Doug Surette
, ConsultantWhy did you choose Booz Allen?
After extensive research, I thought Booz Allen would be a challenging—yet fun—place to work, and I have not been disappointed. Booz Allen provides possibly one of the best places for a person to work, especially one with a hearing impairment or disability. The firm goes over the top and out of its way to ensure that I can perform at 110% capacity. As an example, I was recently on business travel and the firm provided me with sign language interpretation arrangements. In most companies, this would not even be a possibility. That was a deciding factor for me.
How has Booz Allen helped you prepare for a career as a consultant?
I’ve taken Learning & Development classes, am considering the Project Management Professional courses, and participated in workshops and forums, such as Diversity Initiatives, EMPOWER, and the Multicultural Forum. Diversity and multicultural issues relate to my work, but the EMPOWER event broadened my horizons into emergency management planning, which has ties with business continuity planning. I’ve done work-related training at Booz Allen and the trainers really know what they’re teaching, so it’s incredibly beneficial to the participants.
Do you have a mentor at Booz Allen?
I have a lot of formal and informal mentors. Some are deaf and quite a few are hearing. I can’t possibly give enough credit to them for keeping me in shape and on track and teaching me about the business, clients, deliverables, and more. Socially, I have also met a few informal mentors But I feel like the old adage “it takes a village to raise a child” applies here—it really is all the members of my entire team, whom I am proud of, helping me. Together, they crammed a lot of knowledge into my brain, for which I am indebted to them.
What is the most important thing that working at Booz Allen has taught you about yourself?
Always be honest. Honest advice is a rare commodity, and that is what we do at Booz Allen—be honest and never compromise our integrity. Something Steve Rogers said comes to mind: “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is right. When the people, the news, or the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree next to the river of truth and say, ‘no, you move.’”
Describe a time when you saw one of the firm’s Core Values in action.
Excellence: Everyone here is motivated in not a competitive but a personal way that gives the team an advantage over working alone. Everyone does his or her best and we compile the outcomes, so the client really does get the best possible results from us.
Client service: “The customer is always first” is the golden rule of service. Sometimes hard to suppress frustrations, but it challenges you to think about, approach, confront, or diffuse situations in a more positive way than most people are accustomed to.
Diversity: I work with people from all walks of life and different backgrounds. Potluck lunches and dinners are a blast!
