

Collaborating with startups and other technology companies can be very beneficial because it broadens the scope of services we offer to clients while allowing us to serve clients together.

- Lynne Doughtie

Other, Clients, Very, Technology Companies

Leaders need to model the values of their organizations in ways that encourage inclusive behavior. This means inspiring others to collaborate and work together; ensuring everyone is heard and ideas are shared.

- Lynne Doughtie

Inclusive, Means, Shared, Collaborate

KPMG's use of IBM Watson technology will help advance our team's ability to analyze and act on the core financial and operational data so central to the health of organizations and the capital markets.

- Lynne Doughtie

Data, Will, Capital, Analyze

Too often, women are waiting for someone to recognise their great work and tap them on the shoulder and say, 'Here - this is the next thing we want you to do,' and that may happen. But I feel you need to take more ownership of telling your story, advocating for yourself. You can do it in a way that's positive and that your leaders will appreciate.

- Lynne Doughtie

Next, Here, Telling, Shoulder

The most forward-leaning leaders are single-minded about creating company cultures that foster a true spirit of innovation.

- Lynne Doughtie

Innovation, Spirit, About, Single-Minded

Many of the strategy houses don't have the depth of world-class risk capability that a KPMG has, particularly in industries where regulation is a key driver, such as financial services or healthcare.

- Lynne Doughtie

World-Class, Particularly, Key

You can build many relationships with people while playing 18 holes, no matter how good you are.

- Lynne Doughtie

Matter, Many, While, Holes

We have to do more than tell women they need sponsors. We have to identify high-potential women by name and strategically map them to those who can help them get to the next level.

- Lynne Doughtie

Next, Need, Identify, Map

Innovation tends to be quite siloed in most organizations. There is usually a group over in one corner charged with innovation rather than making it everyone's responsibility.

- Lynne Doughtie

Innovation, Over, Making, Group

I'm passionate about making a difference in increasing the quality of life and survivorship for all affected by lung cancer, having lost my mother and grandmother to this terrible disease.

- Lynne Doughtie

Making, Disease, Having, Lung

Cultivating innovative thinking starts at the top. Leaders can foster a culture of innovation by encouraging creativity and experimenting with new ideas.

- Lynne Doughtie

Innovation, New, Encouraging, New Ideas

Innovation demands risk-taking - which, in turn, entails redefining failure, stripping away its power to inhibit.

- Lynne Doughtie

Innovation, Which, Entails, Inhibit

Convergence and the blurring of lines across industries creates the opportunity for women to really excel.

- Lynne Doughtie

Excel, Convergence, Across, Industries

Leaders have to consider whether they have the right diverse perspectives at the table.

- Lynne Doughtie

Perspectives, Whether, Table

Different perspectives, experiences, and insights improve decision-making and lead to superior performance.

- Lynne Doughtie

Performance, Superior, Perspectives

At KPMG, we believe that companies with inclusive and diverse cultures are better positioned to adapt, grow, and thrive in a changing business environment.

- Lynne Doughtie

Business, Grow, Inclusive, Thrive

The most resilient companies foster a pervasive culture of innovation at all levels of the organization - one that values risk-taking, embraces experimentation and considers failure an inevitable part of thinking boldly.

- Lynne Doughtie

Innovation, Considers, Levels

If you're open and honest, you find that people genuinely want to help you out. Taking advice from others can enhance your relationship, especially if you can laugh about things.

- Lynne Doughtie

Advice, Want, Genuinely, Laugh

I tell women to not make hasty decision based on circumstances on just that moment in time. Press the pause button.

- Lynne Doughtie

Circumstances, Tell, Based, Button

Strategy is the starting point for a transformation that needs to occur and how that company must change to win.

- Lynne Doughtie

How, Needs, Occur, Strategy

I started playing golf when I was just out of college and starting my career with KPMG. I took a few lessons, and my husband has always loved to give me pointers - for better and for worse! I realized that you could really enhance relationships by being on the course with clients. In fact, my very first golf game was with some clients.

- Lynne Doughtie

College, Some, Very, Lessons

I have found that women are really in their element in a very collaborative approach.

- Lynne Doughtie

Found, Collaborative, Very, Women Are

When women are starting out in their careers, they tend to be confident and look to aspire to leadership role and really want those positions. But then over time, as they advance, they become less confident and don't think they can attain those roles.

- Lynne Doughtie

Confident, Role, Roles, Women Are

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