Kristina Crystal

I attribute my success to taking risks and never being afraid to learn something completely new—even when it means starting over.

My parents gave me the foundation, but my career has been built on saying 'yes' to opportunities before I was ready and trusting I'd figure it out. That pattern of lifelong learning has carried me through 32 years in consulting and, most recently, through a complete reinvention after losing all my hair to Alopecia Universalis.

The best career advice I can give is to get back into the office and learn through proximity. Remote work has eliminated what I call 'the invisible curriculum' you absorb by walking the halls, overhearing conversations, watching how senior people navigate tough situations.

Throughout my career, I learned as much from the coffee machine conversations and airport debriefs as I did from formal training. Young professionals today are missing that accidental learning system, and it's costing them promotions.

Being physically present in the workplace allows you to learn far more than just the tasks of your role—you observe patterns, behaviors, and dynamics among colleagues, leadership, and clients. Walking the halls, interacting with others, and building connections teaches you invaluable lessons, because success isn’t always just about what you know it’s often about who you know.

My advice to young women is to deliberately build strategic relationships with senior leaders—and yes, many of those leaders are still men. Women often keep their networks within their peer group or other women, but if you want sponsorship and visibility at the decision-making level, you need relationships with the people in the room where promotions happen. This doesn't mean being manipulative—it means being savvy.

I've watched many brilliant women get overlooked because they didn't build those strategic relationships up and across the organization. Ask for coffee chats, seek mentorship across gender and seniority lines, and don't wait for leaders to notice you. Make yourself visible.

The biggest opportunity right now is that AI is forcing a massive shift in what skills actually matter. Technical work is being automated, which means the human skills—what people used to call 'soft skills,' now called 'power skills'—are becoming the differentiator.

Humans must expand our skillset - continually learn - in order to stand out for promotions and or be chosen by potential clients. The work environment not only requires strong functional and technical expertise but also strong visibility, credibility, and relationship-building.

The values most important to me are stewardship, integrity, and surrounding myself with the best people. These were a subset of our Core Values at Accenture—we lived and breathed these values daily, and they shaped me into the leader I became. (Proof that corporate core values aren't just wall art when you actually live them!)

Stewardship means leaving everything better than you found it: the organizations you work for, the people you work with, the next generation coming up behind you. That's why I teach, why I consult, and why I'm writing a book. I want to take 32 years of pattern recognition—the invisible curriculum I absorbed in the office—and give it to people who didn't have that opportunity. That's stewardship in action. And integrity means I won't teach savvy political navigation without also teaching the ethical boundaries. Success shouldn't require compromising your values. These principles truly guide my decisions, shape my interactions, and ensure that I contribute meaningfully while fostering a supportive and ethical environment.