Legendary psychologist Abraham Maslow once said:
"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. This is the need we may call self-actualization. It refers to man's desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one is capable of becoming ..."
At David Abramson & Associates, we are fully committed to leveraging our extensive network and decades of experience to help senior financial executives realize their greatest leadership potential, both professionally and personally.
“I have coached many senior managers, partners and other senior financial executives who had so much more potential than was being realized in their current situations. Clearly their Maslow’s first three levels of needs and even the 4th level were being met. But they had the ability to do much more, to step up to a more significant leadership role; to ‘become everything that one is capable of becoming ...’ At this stage in my life it gives me much pleasure if I can be helpful to these individuals with more insight into their potential and often also help them realize it through change in their current environment or by taking a new opportunity” - D.H. Abramson
Tax Partner-In-Charge - advanced to Office Managing Partner - West Coast
Summary: We recognize exceptional talent and how it will advance in our client’s operations. We fight to get the right person for the position, even if that means tough conversations with our client. We’re looking out for the best long term interest of both the client and the candidate.
Details: We performed a retained search for a Global 7 (non Big 4) firm who needed to fill a Tax Partner-in-Charge position. We recruited an individual who had recently left a Big 4 partnership to go into industry. About a year or two into industry, he was missing the public accounting environment.
This was an excellent opportunity for the candidate and he was an exceptional candidate. However, a major disconnect appeared as he felt that his compensation level was considerably greater than the client wished to pay. In addition, while this was an excellent opportunity, the candidate wanted to have even greater potential for “self actualization”.
We knew, from our years of experience developing, supervising and promoting leaders and from our specific interviews, sourcing and reference checking of this candidate that he was an individual who could make exceptional contributions to the firm and would have the potential for much greater growth.
We coached and counseled both the client and the candidate. We helped convince the client that the candidate was worth additional compensation for not only the current position but also his potential. In turn, we helped the candidate understand the impact he would make in this position and also that he was the kind of unique individual who could rapidly grow in his role and responsibility. Further, it was our experience that his skills and capabilities would be called upon soon by the client to make an even greater impact. All of this meant that his future compensation would also grow significantly.
The match was made and the candidate entered the partnership as a Tax Partner-in-Charge. And in about 6 months, upon the local office managing partner assuming a full time regional role, this candidate was promoted to Office Managing Partner in one of the country’s major metropolitan areas!