Value different people. If you put a group of people together with different skill sets, you get a lot of different perspectives, and those different perspectives are extraordinarily valuable.
One of my biggest clients throughout my career was Dick Jacobs of the Jacobs Group. It was interesting because we’d get in a meeting with him, and he would ask everyone their opinion, and he would always start with the youngest person in the room. He didn’t want to change their view. He wanted to hear what they had to say. He would frequently then go make his own decision, but he really liked all those different perspectives, and I think that’s a very valuable management lesson. What I like about working with people is you get the different perspectives and you get their point of view, and it’s very valuable.
Never stop learning. The way I look at it, I’m not retiring. I’m just starting a new career. I don’t think it’s healthy to quit working. I love golf, but it doesn’t return the love. If it was a female, I would have dumped her 40 years ago.
Commit yourself to an absolute lifetime of education. It’s amazing to me how some people just don’t read. You have to commit yourself to continue to grow. That’s the most important thing that people need to do.
People need to really be flexible and keep growing and setting goals every year. I, every year the first week of January, sit down, and I have goals that I don’t share with anybody. It’s amazing how many of those goals I achieve each year — other than lose 25 pounds. In retirement, I’m going to fulfill that one unfulfilled goal. I divide my goals into Deloitte goals and personal goals — [for example] I’m going to take a course on woodworking and some financial goals on the personal side, and those overlap with the Deloitte goals to some degree. In the Deloitte area, I break it down between clients and people because those are the two things that we really do that are most important.
You have to figure out what works best for you. Don’t make them too long. If they’re more than about 10 words, you probably spent too much time on it. Lose 25 pounds — that’s three words.
How to reach: Deloitte LLP, (216) 589-1300 or www.deloitte.com
