Show, Don't Tell: Interview with EY's Martin Fiore
I recently went one on one with Martin Fiore. Martin is US East Region Tax Managing Partner for EY and the author of the new book Humanity Reimagined: Where We Go From Here.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Martin: My journey to writing about technological innovation began with my lifelong passion for understanding technology—how things are made, how they work, and how new inventions might impact the future. Coming full circle back to that interest was a little circuitous, as I believe most of us experience in exploring what’s important and finding our purpose. For the past 25 years, I’ve served in various client service and leadership roles with EY, currently as Regional Tax Leader of EY’s East Region Tax practice. About eight years ago, I was serving as head of Talent for Americas Tax, and it was during that time that transformative technologies were beginning to play a larger role in business strategy, process, and operations. Introducing these new tools was going to impact greatly our people so I welcomed the opportunity to serve as Executive Sponsor of the Technology Committee that introduced intelligent automation to the firm.
Those two roles at the same time gave me a foothold in ensuring that our technology strategy would also be a people-first strategy. Perhaps the most important learning—or realization—was that intelligent automation bots should be designed to take the robot out of the human, not displace the human. The bots could do the tedious, repetitious work that people don’t like to do, and free up the time of our smart professionals to take on higher-value challenges. Since then, and as tech innovations and talent programs have emerged and taken center stage in leadership thinking, I have shared my thoughts on technological transformation in many interviews and articles in business and talent publications.
Adam: What do you hope readers take away from your new book?
Martin: My goal is to raise awareness about the changes that are taking place in our world regarding what rapidly escalating innovation really means for the future of humanity—business, learning, consumerism, existential threats, health care, spirituality. It looks at where we are now, an era experiencing the greatest disruption ever in what it means to be human. And it takes us through the evolution of major forces that have been driving change—globalization, generational shifts, technological development—as well as the trends coming out of that change that are pressing us forward today. I believe that exploring—and truly understanding—what is happening today can help us see around the next corner. We get a little wiser and better able to pick up signals of where we will be in three, six, or 10 years.
I don’t pretend to offer a solution or even make predictions about specific changes, but rather to look at what we can do as individuals, organizations, a society, to bend the arc of history toward raising important questions about where we’re headed on the current path and what it will take to ensure we are putting people first. The goal is to ensure we end up enhancing rather than diminishing our human gifts, our optimism, our hope for always something better. One specific recommendation is to bring together an ecosystem of like-minded stakeholders from business, government, academia, local communities, not-for-profits, NGOs, etc., who can raise awareness about how best to preserve and enhance humanity. Working together, we can facilitate debate and inspire concerted action. I am not at all anti-tech, but I am strongly pro-human.
Adam: What are the defining qualities of today’s leaders—and what should leaders understand about the future of work?
Martin: I view a leaders’ role today as more like a mission than a specific role or set of job performance objectives. Some of the latter has to be involved, of course, because that is how we support growth and resilience of the organization, but it also is about who you are as a person…about having a strong inner value system and sense of purpose. Being authentic and making others feel comfortable being the same. Progressive leaders create trustworthy environments for work and learning. They “show, don’t tell,” leading by example, promoting agile, critical thinking and encouraging transparency. As a result, everyone in that environment feels safer about bringing their true selves to work, expressing their values, building their own sense of purpose, and facing up to their challenges.
As for the future, there is such a vast range of remarkable possibilities—and simultaneously a time of unparalleled challenges. Each year, the new trends and mind-boggling achievements increase—a “moonshot” every month, if not every week. One of the most important steps organizational leaders can take now is to recognize that unrelenting technological and social developments are reshaping humanity. Once awareness is there, it is up to all of us to be as thoughtful as possible about what this means to our organization, our people, our community, and then commit to doing their part to put people first and lead with steadfast values and purpose. This may mean establishing a commitment to sustainability, launching an effective D&I program, taking a new approach to work-life balance—or all of those. Above all, it will mean finding the nexus between employer and employee, teacher and student, community leader and individual, and then pursuing a course of action that helps your “organization” and the people in it grow and thrive.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Martin: Be aware and be present. That would be a great start for any of us. From a skills standpoint, leaders moving up in an organization are constantly changing and upgrading, right? So, the key is to stay curious and open; never stop learning; never stop growing. Change is so rapid and often unpredictable. We must be nimble about staying on top of the latest developments. At EY, for example, we are providing a range of learning experiences that accommodate emerging skillsets, time availability, and personal interests. You can design your own learning path and continue it as long as you are here. In the future, I think we will see increasing numbers of people well beyond typical college ages going back to school, even changing entirely their career direction. There are so many options today for where and when you can learn.
Adam: What are the best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Martin: Some of this is woven in elsewhere, but here are some qualities I think are essential:
Recognize that we are at an inflection point in the arc of human history, and we need safe spaces in which to wrestle with the deep questions about where to go from here. Get in-tune with the world around you. There is so much noise in the system. Find a quite wavelength that enables you to observe and build awareness.
Refine your critical thinking skills—be able to assess change, opportunity, and challenge.
Be agile and adaptable. There’s a Martin Luther King quote that says, “If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk…but whatever you do, keep moving forward.”
Find and pursue your unique purpose.
Be authentic and demonstrate compassion and responsibility for others. This will enable you to build and lead the best teams to get where you want to go.
Adam: What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
Martin: Having fun should be part of the job. If you’re not having any fun or it all seems uphill, chances are you are in the wrong place. I’ve found that being a little kinder to each other and ourselves can help a lot. Humans don’t automatically possess much instinctive direction, so considering how much we must learn by experience and trial and error, well, I think most of us do fairly well most of the time.
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
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