Accenture CEO Julie Sweet’s cancer diagnosis shows how execs should share life-altering health events

Nothing makes you feel more vulnerable at work than sharing a life-altering health diagnosis, especially as a leader who is supposed to project strength. As the CEO of a major public company, she also disclosed her cancer diagnosis in an 8K as such information is considered material to shareholders. It’s no longer acceptable to keep people in the dark, as the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs did when he hid his pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2003 and attributed his severe weight loss in 2009 to a “hormone imbalance,” complaining that “curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction.” 

Sweet has handled her health challenges differently. First diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago, she talks about how it has made her reflect on her purpose and motivation as a leader. Showing vulnerability can be an inspiration. Just ask Arthur Sadoun, the CEO of Publicis Groupe. Diagnosed with HPV-related cancer in 2022, he went on to launch a cross-industry coalition called “Working with Cancer” at Davos two years ago. The goal: to persuade companies to create a more open and supportive environment for people with cancer and those who care for them. When I saw him last month, he had signed up more than 2,500 companies with more than 35 million employees.

I wish that was around when my husband’s ski injury six years ago turned out to be cancer of unknown primary. He endured it quietly and died in March 2020 at the age of 55, as the pandemic left my kids and me to largely mourn alone. There’s another reason why Sweet’s candor about her early detection of cancer is powerful: the number of women getting screened for cancer has taken a step back in the last five years, dropping to 10% from 12%, according to the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index. The U.S. has dropped to 37 from 26 in the global ranking. As Hologic CEO Steve MacMillan told me when we met in Davos, “I think it’s a combination of women putting off care to emphasize others and there’s a bit of concern about whether all the experts are right.” When leaders like Sweet and Sadoun speak out, it raises the odds their workers will be proactive about their own health too.

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Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady, diane.brady@fortune.com, LinkedIn.

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From Fortune

Jamie Dimon hits back at RTO criticism
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Trump’s tariffs in practice
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• The S&P 500 closed up 1% at 6,115.07 near to its all-time high. Tech stocks led the way — the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.5% at 19,945.65 … Coinbase reported better-than-expected earnings and closed up nearly 9%. … S&P 500 futures were down slightly (0.065%) before the market opened.

From the analysts

• JP Morgan on Reddit: “We expect Reddit to continue making progress across its full-funnel diversification while delivering strong revenue growth & improved profitability, but lack of visibility into future Google search changes remains a L-T risk,” per Doug Anmuth et al.
• Goldman Sachs on global GDP: “Globally, we expect solid real GDP growth of 2.7% yoy in 2025, reflecting tailwinds from real disposable household income growth and easing financial conditions amid continued rate cuts, with US growth likely to continue outpacing its DM peers given its significantly stronger productivity growth,” per Allison Nathan et al.
• Goldman Sachs on AI: “...generative AI could raise US labor productivity by 15% over roughly 10 years, mainly by automating work tasks. That would unlock about $4.5 trillion of annual US GDP,” per the bank’s analysis.
• Wedbush on Elon Musk: “Musk's DOGE related actions and more powerful alliance with Trump clearly could alienate some consumers to move away from the Tesla brand. There is some momentum around this effort in Europe and pockets of the US as well since November. That said, we view this as containable brand issues for Tesla for now that are not a major cause for concern,” per Daniel Ives et al.

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