Here’s another insufferable profile of a Big 4 executive that we dutifully read on your behalf. This one features KPMG CEO Lynne Doughtie and, sure, go ahead and read it if you have nothing better to do. She has a nice story; believe it or not, she “loved being an auditor”; she wanted to become a partner in 1997 but it didn’t happen; she was thisclose to being the first woman CEO of a Big 4 firm, but Cathy Engelbert beat her by a couple of months.
Doughtie has a lot of responsibilities as CEO and one of the unique ones for the KPMG CEO is golfing. Now, it’s not unique in the sense that golfing is an unusual activity for a corporate executive; it’s just that when your firm throws a few gazillion dollars at pro golfers, hitting the links and quoting Caddyshack becomes part of the unofficial job description. Sure, you have wear geeky clothes and listen to people throw around lame witticisms like “Drive for show, putt for dough,” and “You’re dancin’,” but being outdoors is always a bonus for an accountant. Plus, I’ll bet it’s fun to razz Phil Mickelson about blowing the U.S. Open so many times and his insider trading misadventures.
But despite her situation, Doughtie admits that it’s not the most important thing for CEO to do. Besides, everyone’s a bunch of hacks:
Doughtie, once an occasional golf player, took up the sport by default three years ago. After being tagged to play in a pro-am game involving professionals and amateurs, she prayed and hoped she wouldn’t swing and miss when she teed off. Not only did she hit the ball, it landed on the green. It was downhill from there, she said.
“No, if you are a CEO, you do not need to know how to play golf,” she said. “Golf can be intimidating.” Men tend to talk a lot about their golf games. “But nobody is good at it,” she confided to the audience.
So if you find yourself playing 9 with Lynne, rest easy: she’s not expecting much.
[RTD]
Image: KPMG
