Despite being almost 90 years old, Delap has not had too many different leaders over the course of its existence. There's leadership stability at the top of the firm. But this week, the firm announced a leadership change: Earl Pierce is the new CEO.
Earl has been with Delap for 15 years and worked in public accounting for over 20. This week on Success That Lasts, Earl joins host Jared Siegel to talk about his professional journey, mentorship, and the power of financial literacy.
Tune in here, at delapcpa.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts:
Here are a few highlights from their conversation:
- Being surrounded by a team of energetic leaders has made his transition into the position of CEO much easier, Earl says, especially during the disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would have been more challenging to take on the responsibility without their comforting support.
- Working in public accounting has afforded Earl the opportunity to coach others; it brings him satisfaction to help people gain experience and develop the necessary skills to pursue their dreams and excel.
- Jared shares that Earl was involved in his interview for Delap. He commends the company on its commitment to living its mission statement. Delap prioritizes their employees’ goals and aspirations over the organization’s objectives, so that if an employee wants to move on, Delap will assist them in every way possible.
- People consider money as a metric to measure success because it's often correlated with a level of professional achievement. Other important long-term life investments, such as interpersonal relationships with friends and family, are not as tangible or as easily gathered as money, so they're harder to measure and easier to forget.
- Teenagers can be debilitated if they do not have perspective about the necessities for living. It's difficult for a teen to make an informed decision about their future college and career path if they don't know the facts. Earl speaks about his experiences mentoring his children and other adolescents about financial literacy.
- Earl’s “favorite mistake” was when he decided he wasn’t good enough to continue attending university because it led him to the desire to improve himself and build relationships to help that goal.
- A failure is temporary, Earl says.
- The first step to combating team dysfunction is to be open, vulnerable, and build trust.
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