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10 People Not Cut Out to Be Partner

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

The following comes from CPA Trendlines:

QUESTION: My partner seems to always be out of sync with me, but my biggest pet peeve is that he never does what he says he will do.  Do you have any suggestions?

Respondent Ed Mendlowitz goes on to identify 8 types of people who are not cut out to be partners, with bonus control freaks and someone who skipped kindergarten:

(1) didn’t learn to share,

(2) dogmatists who always think they are right,

(3) someone who doesn’t like to compromise,

(4) someone who runs on his own clock,

(5) people who don’t feel they should have to account to anyone for their time or what they do,

(6) people who don’t like to or know how to delegate,

(7) those who do not understand the value of a collaboration, or you have

(8) a partner who is a “character.” 

Given the countless horror stories we've heard from the public accounting frontlines over the years, it's pretty safe to say this list does not even begin to map out even a small percentage of the types of people who are not cut out to be partners.

Among them:

  • narcissists
  • sociophobics
  • sociopaths
  • do as I say and not as I doers

The list goes on and on. Care to add a type?

Related Posts

Accountants Can Kick a Politician’s Butt?

Figuratively, of course.
Denver Post:

Perlmutter, a Democrat from Golden, had introduced an amendment that would allow regulators, if they ever faced another economic crisis like the one last fall, to tinker with standard accounting rules that many believe exacerbated the crash.
But accountants, despite their milquetoast image, are not to be messed with lightly. An army of pinstriped lobbyists had been working committee Democrats for two days, and by just after 2 p.m. Wednesday, they forced Perlmutter to accept a compromise that gutted the amendment.
“Basically, the accountants were kicking my butt,” Perlmutter conceded.

Of course. Should of known it was lobbyists and not an army of abacus-wielding Bob Herz fanboys.

Sir David Tweedie’s New Promise: To Retire in 2011

Every knight lays down his sword at some point and Tweeds is no exception. The IASB Chairman will hang up his 10-key when his current term ends in June 2011.

According to Emily Chasan at Reuters, DT thought about calling it quits last year after the pols torpedoed mark-to-market in the name of bank lobbyists. Sensing that the true Holy Grail was within reach, Tweedie stayed on:

[H]e has said he stayed because he wanted to continue the convergence process, which is beginning to reach its goal of having a single set of high quality accounting standards used around the globe. The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board and the IASB have redoubled efforts to complete their major convergence projects by a June 2011 deadline set by the G20 group of leading countries.

Now the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the board, is on the search for the next bean counter in shining armor. Since Tweeds gave plenty of notice, it won’t likely be the shitshow search like Bank of America has on its hands (until very recently perhaps) but the IASCF is searching all the corners of the world for the replacement and they need to come up with somebody good.
If they put some empty suit in there, the likes of Silvio Berlusconi will be writing the revised contingent liabilities standard. Lord knows we don’t need that. We need someone that doesn’t mind telling pols to BTFO of accounting biznass. Pols like Eddy “If you had just involved us in the monitoring of the IASB we wouldn’t be in this mess” Wymeersch, who probably couldn’t tell the difference between his ass and the basic accounting equation. Feel me, IASCF?
Now since that’s clear, if you’ve got any suggestions or purely want to speculate on who you will be in the big chair next (Tim Flynn? Mary Schapiro? Phil Mickelson? that smug guy in the cube next to you that got a 98 on FARE?) drop them in the comments.
IASB’s Tweedie to retire when term ends in 2011 [Emily Chasan/Reuters]
Trustees seek nominations for Chairman of the IASB from 2011 [Press Release]
See also: Kroeker Stresses Importance of Investors in IFRS Decision; Search Is On For Next Chairman Of IASB When Tweedie Retires in 2011 [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]

Footnotes: Bring on the 10Ks; Don’t Bet on Herbalife; HFTs Need a New Source | 02.20.14

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