8/8/2019 Career vs. Culture -- Do You Have to Choose?

1/28 Todays CPA Disclosures September/October

TodaysCPA

Career vs. culture: Do you have to choose?

D

o you speak up in a meetingwhen you know your answer iscorrect? Or do you not speak

until spoken to?Do you join a conversion about gol,even though you do not like the sport? Ordo you display a genuine interest to createcommon ground?

For some, these are easy decisions. Forothers, these are major hurdles that caneasily become roadblocks on the path tosuccess. The best decisions or our careeradvancement may oten appear to con-tradict our cultural values, orcing us toace a difcult choice between being trueto our upbringing and achieving career

success.We hope that a brie look into our

careers will help you make the best deci-sions, without eeling as though you aresacricing your cultural values.

Heathers StoryMy story is the typical immigrant

dream o my parents leaving behind theirlives to nd a better lie or their chil-dren. Culturally, it was ingrained in meto respect my superiors, whether by age

or position, and not to speak until spokento. It was also my parents motto to workhard and you will succeed. While I still

remain true to my culture, I have beenorced to challenge these very premisesthroughout my career.

Dont let your ethnicity or culturalbackground hold you back

When I started in public accounting,I was terried to speak up in meetings,especially when there were partners pres-ent. I had great ideas, but I did not wantto be disrespectul and speak up untilsomeone asked or my opinion, when, inact, this was the exact opposite o what I

should have been doing. Gradually, I real-ized that it was okay to present my ideaswithout being prompted.

The most successul companies en-courage their people to display initiative,though it may be difcult or some. Oneo my ondest memories was when I madea joke during a client proposal, whichtruly helped break the ice. Though ourcompany was not selected or the engage-ment, it was a special learning momentor me. I could not have imagined mysel

By Heather Choe, CPA, and Haven S. Pope, CPA, CFE

The best decisions

or our career

advancement may

oten appear to

contradict our cultural

values, orcing us to

ace a difcult choice

between being true

to our upbringing

and achieving

career success.

8/8/2019 Career vs. Culture -- Do You Have to Choose?

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doing that just a ew years earlier.

In some cases, your background mayactually help you. I have always beenacknowledged or my client service skills.I eel like I have the advantage o wantingto listen to people because that is what Iwas raised to do rst. However, I learnedalong the way that there are times whenI need to speak up, too. Im sure thereare some people who are wishing I hadnt

become so good at that part.

Gently blow your own horn

Along with working hard, I was taught

not to brag about my accomplishments,and I still dont. However, I learnedthat it is also important to make yourselstand out among your peers (in the rightway, o course!). Dont wait or othersto acknowledge your successes, or itmay never happen. I eel as though it ismy responsibility to make sure decisionmakers are aware o my achievements. Itis all in how you approach it. I seek to ndthe appropriate opportunities to make mysuccesses known, without bragging about

them.

Havens StoryMy mother always encouraged me to

go ater my dreams, but cautioned againstentrusting my uture to the hands o otherpeople. Also, networking had a nega-tive connation, as it was more about whoyou know than the work you do, whichwas oten the case or her as one o theew Arican-American women at the plantwhere she worked or more than 20 years.

Yes, work hard, but work harder atnetworking

When I rst started in public account-ing, I was extremely uncomortableattending my rst networking unc-tion. Everyone was laughing and enjoy-ing themselves, while I was dreadingthe thought o aking my way through aconversation about gol or politics. It eltdisingenuous, and I wasnt going to stoopto that level. My opinion was that i I justdid my work, success would come. I did

not need to schmooze with people I didnt

know or talk about things in which I hadno interest.However, I have come to realize that

yes, you need to work hard, but you haveto work harder at networking to helpensure your success. This was a difcultdecision to come to, as it was contrary towhat I had always learned. When you arecompeting with the very best, the thingthat will dierentiate you is your personalconnection with the decision makers. Youneed people to be your champions, evenwithout your prompting. Networking is

one o the best ways to achieve that.One o my proudest achievements

came to me without me trying. Ateragreeing to sit on an inormal paneldiscussion or young CPAs, I received aphone call rom someone with the Ameri-can Institute o CPAs (AICPA). She hadreceived my name rom the organizer othe panel discussion and wanted me to beon a task orce targeting their young CPAmembers. As a part o this task orce, Iparticipated in the development o the

AICPAs Young CPA Network and theirnational Feed the Pig campaign promot-ing nancial literacy.

Ultimately, I was asked to sit on apanel at a national conerence in Las Vegasto discuss recruiting and retaining youngproessionals with Leslie Murphy, whowas AICPA chair at the time. Though, itwas not until ater I agreed to do it thatI realized we would be speaking in ronto more than 650 people! Nonetheless, itwas a great opportunity that came out onetworking, and more opportunities have

come since.Looking back, I try not to think about

the opportunities I may have missed outon because I was not comortable withnetworking. Instead, I look at the op-portunities that did come out o network-ing and the act that networking is notnecessarily a dirty word anymore.

Moral of the storyWhether you are just starting out in

your career or eel like you have not

achieved all that you had hoped or, take

a hard look at yoursel beore looking atothers. It is critical to be aware that youmay be holding yoursel back, whetherit is because o your culture or your up-

bringing.Be proud o your heritage, but learn

to be cognizant o how it may be aect-ing you proessionally. You will nd thatyou are able to make good career choiceswithout setting aside your cultural back-ground or your parents teachings.

Heather Choe, CPA, is

the manager o internal

IT audit at CarMax, Inc.,

in Richmond. She has

more than 15 years o fnancial and IT

auditing and system implementation

experience, including fve years in

public accounting. She is a member

o the Audit Committee or the

Virginia Commonwealth University

Foundation. Contact her at hchoe@

hjpope.com.

Haven S. Pope, CPA,

CFE, is the manager

o fnancial reporting

at CarMax, Inc., in

Richmond. He has

more than 10 years o

accounting and auditing experience,

including seven years in public

accounting. He was voted as a SuperCPA in 2008 and also sits on the

VSCPA Editorial Task Force. Contact

him at haven@hjpope.com or visit

his profle on LinkedIn at www.

linkedin.com/in/havenpope.

Note: The opinions expressed are

those o the authors and not o the

authors employer.

Todays CPA Disclosures September/October 9

Whether you are just starting out in your career or feel like you have

not achieved all that you had hoped for, take a hard look at yourself

before looking at others.