The insider’s view: Deloitte University’s leadership academy at Westlake

Jake Dean

The environmentally friendly, 107-acre Deloitte University campus has more than 700,000 square feet which includes 800 guest bedrooms.

Bill Hethcock

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Outside, cattle roam the rolling hills and graze under the graceful oaks at the 107-acre campus of Deloitte University in Westlake. Inside the $300 million, 712,000-square-foot complex, Deloitte is breeding the next generation of business leaders for its company and its clients'.

Three years into its existence, the 800-room Deloitte U is drawing about 50,000 of the professional services firm's employees for leadership development programs each year.

Deloitte's leaders gave Dallas Business Journal Publisher Tracy Merzi, Editor-in-Chief Paul O'Donnell, Photographer Jake Dean and me the grand tour on Tuesday. Click on the attached photo gallery to see the highlights along the way.

Deloitte University initially was envisioned as a place where Deloitte's own could gather to learn lessons in leadership, whether they are new hires, recently promoted, or senior executives looking to continuously improve, said Jason Downing, managing partner in the Dallas office. That's still the facility's focus, he said, but Deloitte has added programs for its clients as well, including its Next Generation CFO Academy for people being groomed to be chief financial officers, and the brand new CIO Academy for chief information officers.

Other relatively new offerings include leadership programs for school principals and for veterans transitioning from military to civilian business life.

"It's a way we can leverage the leadership center we created for the greater good for veterans and education," Downing said.

Deloitte has about 300,000 employees worldwide including about 65,000 in the United States. The goal is for every U.S. employee to visit to Deloitte U at least once every couple of years, depending on their assignments and leadership training needs, said Peter Sackleh, managing director of the center. Deloitte employees spend on average three to five days at the facility per trip.

Inside the classrooms, plenty of natural light illuminates the learning sessions and there is an abundance of whiteboard space with cameras to capture, print and store the ideas that emerge on the whiteboards. The center's furnishings and fixtures have plenty of the Deloitte logo's shade of green, Pantone 375, and even the center's Bistro 375 is named in a nod to the company's color, Sackleh said.

Some of the other highlights of the center include an interactive media wall, telesuites, an amphitheater, a ballroom, a fitness center and a social venue called The Barn.

The center also has a board room that seats 42 — comfortably — and is loosely based on Deloitte's boardroom at its headquarters in New York.

The center isn't intended to be a revenue generator, Sackleh said.

"It's an investment we're making in future leadership," he said.

With Deloitte, people are the product, Downing said. In addition to helping Deloitte produce effective leaders, the facility helps the company attract and retain top talent, he said.

"This is our R&D facility," he said. "This is our lab."

Bill covers health care, law, education and general assignments. Subscribe to our email newsletters.