Lessons from a 39-year long career

If I were to travel back 39 years, I would have never imagined that I’d be able to tell my 22-year-old self that I’d be Global Chairman and CEO of the EY organization I joined as an audit staff in 1985. And that one day, as I prepared to leave, I’d be asked to pass along the important lessons I learned along the way.

While the technology, markets, ways of working and fashions have changed, what endures are the learnings, the accomplishments, and – above all – the relationships. So, as I wrap up my time at EY this week, here are some lessons that I not only take with me into the next phase of my career and life, but that I hope can serve others as meaningfully and well as they did for me.

1. Trust and relationships matter

When I think back to my early days at EY, I almost can’t recognize how far we’ve come. Back then, audit papers were voluminous physical documents carried around in locking, massive brown leather briefcases. By day, my fellow colleagues and I worked in the bull pens, and by night we cemented our relationships playing cards and hanging out. We also communicated with our teams overseas using something called the Telex machine.

Today, we use digital and AI-powered, cloud-based auditing software; more regularly meet and even socialize across the globe on Microsoft Teams; and work is supported by EYQ – an in-house secure large language model. However, the ultimate reason we managed to grow from US$15b (in 2004 when we first started reporting integrated global revenue) to a US$50b global organization is relationships.

While relationships continue to be built through trusted and valued interactions, they’re evidenced and cemented by investments in those we value: EY people and clients. That’s why we’ve made investments like EY.ai, a platform that helps build confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, drive value creation and augment people potential; also, in highly sought after accredited skills called EY Badges – last year alone, EY people dedicated 24 million hours to formal learning.

But, above all, the quality of our relationships is the result of the strength of the EY culture of teaming and collaboration, which extends to the way we work with EY clients. The EY culture has stood the test of time and of massive technological changes – it is a critical asset to protect in the future.

2. Keep an entrepreneurial mindset

The first year I was promoted to partner, we lost one of the biggest EY clients. What was even worse: it came in the wake of another major audit client loss. We had two large teams with nothing to do – not an easy place to find yourself taking on a new role.

However, these losses gave us the time and opportunity to think about what financial services clients needed. Ultimately, it led us to try out a new idea: the creation of a Risk Management & Regulatory services. This led to our biggest win at that time with a bank in the Nordics. It also meant we had to pull in even larger teams across the UK, US, Nordics, and parts of Asia to deliver this groundbreaking project.

It’s this same entrepreneurial mindset that drove us to invest more than US$12b over the last five years in technology, acquisitions, solutions and EY people, and set up the business to thrive in the future. In a constantly changing world, it’s important to recruit the right mindsets, not just the right skillsets in your teams.

3. Optimism leads to opportunities

When I was assigned to a commodities trading account back in 1988, I spent more time avoiding collisions with huge cartoon-like tumbleweeds than speaking with people, as I spent months driving and traveling vast distances around the US Pacific Northwest counting trees and lumber. These experiences opened a window, not only into the opportunities in sustainability, but it instilled in me the importance of optimism.

This was an early foray into sustainability. Years later, we saw the EY organization needed to play an important role in advancing sustainability, both with EY clients and in developing the EY sustainability ambition and commitments. We were the first among the Big Four to establish the role of the Global Head of Sustainability and in having a carbon ambition. We also collaborated with the other Big Four to develop a set of universal metrics for reporting stakeholder value, which have now been adopted by more than 200 companies.[i]

Optimism is also what led us to invest and grow EY services in the emerging markets. It’s what is helping us capitalize the growth in AI. Optimism is what gave us the courage to invest in the EY brand, launching our first-ever global advertising campaign in 2015. We have since catapulted EY to a top 10 AAA+ brand (Brand Finance), a significant leap from the 75th position.

Optimism can be a huge business driver. It still means being realistic and planning for the unexpected. It also means maintaining the confidence that, with the right people and a vision, you can contribute to solving even the most challenging of issues – for a client, for your organization, or for society. Optimism may be out of favor these days – be sure find ways to keep it alive, but also stay grounded.

4. Be bold

The biggest lesson of my career, while a tough one, is also a proud one: Project Everest. The idea was to split the EY organization into two separate organizations: to better serve EY clients in the long-term by providing more choice and removing conflicts and giving EY people new and more rewarding growth opportunities.

This was a bold move that would challenge the status quo and redefine the industry – something the competition has publicly said they would never do.

While the EY organization decided not to move forward with Project Everest, we learned and adopted many lessons: new forms of innovation, new people strengths, and new and better conversations with EY clients and regulators. The strategic rationale for it continues, and it has awoken the industry to outside investment, including private equity investment. Above all, Project Everest has made EY a more resilient and brave organization, better prepared for the challenges ahead.

You may find that one day you’ll attempt your own Everest. It won’t be easy. The clue is in the name. Remember, be patient. Persevere. Learn. Even setbacks move the needle.

5. Collaboration is a business strategy

When we started moving off paper onto computers in the late 1980s, we were excited to have what are now these colossal computers that we had to physically share around the office. These were shared with colleagues by placing them in large, maroon-colored bags and moving them to other desks. I had the distinction of being one of the larger individuals in the office, so got to transport them from one desk to another, from one building to another.

Collaboration today has transcended the borders of an organization. In what is frequently termed “radical collaboration,” it can be about collaboration with your competitors and more frequently with both large and specialist curated parties to shape the future of your business and drive value. We all need to recognize that none of us, as a person or an organization, has all the answers – and working together can be innovative, more impactful and fun!

Today, some of the most exciting work that we’re doing at the EY organization involves working with other organizations. We are collaborating with over 100 organizations in the EY alliance ecosystem to bring custom solutions and solve problems for clients and society. As the next-stage technological revolution takes off, it will be exciting to see what collaborations with organizations as big as Microsoft and SAP, and as small as individual entrepreneurs can accomplish. 

Collaboration is also about inclusion, and about bringing a variety of skills, experiences and perspectives – diversity in all its forms: age, gender, geography, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, experiences, and more. It's a business strategy that can lead to more innovative solutions, better problem-solving and, ultimately, a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Organizations that recognize and embrace the value of diversity are often more successful and resilient in the long-term.

6. Importance of driving impact in your community

When I was newly married with my first son, my best friend and his wife learned that their first born was on the autism spectrum and would have special educational needs that could not be met by mainstream schools. My wife and I rallied our friends and learned that our local school district would open a specialist autism school if we raised a significant chunk of the start-up costs. So, we threw fundraiser event after event until we did just that. Early on in my career, I felt the exhilaration of how working together to achieve a common goal can make a huge impact in people’s lives. And I’ve been fortunate to have a platform to do that for a range of social issues, including disability inclusion.

At EY, I’m proud of all the things we’ve done together to live of our purpose of building a better working world. The EY Ripples program was launched in 2018 with a goal of impacting 1 billion lives by 2030. And we’re well on our way – supporting key groups like the next-generation of workers, impact entrepreneurs, accelerating environmental sustainability and more.

Following the experience supporting my best friend, I’m also proud that EY is a leader in supporting neurodivergent individuals secure fulfilling careers and meaningful roles through our Neurodivergence Centers of Excellence across 10 countries and 23 cities. Externally, we’re working with Valuable 500 to promote disability inclusion at the highest levels of organizations, the Sustainable Markets Initiative to promote global sustainability goals, and Focusing Capital on the Long Term to promote a longer-term focus in the capital markets, and more. I am proud of having been able to lend my time, my platform and my voice to these and other initiatives.

Life after my first life

As the end of the month draws nearer, with ever more frequency I’m being asked: what’s next? I’m excited that I will be sharing my experience as a Board member for a couple of organizations including PayPal. Beyond this, I will continue with my charitable work and I’m also excited to join the 1m+ person-strong EY Alumni network of professionals.

A frequent quote in my Italian-American family is “la famiglia è tutto” or “family is everything”. In that spirit, I’m excited that my very first order of business is relaxing with my family and friends over the next three months. After never having a true break in my 39-year professional career, I will not be doing anything more taxing than playing sports, going for bike rides and continuing to be optimistic about how we can continue to make the world a better place for all. 

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.

[i] https://www.weforum.org/impact/stakeholder-capitalism-reporting-metrics-davos2024/