Over the years people have asked me why I have been successful and appear to enjoy my job. The answer is fairly simply. When you first start in Public Accounting your starting class is made up of very smart graduates from the best schools that all are expected to do a good job and meet all expectations. In your first year, who could possible expect you to do better than meet all expectations? But if everyone does a good job and meets all expectations, then logic says everyone is average. For the first time in your entire life you are in a situation in which you are expected to be no more than average. As a result, most of your peers fall into, what I call the trap of mediocrity. For the first time in there entire lives they are going to be satisfied being average and don't expect to be better than average. Initially I didn't fully understand this phenomenon, especially when you think how academically accomplished many of these new hires are. The reality is that, for the first time in their lives, it is not going to be easy to stand out from the pack. Standing out, by definition, means to be different. By taking actions that set you apart from your peers in a significantly positive way you begin to differentiate yourself from your peers. There is no comfort involved in being different. Being different involves hard work and the ability to see and take risks that not everyone is willing to take. It may also cause some of your peers to perceive you as an outsider and give rise to a certain level of jealousy if you are successful. I remember one of my peers, during my first year, complained openly that I was getting better opportunities because I had interned and thus knew people. The reality is that she was correct, interning did help me network and I walked in the door with people knowing I did good work. That was an excellent career benefit. However, it did cause this individual a bit of strife. The reality is that this is business; actually it is a huge $19 billion competitive business.
As a firm we work together as a team to accomplish great things for our clients. As individuals we need to also work to develop the skills necessary to grow within the firm and gain access to the opportunities that will be both challenging and career enhancing. Not all new hires find themselves Partners in 12 years, those that do make Partner, did so because they differentiated themselves in a way that allowed them access to interesting and challenging opportunities that were career enhancing and allowed them to build the skills necessary to be a Partner. They took control of managing their careers as opposed to allowing the firm to manage it for them. Even if your goal is not to make Partner, by taking control of your career and differentiating yourself you will take full advantage of the primary benefit of Public Accounting, which is education.
So how did I differentiate myself from my peers? In the beginning, being different for me meant I was going to take the initiative to meet every partner in my division and help them in some way so that they would remember who I was and that I did an excellent job for them. The benefit, at the end of my first year, was that I was the only staff person in my division to have a Sr. Partner agree to be my mentor. Having a Sr. Partner agree to be a mentor is a huge win in that I was privy to opportunities and information before my peers. Being different also meant being able to carry my own in business discussions and accounting discussions. I buried myself in periodicals (Business Week and Fortune) as well as self-improvement books such as McKinsey's Way, How to Win Friends and Influence People, etc. I was reading at least one book a week in addition to working 12 -16 hours a day. Being different also meant letting everyone know that I was a whiz at two relatively new technologies MS-Excel and MS-Access. In my first year, I became the go-to person for all sorts of technology issues which allowed me even greater opportunities. At the beginning of every year, I try to think about how I want to strategically involve myself and continue to differentiate myself from my peers. Sometimes it is seeing opportunities in times of great need (e.g.. Stepping in to help a Partner when a key member of his team leaves the firm -- even if it mean a few weekends or longer hours, agreeing to take on a client that has previously been difficult, etc.). I can't tell you how rewarding it is and how much my career has benefited from taking on jobs that no one else in the office wanted to do and then doing that job exceptionally well. It is the fastest way to gain the gratitude and confidence of the partners and the client which is a sure fire way of differentiating yourself. There are risks to this strategy and it has bitten me once or twice, but the good has far outweighed the bad.
As you walk the halls take note of those people that appear to be the movers and shakers and make it a priority to take them to lunch or get their attention. People have differentiated themselves in many different ways that have been perceived by the partnership as beneficial. Certain people become subject matter experts, others become public figures through public speeches or publishing, still others become heavily active in the community and develop valuable networks of industry leaders, etc. The big picture, once you become a manager the expectations change, it is expected that each manager can handle performing even the most complex of audits. So differentiating yourself from your peers becomes more and more challenging, career enhancing, and interesting.
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