President's Message
Dear Members: Welcome to 2012. I trust that you all had a happy and restful holiday season. My family and I had a "staycation" this year - that is a vacation from the normal routine of life - but spent staying at home taking time for hobbies and long overdue tasks around the house. Now that 2012 is officially here, I will be starting my 20th year with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). I must admit that when I was going though the interview process with all of the Big 8 Firms (20 years ago there were 8 big firms), I thought that my stint in public accounting would last for about 2 or 3 years. But then a funny thing happened — I landed a job within the Federal Practice of PwC. Instead of auditing earnings per share and revenue projections, I was auditing pension claims files, benefit claims files, research grant expenditures, budget documents, and office expenditures made by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. I was auditing organizations which were as large and diverse as five Fortune 500 companies - combined! I was traveling across the country to states and cities to which I probably would not have travelled to if not for the far reaches of my clients - and I was meeting a group of professionals who were incredibly passionate about their work and the mission of the organizations for which they worked. The professionals I was meeting and working with were not Cabinet-level executives, Commissioners, Secretaries, or Administrators; they were the line employees who were responsible for carrying out the mission of their Agency, Bureau or Department. They were the individuals who were responsible for determining if a beneficiary would receive a pension. They were the ones responsible for determining which grant applicant was the most deserving of the limited dollars available for research. They were the contracting officers responsible for awarding contracts - not always to the lowest bidder - but the bidder who was offering the best value to the government. They were all passionate about their work - and their passion was very inspirational. As we start this New Year my questions for each of you - and one that I wrestled with during my staycation - is the following - Who will you inspire with your passion this year? Will your leadership and dedication to your job have a positive effect on a coworker or a member of the public? What steps will you take this year to effectuate positive change at your organization? Like each of you - I realize that working from inside a bureaucracy can dull our passion. But I would challenge each one of you to keep your passion burning intensely this year. Remember those things which attracted you to government service at the start of your career - and keep those things in the forefront of your thoughts as you make your way through 2012. If you bring that passion to work every day you will be amazed at what you will accomplish this year. Happy New Year 
|
