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Harness Your Potential. Own Your Destiny. Erica Dhawan ’03 is on a mission to inspire Generation Y leaders and future-thinking companies to change the world. With a blend of Ivy League prowess, Wall Street experience, and a few Bollywood dance moves, Erica works to facilitate powerful workplace conversations, inspire innovation and creativity, and advise leaders on how to take ownership of their talents. And she’s good at it.
After graduating from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Erica Dhawan ‘03 accepted a coveted position at Lehman Brothers in New York City. By every account, she was following the perfect trajectory towards professional success. It didn’t take long for Erica to realize that not only was Lehman Brothers the wrong environment for her, but that no Wall Street firms or top-level financial institutions were truly gearing themselves towards the creative and tech savvy millennial employee. Erica took this opportunity to strike out on her own and, at age 24, she founded a global volunteer network for Acumen Fund, which now boasts more than 2,000 members. During this initial venture, Erica started to learn about the personal characteristics needed to be a true leader in 21st century enterprises and how the potential of all generations must be harnessed to drive innovation to address the world’s most pressing challenges.
As a globally recognized leadership expert, Erica now leads workshops and delivers keynotes for Fortune 500 companies and universities around the world that focus on bridging generational differences to drive business results. In addition to building her own multigenerational consulting business, Erica addresses these same issues in articles written for Forbes and Huffington Post and as a researcher at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership. She has even been featured in Business Insider, Newsweek, Teen People, and USA Today. Erica shares her personal philosophy, tips for Generation Y leaders, and thoughts about the future of American business on her popular blog. Read two of her insightful posts below. Learn more about Erica at EricaDhawan.com. Twitter.com/Edhawan
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How to Get Noticed, Get Hired, and Get Just About Anything Else You Want, Too Posted on August 7, 2012 When I was 20 years old, I went to work at Citi for a summer internship. I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing, but I went to the office every day and worked on a basic scenario analysis project. I knew I could spend my summer only partially invested in my work or actually try to learn something. I chose the latter. I went to all the speaker events, every lunch meeting, and all of those happy hours. I had lunch with different co-workers and senior leaders every day. I emailed and followed up with everyone I met. All that persistence paid off – by summer’s end, I had one-on-one meetings with the chief financial officer of Citi, the chief diversity officer of Citi and more than 10 managing directors. Me! A 20-year-old intern! Some decade-long employees at Citi said they’d NEVER talked to that many senior leaders. At the end of the summer, my managing director remarked, “Erica, somehow you’ve been able to get noticed everywhere you go.” I didn’t realize this was a gift until much later in life. When I was 27 and on stage at the World Economic Forum at Davos 2012, activist Desmond Tutu told our group of 70 millennial leaders that we can lead a revolution in the world. That’s when it clicked for me. But this blog post isn’t about me. It’s about YOU. It’s about the fact that I’m not the only suburban-born, Indian-American girl who can get noticed. The truth is, getting noticed isn’t much about me either. It’s about how I translate my gifts to others. When we share ourselves in a genuine way, we build real relationships and create ways for others to help us grow. Erica Dhawan ‘03
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