Page 103 - The Way to the Top

significant recognition. I graduated top of my college class in business and
accounting. When it was time to prepare for the CPA exam, others in the

review class studied the practice problems once. But I did them multiple
times and began to understand that my depth of knowledge was far greater
than others in the class and began to think that I could be the best in the
world at this. I continued to study three times as hard as everyone else and
when the time of the CPA exam came, I was ready to be the best in the

world. And sure enough, I got the highest grade in the U.S.A. out of 38,000
participants.

Although I was working as an auditor for Arthur Andersen, then one of
the top national CPA firms in the country, I found the work to be routine

and uncreative. My passion was to have an impact on companies. After
three years I went to work for an oil and gas client where I began to
develop a special talent to pull massive amounts of detail together and in a
simple, straightforward manner paint a picture of where we made and lost

money and why. This ability allowed me to advance in the corporate world
from looking at historical performance to helping plan strategy to
structuring and negotiating deals. Ultimately, I have risen to CEO by using
this same talent to create economic discipline within a creative and highly

technical business, together with deal structures that create value and
incentive programs that align shareholder and management /employee
objectives to create superior performance. For me, this hedgehog has
allowed me to create wealth for myself while creating value for the

company.

Find your hedgehog