Sharon Chand on being a light, a lifeboat, and a ladder

Sharon Chand is a principal at Deloitte & Touche LLP and leads Ecosystems & Alliances for the Cyber practice within Deloitte’s Risk & Financial Advisory business. She is also a leader in Deloitte’s Secure Supply Chain practice. With more than 25 years of experience in designing and implementing cyber risk programs, Sharon provides cyber solutions to her Energy, Resources, and Industrials clients. She has assisted clients across the energy industry from power and utilities to industrial products and construction sectors over the past 15 years. Sharon is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

A passion for energy from the start

Sharon has been fascinated with power and electricity since she was a little kid—she wanted to plug stuff into the wall, have it work, and understand why. This love of electronics led her to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. For 10 years, Sharon explored different industries and types of projects before returning to the power sector. When she found her way back to energy, she immediately felt at home with the people, the culture, and the problems they were trying to solve. Many are still her clients today, 15 years later.

Throughout her career, Sharon has tried to live by the quote “be a light, be a lifeboat, be a ladder.”

On being a light

At Deloitte, she leads cyber projects for power and utilities clients who are responding to new cyber regulations and making their security control environment more efficient and effective. One of her most memorable projects was a two-year program to help a client transform its regulatory compliance program.

The client had been struggling with manual and ad hoc approaches, but Sharon was able to shine a light on the challenges it faced and help it develop a strategy toward a more successful and efficient future-state vision. After the transformation, the compliance program was a destination within the company, known for its efficiency and effectiveness.

On being a lifeboat

Times get tough—for all of us. And being surrounded by the strong support of colleagues, friends, and family during those times can be critical. Sharon tries to always be available to colleagues when they need a helping hand or an ear to listen. She recalls numerous times in which she has called colleagues to help her out in a tough spot—whether filling in for her when she’s had a sick kid, or teaming together to bring innovations to her energy clients. And she is always looking to pay it forward and help—be that “lifeboat” for others in tough spots.

On being a ladder

Some of Sharon’s other most memorable moments at Deloitte have been times when she was able to create opportunity for others by serving as “a ladder.” Two memories she mentioned involve helping other female colleagues on their paths to promotion. Seeing the success of those she has supported throughout her career is very rewarding to Sharon. There are many things that she has done before and could do well, but she feels it’s critical to give those opportunities to others to learn and grow.

Sharon states that she understands the importance of mentorship and sponsorship. She joined Deloitte as an experienced hire and had to completely reestablish her network and reinvent herself. Fortunately, she had a strong mentor who helped position Sharon on the right accounts to demonstrate her capability and connect her with other Deloitte leaders to help mentor Sharon further.

I’ve very much seen firsthand how the right job, the right opportunity, can completely transform someone’s life. It certainly did that for me when I first stepped into Deloitte.

Career guidance for women in energy

Sharon loves to show up to work for the opportunity to support others and also because she is a big believer in the mission of the intersection of cyber and energy. She proudly tells her kids about her work and its importance—reminding them that none of our critical infrastructure could run without reliable power sources.

When reflecting on her career as a woman in energy, Sharon remembers that she used to sit back and hide. She realized over the years though that she was going to get noticed and that didn’t have to be a bad thing. “I’m a 6’3” blonde woman in cybersecurity. I’m going to get noticed, so I decided to use it to my advantage, to get my opinion across, and to share my perspective at the right time.” In addition to voicing one’s opinion, Chand’s advice for all women starting their career is to have an ask of others. “If you are networking with senior leaders or exploring opportunities, have a perspective on how someone can help you or the type of opportunities you are looking for.”

Chand has lived this advice during her career. Early on she asked to be placed on big, complex implementation projects with travel and big teams. As her career changed, Sharon’s asks have also changed, and now she focuses on technology transformation opportunities with power and industrial products clients in her region. “You have to have an ask to get what you want.”

Lastly, Sharon talked about the transition to motherhood. She has had to shift her expectations and recognize that she cannot get as much done during the workweek as she used to. But Sharon keeps adding more to her plate—from family to church to leadership roles.

As long as it’s the good stuff, I’ll figure it out as I go.