‘I think you could run this place someday’: Moment that changed Accenture CEO Julie Sweet’s life | WATCH

You never know when your defining career moment will arrive. For Julie Sweet, it came just a month before she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2014. During what seemed like a routine one-to-one with her then-boss, Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme, Sweet received words that would change her career forever.

“At the end of the meeting, he closes his notebook, pushes it aside, and says to me, completely out of the blue… ‘I think you could run this place someday,’” Sweet recalled on Fortune’s Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast with Alyson Shontell. Watch the clipping below:

At the time, Sweet was Accenture’s general counsel—a role far removed from the traditional CEO track. She had a legal background, not a business one. She was a woman in a company historically led by men. And unlike her predecessors, she had not spent her entire career at Accenture.

Even Nanterme acknowledged the leap from general counsel to CEO wasn’t feasible, suggesting she would need to lead another division first. But instead of expressing doubt, Sweet leaned on advice she once heard from former JPMorgan Chase CFO and Accenture board member Dina Dublon: when someone offers you a stretch role, don’t ask “are you sure?”—just lean in.

With that wisdom in her mind, Sweet responded decisively: “Why, yes, I’d be interested. What did you have in mind?”

That moment set her rise in motion. She went on to head Accenture’s North America business in 2015 and, just four years later, was named global CEO of the $150 billion tech consulting giant.

The Power of Confidence

Sweet believes that confidence, paired with humility and excellence, is at the heart of building great teams. At Accenture, with a 770,000-strong workforce, she fosters a culture where questioning assumptions and challenging the status quo are the norm.

“You don’t need to stop and have a big strategy,” she explained. “Because you’re always working on the strategy.”

And for Sweet, confidence isn’t about having all the answers—it’s also about knowing when to ask for help. “I think the idea of being a deep learner at the top is really critical,” she said. “Asking for help is one of my superpowers.”

It’s a mindset rooted in her early days at Accenture, when she had to admit she wasn’t particularly tech savvy. By leaning on others, she quickly learned the business inside out—an openness that would help her stand apart as a leader.

Her lesson for others is simple yet powerful: “Transparency builds trust. Because the more value you can contribute to your company, the more likely you’re going to get the best next job.”