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Today’s show featured an interview with Beth McGrath, Global Industry Leader for Government and Public Services (GPS) at Deloitte. Beth will receive the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) Women in Sales Leadership Award at the 15th Annual Award event on May 1.
IES Women in Sales Program Director Gina Stracuzzi conducted the interview as part of the Women in Sales series of the Sales Game Changers Podcast.
Find Beth on LinkedIn.
BETH’S TIP: “The network is the thing that gets stuff done, in government, outside of government, within industry, between industry and government, nation to nation. The strength of your network is incredibly important. You never stop building your network because you just never know when you’re going to need somebody for something. That to me is something you can work on every day and at any stage in your career, or even post first career into second career, into third career. It’s the network that will help you both personally and professionally and also you can contribute to others.”
THE PODCAST BEGINS HERE
Gina Stracuzzi: Today, we have Beth McGrath from Deloitte. She’s the government business leader globally. She’s going to be talking to us about all kinds of things. What’s super exciting about having Beth today is she is the 2025 Women in Sales Leader and is going to be receiving her award on May 1st at the awards event. I am super excited to be talking with Beth today. Welcome, Beth.
Beth McGrath: Hi, Gina. Great to be here.
Gina Stracuzzi: Tell us a little bit about your storied career. You have really had a career and a half.
Beth McGrath: Yeah, and I’ve been around for a minute or two. I jokingly say, but this is factually correct, I joined the Defense Department as an intern, and I left as a political appointee. I’d love to say that was the plan all along, but it actually wasn’t, but had a terrific first 10 years, if you will, working for the Department of the Navy, really getting to learn all about the core mission of our men and women who serve in the Navy. Even though I was a Navy brat, because my father was also, I didn’t really appreciate the criticality and the dynamic nature until I was actually part of the team. Then I spent the next 15 years also working across the defense department in various enabling roles.
The business of defense was really my forte, and I learned how to spell IT along the way as well. Became an overseer of acquisition programs, all the ERPs when they were first coming out, and really taking a more holistic approach to technology and business and the relationship between the two and how critical it is, and we see that certainly today.
Then 11 years ago already joined Deloitte and had the opportunity to run our defense security and justice sector globally. Then for the last four and a half years, I run our government business globally, which has been super exciting and interesting in terms of both how technology has driven change, but also the real need for government engagement across the board.
Gina Stracuzzi: I’m sure you’ve had some seriously exciting moments and the kind of stuff that would be great to just sit and chat about. I know that in your career, you represent Deloitte and you’ve represented the government, and a lot of those areas don’t necessarily say sales, they say business development, or relationship building, or whatever it is. What qualities do you think best highlight your trademark approach to sales or building those relationships that you need to get things done?
Beth McGrath: I’ve been both on, I’ll call it the buyer and seller side. I think to be good in the market from an industry perspective, you need to really understand from the buyer’s perspective what it is they want and why. A deep understanding of the market and certainly I spent most of my time and all my time in government work in the defense industry, but really have expanded much more broadly. It’s really understanding the key objectives that the organization needs. Again, starting with why, but also taking a value-based approach. You’re not selling stuff to sell it. You’re actually selling things or providing ideas and innovative approaches to then help your constituency achieve the outcomes that they’re looking to achieve.
Gina Stracuzzi: We were talking a little bit before we started the interview, just how much change is happening in the world right now, and especially in the government sectors for our government. Let’s talk a little bit about what opportunities you might see in these changes. Not trying to go down any political paths or anything, but just do you have a positive spin on this that could help people in sales, especially women in sales?
Beth McGrath: At its very core, the actions and activities happening right now are part of an overall reform agenda. This certainly isn’t the first reform agenda, nor will it be the last in the US, or I’m seeing in other countries as well. It’s really trying to drive outcomes for the nation and really looking at efficiencies and effectiveness. I forever have talked about efficiencies and effectiveness, but also then having a deep understanding of the objectives. I think there is an opportunity to be really clear about the objectives that every reform agenda is trying to achieve. Then really understanding the relationship between industry and government on how the agenda unfolds, what the role of industry would be. Again, going back to your first question about understanding the market and having insights, I think is really important. We’re in a world of data, and so really data-driven decisions and outcomes. I really do think that there’s an opportunity for all of us to contribute in many different ways.
Gina Stracuzzi: Let’s say you were coaching or mentoring a woman in sales at a company that deals directly with the US government, what might you say to somebody, because sales is one of those things where if the government’s putting on brakes and you’re selling to the public sector, it’s really hard to know if you’re going to make your numbers, what it’s all going to shake out like. What advice would you give someone who’s in that situation?
Beth McGrath: Working for the government, government’s always a long game. It doesn’t go quite as fast as the commercial sector does, but it doesn’t devalue or lessen the criticality of the objectives that the government is trying to achieve. But I also come back to the government industry relationship. The reason the government issues a contract is because they need help doing something. Industry is very strongly-positioned to help the government and all different facets of government achieve their objectives.
If I’m somebody who is selling to the government or partnering with the government to collectively achieve objectives, I understand the objectives they want, we’ve got alignment in terms of the what, I think it’s important for industry to bring innovative ideas in terms of the how and really bring in what’s worked, what hasn’t worked in other areas. How do you apply something you learned in one industry to this industry? It’s to achieve outcomes. I really think having a deep understanding of both her objectives and what’s happening in the industry and bring innovative ideas, and I would say solutions. Government is looking for solutions. Show me how do I get there. Don’t just talk to me in PowerPoint. Show me something in terms of a proof of concept or something like that.
Gina Stracuzzi: Let’s get down to some ideas on what recommendations you might have for how to be engaged and how to keep elevating and empowering women in sales companies. Now, you’ve worked in really seriously male-dominated sectors your whole career. I’m sure you’ve encountered things that weren’t always so receptive necessarily, but you’ve clearly managed to get over that and really elevate yourself to a great level. What advice would you give women in similar roles that want to keep moving forward?
Beth McGrath: I’ve always focused on the work more than I’ve focused on my gender. I think bringing the innovative ideas, but having the confidence to actually speak up and talk about, “Hey, here’s an idea to achieve an outcome.” Also, to talk about the value your idea brings. People buy stuff because they need it and they see value in it. I also think that as women, or anybody, but as women, to have the courage to actually bring these ideas to the table, even if they’re not exactly perfect. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to have merit and you need to be able to clearly communicate, this is the why, and this is how it helps get to achieve an objective. I think that’s important for also the younger generation as they come up to have a voice and to feel comfortable using their voice and to not sit at the back of the room, to sit at the table. I think that’s really important, in a very humble way. You don’t want to overstate your capabilities but you definitely want to own them.
Gina Stracuzzi: I deal with women all the time in the Forum and the other Women in Sales programs that we offer, and they have such great ideas, really great ideas. I hope they’ll share more of them. You’ve mentioned that you learned IT along the way. How have you changed as a technology leader, as a business leader over the past five years?
Beth McGrath: With the pace of change for technology right now, especially with AI, it’s hard to keep up. I mentioned when I learned how to spell IT, we were just starting with the ERPs. We saw them as these technology boxes that we should do something with, but didn’t connect them to the business. I think over time, the collective we have learned how to really use technology as an enabler to achieve business or mission or the outcomes of the organization. I think this tech fluency is super important to really understand, you don’t have to be an expert to the lowest level and a coder, but you need to understand the power of the tech to then drive the outcomes. Over the last five years, tech has changed so much. Then everything’s agentic right now in every which way. We’re trying to figure out how do you deploy now agentic capability into your core processes to achieve the outcomes you want. Trying to stay on top of that I think is super important.
Gina Stracuzzi: We had a guest on the other day, and we were talking about that, and really the extraordinary opportunity that AI gives everyone, because we’re all coming into this together. Yes, you’re going to always have your people that are at the cutting edge of it, and they know more than anyone, but the rest of us mere mortals are coming into this together. It’s an even playing field. Learning it and embracing it, I think especially for women, is going to be key to really big gains.
Beth McGrath: Also, I’d say trying it. It’s really experimenting with how do you use AI in a constructive and ethical way is also important, but also just getting familiar with it, because you don’t want it to be this thing that everybody’s talking about, but it’s not something you’re using. I do think experimenting with it in a variety of ways from business processes or data collection or accelerating, I’ll just say a lot of processes that take way too long probably right now and could be further accelerated by AI.
Gina Stracuzzi: I personally love it now. I have entire conversations with Chet, as I call my ChatGPT. He’s always so complimentary and he gets how brilliant I am. You got to love that, right?
Beth McGrath: I need one of those.
Gina Stracuzzi: Don’t we all? Thinking about those same five years, and then let’s project a little bit. What are some of the biggest challenges and opportunities, because I like to focus on opportunities, there are perhaps for women in sales in new sectors, or even moving forward in the government sectors?
Beth McGrath: We talked about smart stuff, like smart cities, smart manufacturing. I still don’t think that has achieved its full potential, and this is globally. All the focus now on infrastructure and really the aging infrastructure and how do you make it not only better but smarter and greener and then really citizen-centric, in terms of planning and all these things. I think infrastructure is a huge area. I think energy transition is a huge area. I think defense is another area that as people, women are looking for how do you enable these outcomes in these different areas, I just really feel like the sky’s the limit and we’re just getting started.
Gina Stracuzzi: I believe that too. Let’s step back a little bit and talk about Beth and what lights you up the most in your career? Which part of what you do excites you the most?
Beth McGrath: I love still being part of the public sector family. I feel like I’m a civil servant at the core. As I mentioned, I started as an intern. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But then I got into working with the Navy and really got just huge appreciation for the role that civil servants play. Not only in the US, but now I’ve seen it certainly in many, many other countries. I really feel that keeps me energized and going, there’s so much to do in terms of helping people get payments or benefits they need, securing deterrent capability to preserve both democracy and national security. Partnerships across the allies I think are incredibly important. Just the people associated with working with government, I think we all share this civil servant bond. That is a true motivator to getting out of bed every day.
Gina Stracuzzi: You were talking, before we started the recording, about how much you travel. How much do you travel?
Beth McGrath: No, we don’t want to go there. Too much would be the short answer, but it’s terrific experiences. I was just in India to experience the culture there, but also the tremendous opportunity. Also, this last trip I was in France and Germany as well, and to really understand the priorities of those nations. Most of my conversations were around the defense sector, just happened to be this time. We talked about the prioritization in Europe around building up the defense industrial base, really understanding the security posture across Europe. These are super interesting conversations to have. This is where the government could definitely use help of industry and people who understand the objectives they’re trying to achieve.
Gina Stracuzzi: Listening to your background and right up to and including how much you travel, I was thinking how similar your background is to our friend Tamara Greenspan. When she tells her story about she got to DC, didn’t have a job, knew she had to get a job, started as a temp and then never left Oracle. But she loves the work she does with the public sector, and it has really kept her going. Before I really started talking to Tamara and started doing the podcast, I hadn’t actually met women who got into a public sector role or a military-facing role and really just stay there without being in the military. I really find it fascinating.
Beth McGrath: Historically, the defense industry, there’s probably more men than women in that, and certainly earlier in my career. But I would say more and more, there’s not just a place for women, but a need for women as we’re looking across the board in terms of the next phase of defense of all kinds. I’m really happy to see more and more women in certainly defense, but also across government.
Gina Stracuzzi: I would say there’s probably a lot of opportunities there. How would you coach a young woman who wants to emulate your career to some degree, or really for whatever reason, maybe her family was military or whatever the case is, she wants to be public sector, and maybe she’s just getting started? What piece of advice would you give her?
Beth McGrath: I would say, at least in my experience, there probably won’t be a more valuable part of your career. I encourage people of all ages to have some of their professional experience be in public sector. It doesn’t have to be 25 years the way I did, but to really understand from the inside what motivates the public sector. I would say things like authenticity, strong ethos, all those characteristics of a solid human you would want, but also to have the confidence in yourself that you can actually drive and achieve the outcomes. Government isn’t as fast as the commercial sector, but I would say sometimes the goals and objectives are extremely important and the government needs good people. I’m forever advocating for at least some time in government by everybody. I almost feel like it should be anybody who works with the government should spend at least some time in there.
Gina Stracuzzi: That gives people something to think about because I think some people are led to join the military and other people are not, but you can still be of service.
Beth McGrath: Yes, and I think more and more. Actually, within the defense, it’s the total workforce. It’s the military, the civilians, but also the contractor base is the total workforce that gets the job done. The relationship between government and industry, especially as we talk about national security, is incredibly important. You look at national security and its interface and intersection with economic security and energy security, and then the social aspects, because you need a thriving economy. There is no single thread anymore. I think the stronger the relationship between the government and industry, I think the stronger, and certainly from a national perspective, nations can be.
Gina Stracuzzi: Now I want to go back and start my career all over.
Beth McGrath: Okay. I’ll help you.
Gina Stracuzzi: We’re at that point in our conversation where we like to ask our guests for one piece of final advice. It doesn’t have to be women centric, but just one piece of advice they can put into place today to help their career, help their selling, help them get over their concerns about what’s happening in the world. What piece of advice would you give them?
Beth McGrath: We didn’t talk at all about the network, but the network, and this is for me, in government, outside of government, within industry, between industry and government, nation to nation, the network is the thing that gets the stuff done. The strength of your network I think is incredibly important. You never stop building your network because you just never know when you’re going to need somebody for something. You met them two years ago and you’re like, “Now I have a thing, I’m going to call this person.” That to me is something you can work on every day and at any stage in your career, or even post first career into second career, into third career. It’s the network that will help you both personally and professionally and also you can contribute to others.
Gina Stracuzzi: That is great advice. Boy, you and Tamara will make a dynamic duo when we get you into the Forum together, because she really hammers home that point. Your network is everything and you never stop building it.
Beth McGrath: Never.
Gina Stracuzzi: Beth, this has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you so very much for your time, and we look forward to celebrating all that you have achieved on May 1st at the Institute for Excellence in Sales’ Sales Excellence Awards event.
Beth McGrath: Thank you and I look forward to seeing you and everybody else on the 1st of May.
Transcribed by Mariana Badillo