Leading the Way
Last week I had the honor of paying tribute to Ed Kliegman, the co-founder of our firm and the man who gave me my start in the accounting business here at Marcum and who passed away after a long and storied career that touched many, many people besides me. I received many moving notes in response, and to those of you who took the time to share your own thoughts, thank you. That column has stayed with me this week, maybe because Ed is on my mind, but also because I continue to see his imprint on how we run Marcum today. Particularly in the way we are preparing the next generation of leadership – a topic near and dear to Ed’s heart, because although I didn’t realize it at the time, that’s exactly what he was doing with me during the time we worked together.
Very recently, we named new Partners-in-Charge in two of our regions. Jeffrey Zudeck joined the Firm to head up our Philadelphia office in September, and Michael Balter came on board to manage our three South Florida offices in November. In addition, Phil Wilson, who came to Marcum with the WilsonMorgan merger in 2013, became our statewide Partner-in-Charge in California in December. That’s three new regional leaders in just about a quarter of a year.
What these three individuals have in common, and what makes their appointments so exciting, is that they all have an energy and an excitement and a vision that will be instrumental as we take Marcum into the future. The firm is 64 years old and we have a leadership team that’s poised to take us the next 64 years. I’m not going anywhere for a while, but a company’s future is only as good as the leadership team coming up the pipeline, and Marcum’s new regional PICs will surely have a lot to do with the Marcum of tomorrow. So will people like Neil Prasad, who was promoted from within Marcum’s partnership ranks to become PIC of our Los Angeles office last August. And these are just a few of our leaders – the team goes much deeper. I’m sorry I can’t mention everyone by name – you know who you are and keep up the good work.These people have what it takes and they all have outstanding teams in their markets who will be as instrumental to the Firm’s continuing success as the new leaders themselves.
Many of the professionals still in the early stages of their careers at Marcum are also making their marks and contributing to the Firm’s future footprint. There is a Young Professionals Group that meets socially with their peers from other service firms, to build a network they can carry with them for the rest of their careers – not to mention cultivate a potentially valuable recruiting resource for Marcum! There are also individuals who have stepped up to create peer mentoring groups within their own departments, to coach each other about everything from career development to business development. Then there is our official firmwide Mentoring Program, which pairs staff on their way up with more senior people to provide experienced guidance as well as a friendly ear.
I can see the future, and it’s bright. I know what Ed Kliegman would say. Feed the talent. Keep good, smart people around you. Let the leaders lead. Then get out of the way and enjoy watching the fruits of your labor bloom.
