Culture Matters: Building the Wise Firm

When it comes to our personal and professional growth, the common denominator that often trips us up involves risk. As I consider my performance over the past years and my future ambitions, I find myself pondering these two questions:

Strong teams don’t just happen. You know that.  I know that.  Yet, so many people lack the intentionality required to build a strong team. 

I’ve been privileged to grow and serve on some amazing teams led by strong, intentional individuals. I could write a dissertation on what I’ve learned about building strong teams simply based on their examples, but today I want to share three intentional practices that I’ve incorporated into my career:

Occasionally my church encourages a special dress for Sunday worship service. This could be anything from “wear pink for breast cancer awareness” to “Spirit Sunday” where we dress up in our favorite team’s regalia. Well, imagine one’s dismay when she missed the memo and walks in and instantly feels out of place. It’s that feeling of wearing red when everyone else is wearing black; donning jeans when everyone else is in a suit; having curly hair when everyone else’s hair is straight; being a black female when everyone else is a white male. It’s that feeling of being different. Welcome to my world as a professional in public accounting.