My Top 10

Everyone loves a good Top 10 list. David Letterman I’m not, but I’m feeling reflective and decided that I’m going to use this week’s column to write about the things that mean the most to me about my business. Hopefully some of them will resonate with you. Here goes:

1. Our clients, first and foremost, who have allowed us a place at the table and permitted us to contribute to their success, without whom there would be no Marcum.
2. The thrill of the chase. If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ve heard me say more than once that when I became managing partner of Marcum in 1990, we were a firm of one office and 20 people. Today we are blessed to be a firm of 23 offices, 160 partners and 1300 professionals. I would be less than honest if I said that the deal-making is not a big part of what makes going to work every day so exciting. Whether it’s being on the deal team for a client, or closing in on Marcum’s next merger or acquisition, being on the front lines of what makes business pop and sizzle is just plain fun.
3. Building something meaningful. It is a great privilege to be part of a business that creates real worth for its clients and its staff. I certainly hope and believe that Marcum and what it stands for will carry on long after I decide to give up boot camp (see my column of April 11) and retire my scooter (June 6).
4. Reinventing the wheel. Being complacent in business is the kiss of death. You have to be willing to look at what you are building with a fresh eye every day you go to work and every time you contemplate the next big move. Don’t be willing to settle for what’s worked before just because it’s worked before. You have to aim for making it work better or bigger or more profitably.
5. The pride I have in my partners and my staff. Your firm is only as good as your team. And Marcum’s team is outstanding if I do say so myself. Enough said.
6. Providing meaningful career paths for the next generation. I remember what it was like to join a firm as a newbie, and I get a huge kick out of seeing our new recruits infiltrating the board rooms and the cafeteria whenever we do a training session. We conduct our training programs in our Melville office on Long Island, where I spend a couple of days a week. The new hires fly in from all over the country a few times a year, and you pick up snippets of conversations in the hallways and in the elevators. I’m humbled to be able to pay it forward by providing an opportunity for our industry’s future leaders.
7. The sense of accomplishment. When I look back on how far we’ve come in the past 24 years, I am extremely grateful and proud. It’s a wonderful thing to know that you’ve been part of building something with longevity and resilience.
8. The challenge of keeping it going. Staying on top of what’s working and what’s not; how to capitalize on new opportunities to continue to grow the Firm’s value to our clients and expand its brand equity is the name of the game. Always.
9. The satisfaction of keeping it going. It never gets old. Nurturing the Marcum brand to invest it with even more meaning and more value for our clients, our partners and our staff is still the reason I get out of bed every morning. At least Monday to Friday. What a great ride!
10. Jeans Fridays. No tie! Need I say more?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Julie Gross Gelfand contributed to this posting.