Thomas DeMott, Partner of DeMott & Smith

Thomas J. DeMott:

We Also Teach Life Lessons

Arranged and Edited by Joseph W. Norman

For more from Bigger Impact co-founder, Joseph Norman, visit www.normanized.com. 

Enjoy the read about...Tom DeMott...below! Thanks for your readership!

Tom DeMott is one of the most caring and generous individuals I have ever had the opportunity to meet. He is the founding partner of DeMott & Smith, PC, an accounting firm in Rochester, New York. Tom and his partner Stephen struck out together to create their firm in 1988 to better meet the needs of their clientele. A native of Rochester, Tom has been making his unique impact on the greater Rochester area his entire life. As the founding father of the Student Managed Investment Fund at SUNY Geneseo, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Tom. The following are excerpts from a lunch Tom and I had at one of his favorite eateries during tax time, TGI Fridays, located right next door to his office. He says that during the busy season, he does a client lunch everyday. I was fortunate to catch him on a beautiful, relaxing day in the off season. Without further adieu…

Joseph (JWN): Where are most of your clients, here in Rochester?

Tom: We have clients literally all over the world. A lot of our clients build relationships with me while work primarily here in Monroe County. Then they’ll transfer out to different states and because of our relationship we do business with them in other states, nations, and so on. So I have clients in all fifty of the states and several foreign countries now. Our business is a personal relationships one. We don’t just do tax returns, we establish relationships. Now, with email and faxing, we can be in touch quite easily. They can be anywhere in the world, but they’re still right here. I love it.

While speaking about the speed of society and the different ways to communicate, Tom began to discuss the new trends in communication and accountants and their writing abilities.

Tom: In terms of writing skills, accountants are notorious for being horrible with language and writing. Traditionally, accountants are terrible writers. Now, unfortunately, with text messaging and all of the emails, nobody can spell anymore. Everybody is using this new language. I get these emails from clients and I’m like, “What are they saying!?!” It is like a whole language. What happened out there? Everybody is moving so fast.

Regardless of what you do, you’ll always have to be able to communicate. You could be a great portfolio manager, but if you cannot communicate with your clients you limit the value you can add.

JWN: I’m curious, what is the short story?

Tom: I grew up in Rochester and graduated from St. John Fisher College in 1971. In those years you had to have two years experience before you could sit for the CPA. I was married in my senior year of college. It was a little bit different from young people today. When I graduated from college, I interviewed with many of the big eight national firms. I had this anxiety of getting stuck on the Xerox audit or the Eastman Kodak audit. But, my personality is such that that is not an environment I would thrive in.

When I interviewed, there was a firm in Rochester called J.K. Lasser which is now gone. It was a Rochester office of a national firm. So you had the blend of a national firm with the personal touch. I’m all about the personal touch. That’s who I am.

I did have offers from national firms, which I rejected. For me, it was a good choice. I have other friends who went to work for the big national firms, but the work they were doing was too impersonal for me. You’re dealing with an audit committee. You’re dealing with boards of directors and shareholders. It’s just the environment is not the personal environment. This firm (J.K. Lasser) gave me the opportunity to blend both. I excel at the personal relationship part.

JWN: Do you think these skills, technical and personal, developed as you were growing up?

Tom: It was probably just dumb luck. People ask me, “Why did you go into public accounting?” I say, well, I loved money. I had a passion for money. It was probably dumb luck. I really enjoyed accounting. It made sense to me. I liked the concept of working with individuals. Although, I didn’t really fully understand what public accounting was all about. So, it was probably 50% knowledge and 50% dumb luck.

Young people today focus on how much time they are going to get off, what their salary is going to be, etcetera. They are more focused on, “What am I going to receive?” In my opinion, they are more “me” oriented. Whereas when I started, I was the exact opposite. I didn’t really care what my salary was. I didn’t really care what my benefits were. I was a workhorse. I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about the industry.

There was a professor I had at Fisher who said to me, “Work as hard as you can, learn everything you can, be a sponge, and the money will come later. Never focus on the money aspect of it.” So, that’s what I did. I focused on building relationships and working very hard – I put in long hours. For me, it paid off. I learned everything I could possibly learn and I advanced very quickly. I was able to achieve, if you will, financial success and partnership status at an early age because of my work ethic.

I was at J.K. Lasser for two years and then one of the partners left for another local firm and said, “Why don’t you come with me?” It was a twelve to fifteen person firm, so I said, “Ok, I’ll do it.” I was there for fifteen years. It was at that firm where I really began to grow professionally and develop. In 1988 we (Stephen and Tom) left, to start our own firm.

JWN: So, Stephen worked with you at the other firm?

Tom: That was where we met. We met in 1975 when he began there. So, Steve and I have been together for 32 years. That’s a long time. But, if you were to look at our client base, you will see that our clients have been with me since I graduated from college. Now, if you think about that. These are clients that I had when I was at the former firm. They are clients that stayed with me through the merger with the other local firm. And, clients that stayed with me in ’88 when I left to go on my own. So, if you want to look at our client base and draw some conclusions you might ask, “Why would somebody stay with Tom from 1971 to 2007? That’s a long time.”

If you look at the age of these people, it will also tell you that they are now grandfathers whose children and grandchildren are my clients. It’s a powerful thing. It’s really more about establishing relationships where clients trust you and have a sense that you care about them as people. I mean that is what it is really all about. When you have that relationship, why would they leave you? They’re not going to leave.

If you think about it financially, most people think about an accounting firm as generating revenue and earning a living. But, if you really think about it, it is an annuity. If you have a client that pays you $10,000 a year, and they are your client for thirty years, then it is an annuity. And then there is inflation built in on that. So you’ve got this thirty year relationship where you are expanding the fees and expanding the client services. The value of a client is not $10,000 per year, the value of that client could be a half million or a million dollars. That is the goal and the clients pick up on that. They understand what we are all about.

Tom moved into his thoughts on business ownership, hard work and risk taking…

People get to where they get to and some people say, “Oh, he’s just a lucky guy.” But really, it’s all about hard work. The other key, especially to owning a business, is the ability to take risks. If you’re not a risk taker, there is no way you will ever succeed because you will be so focused on making a mistake and failing that you will never grow. You have to be willing to go into something which you know nothing about, take a risk, manage that risk, and grow. You are going to make mistakes. It is inevitable. But, you have to be a risk taker. If you’re cautious and conservative, you will never make it as an owner of a business. You’ll always be an employee.

JWN: What led you two to strike out on your own?

Tom: A passion to offer people something that they weren’t getting. The philosophy of how you practice is different from firm to firm. When young people are looking at colleges, I always say to them, “What is the culture?” Each school has a culture, and once you understand the culture, you will understand whether or not that is an environment you will do well in.

Well, every business has a culture too. The culture at my former firm wasn’t a culture that I felt was right for me and was right for the clients. So, I you have two choices in this situation. Choice A is you change the culture within. Or choice B is you leave and establish your own culture. They weren’t willing to change to what I wanted, so I left and created my own. And, it was probably the best decision I ever made.

Was it risky? Absolutely. You’re married; you’ve got children, mortgages, and all kinds of commitments. And, all the sudden you go from making a substantial salary to zero. It is like, “Oh God, what did I do?”

If I wasn’t a risk taker I would have backed away. But, the key is, you also have to manage the risk. You need to be able to sit down and figure out what the risk is and what you can do to manage it and minimize it as much as possible. So, you do that. Like I said, you put your head down, you work as hard as you can, you try to be honest and develop relationships with clients and the people you deal with and everything else will come.

On this note, Tom delved into his thoughts on friendliness and how he lives his life…

Tom: At this restaurant, it doesn’t take that much more effort to take a minute and greet the people that work here. Most people come to a restaurant, they sit down and want to be served. They eat and they leave. I take an extra minute to talk to the people here. I get to know them. I say, “Hello” and “How are you doing?”

It takes an extra minute or two out of your day to make a friend. There is no ulterior motive. It is just something that I enjoy doing. I enjoy making friends. So, I come in here today and Barb, (our hostess), says, “Hey, where have you been? I haven’t seen you.” That is because I take the time to establish a relationship with her. She’s not a business client, but she’s a person, so why not treat her with dignity and respect just like you want to be treated?

Some people have it backwards, they will be nice to people they have to be nice to because they want something from them. As opposed to, just be nice to everybody.

JWN: Please, tell me a little bit about your family.

Tom: I have five children. The youngest is 21 and the oldest is 31. You should read The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman. It is fascinating. It is an analysis of personalities and profiles if you are first born, middle, or last. It goes through this whole analysis and defines your personality based on this. And, when you’re reading it, generally it is not wrong. Sometimes if mom and dad have two children and the third one comes along ten years later, then there might be some deviations. But, if it is a traditional family and the kids are a year, two, three or four years apart, then it usually fits the mold.

Middle children typically are pleasers. Older children are typically less risk takers. They tend to be more focused on the sure thing. And, the last born are usually a little more care free and comedic. You know, have a good time, life is good, type of attitude. I don’t know how you fit into that…

I’m a middle child. But, there is a little difference with me because my brother is a couple years older, but my sister is nine years younger. So my case has a few tweaks to it.

JWN: What are some of your favorite foods?

Tom: I like all food. I mean if someone says, “What’s your favorite? That’s difficult because I basically like food.

JWN: Favorite candy bar?

Tom: I’m not big on candy, so I would say not really. Some people are compulsive; they have a book that they love, an artist that they follow, a food that they crave, or a favorite beer or drink. I’m probably the exact opposite of that. I don’t have a favorite artist, food, or candy bar. I don’t know why. It’s just not my thing. Maybe I’m unique in that way because I like to try different things. Maybe I’m a little more adventuresome.

We do a lot of traveling and we typically won’t go to the same place twice because I want to experience different parts of the world as opposed to constantly going back to the same place.

JWN: What are some of the interesting places you have traveled to?

Tom: Well this year we just got back from a trip. We went to seven countries; Russia, Poland, Astonia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. What I love is learning about the culture of the people, the food, and obviously the sites.

Now, my wife, who is a first born, when she goes into a restaurant she wants to order something she knows that is safe. Every restaurant I go into, I say to the waiter or waitress, “What is a typical food that the Danish people would eat for lunch or dinner?” And, they will bring me something I have never seen before. Now, in the Scandanavian countries their diet is focused around a lot of fish – a lot of herring and salmon – and potatoes. That is very popular.

When you go to the countries and you ask for what the locals eat, you see things on your plate that are unrecognizable. But, that is what I enjoy. I want to experience the culture of the people.

It is one thing to read about Russia; the culture and the people. There are countless books that you can read. But, then to go there and experience it…

There are a lot of places in our own country that I haven’t been to yet. So, my wife and I, we do maybe a couple trips a year. But, we try to blend seeing things in America, as well as Europe and elsewhere.

I am Italian. Both sides of my parents were all Italians, so if there was a favorite country or place that I feel most at home, it would be Italy. It is hard to describe it, but when I am in Italy, it feels like, “These are my people, this is my food, this is my culture, and this is where I came from.” When I go to Italy, I feel like I’m home. I don’t know why. I can’t describe it.

JWN: Do you have relatives in Italy?

I have some relatives; my father’s side was from south of Rome. We haven’t found any living
relatives there. My mother was from Sicily and we do have relatives in Sicily. Our next trip will probably be Sicily. We’re talking about a family trip to Sicily next year. Get my brother and sister – you know fifteen, twenty people – rent a villa and experience Sicily.

After discussing my planned trip to Ghana in October, Tom discussed his travel some more…

Tom: So far all of the places we’ve traveled to I haven’t had to take any crazy precautions. In all of our travels, we’ve never been to a country where I had to be concerned of health issues, or the food. And – knock on wood – we’ve never been to a culture where we’ve had any problems. Generally, if we go to a foreign country, we drink bottled water, just as a precaution. Nonetheless, I try to have “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities every year. That is what I enjoy.

Tom next moved into his outlook on life…

It’s funny. My kids, often refer to me as the Jolly Italian, because my focus on life is to have fun.

When you’re working there is a serious side of life; where you’ve got to do whatever it is you need to do in whatever business you’re in. And, that requires a certain amount of diligence and hard work. I do focus on that, but I try to the best I can, whether it is in the office or at home, to have an upbeat attitude and to go into something and say, “Look it, let’s make this a fun experience.”

A lot of times clients will come out of my office, new clients especially, and say, “I thought that was going to be a horrible experience, but that was fun. I enjoyed that.”

If a client comes in with a horrible problem, you can say to them, “The world is coming to an end. This is a terrible problem.” Or, you can say, “You know something, I’ve seen this before and this is not cancer. This is something we can fix. Yeah, you can take a financial hit or whatever the situation might entail, but we can cure this. We can get to the other side of it and we’ll do it together.” It is an attitude of how you react.

If a child is on the floor and a toy or something falls and hits them on the head or they slip and fall, the first thing the child will do is look to the parents for a reaction. If the parents go nuts, they’ll start crying. Or, if the parents kind of ignore it, they’ll think, ”Gee, mom and dad aren’t reacting so I must be okay.”

When our kids were small, we used to spend our summers on Canisius Lake. And I remember one time, one of my sons slipped off the dock and fell into the water and was beginning to panic. I was next to him, and instead of panicking I walked away from him. It was Mark, and he was about four or five at the time. He had a life jacket on because they had to wear lifejackets. All the sudden he realized that dad was walking away from him and he was wondering, “What is going on here?” Then he realized that he could stand up because he was in about two feet of water, so he was really fine.

It’s all about how you react to situations. Some people tend to react negatively. I tend to react a little more positively. It puts the client at ease and it makes the situation bearable. The client leaves thinking, “Oh, that wasn’t so bad. Maybe I was worrying more than I should have been worrying.” Nobody functions well when they are in panic mode. You function best when you are relaxed.

I’m sure you have people you know that whenever you talk to them it is always like, “Ohhhhh.” They always have this negativeness. So it is like, I don’t want to talk to you. And there are other people that when you pick up the phone or you greet them, they’re happy and smiling. So, you want to be with them.

Positive people live positive lives. It doesn’t mean that in life there isn’t a certain amount of problems. You’re always going to encounter problems in life. You can’t avoid them; whether it is in business, in your personal life, or with your children. Something negative is always going to happen. But it is about how you react to the situation. I like to say, “Let’s look at it and figure out what is it we need to do to go from where we are to where we need to be. Let’s focus our energy there because it doesn’t do us any good to focus energy on fretting about it.”

JWN: Do you have any other tips on coping with negative experiences?

Tom: The other thing I try to do is a mechanism I call stuffing. Some people say compartmentalizing. If there is a situation that is out of my control…for example, I have a brother-in-law that is going through a horrible battle with cancer right now. My sister is dealing with this and my sister is traumatized and her children are traumatized. It is a very difficult situation. When I’m talking to my sister it is very emotional for me and it is very difficult. But, after I’m finished talking with her, I can still have a good day because I can’t control his cancer. I can pray for him and I can support the family, but I can’t cure him, so I don’t let it affect my day.

You may have parents, relatives or friends that have something difficult going on in their lives. These are people close to you that are in some ways threatened. You can still help them and learn how to stuff it. You don’t let it take you down with it.

That is how I live my life. To the extent I can, I try to look at the negative things in life and say, “Is there anything I can do to make it better?” If there is, I do it. And, if there isn’t, I say, “There is nothing I can do about it, so I’m not going to let it take me down.”

P.S. Fresh content at www.normanized.com. Check it out! <<<--- i="i">

Thomas J. DeMott

CPA & Partner

DeMott & Smith, PC

100 White Spruce Boulevard

Rochester, New York 14623

Phone: 585.272.9880

Email: tdemott@demottsmith.com

Letter from the Editor

Life and Times of JWN

Road Trips: The Spice of Life I love to travel. Many of you may travel for work or for pleasure on a regular basis. At times it may be frustrating or expensive, long or filled with challenges, but there is something, to me, about getting out and mixing up the routine we may settle into in our daily lives. Here are some of my accounts and a few observations about the classic road trip. This week brought a few different excursions from my humble abode in Geneseo, New York, across most of the state and back. On Tuesday, as mentioned last week, I ventured to White Plains, New York with my mother to see my older brother, Chris Norman, get recognized for his achievements at the New York - Presbyterian Hospital. (Click here to read Chris's VIP Profile featured last week). The trip was a bit frenzied, but great. I buzzed home to Kirkwood, NY, Monday evening after a substantial day of activities, arriving to a comfortable bed at 14 Valley Vista Court at 11:30 PM. Tuesday started early with the trip down to White Plains, arriving at the hospital at about 2:15 PM. After the ceremony, Mama Norman and I took Chris to dinner and then made our way back to Kirkwood, arriving at about 10 PM. I awoke at 4:30 AM the next day to get back to Geneseo to catch my 8:30 AM class; the heavily berated academic time slot of the college student. (I'm a morning person though, so it doesn't phase me too much). You may be wondering, "Joseph, how did you manage your academics?" Thanks to my digital recorder and some good friends, I just recorded the lessons. Two places at once? Not a problem. Friday, I partook in a classic college road trip; a 17 hour trek to SUNY Cortland to visit my housemate Shane Zanetti's brother Jake. We packed the car to the gills with people, jamming five of us in Shane's little Audi, and rocked and rolled to Cortland from 8 PM Friday to 9:30 AM Saturday. The trip involved four hours on the road, little sleep, much socializing, and an inordinate amount of pizza. Quite simply, it was incredible. Now, why am I telling you all of these travel stories? It all comes back to my observation in the beginning, there is something about a few spur of the moment trips that reinvigorate you by taking you out of the norm. NOTABLE: On your next trip, whether it is for business or pleasure, don't think of it as an obligation, but rather an adventure. This simple change in mind set will make the experience much more fulfilling. In this life our attitude and our word choice shape our reality on the world. If we insist on seeing and speaking about things in a positive light then laughter will pervade our conversations and joy will set foot in our hearts. Some Norman Style Travel Tips: 1) If you're caught in the airport, pick up a book in the bookstore and expand your mind. The Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles concept was inspired from a book (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Black Book of Connections) that I took time to read in the Atlanta, Georgia airport on my way back from a national leadership conference in Austin, Texas last fall. Had I not been laid over, I might not be writing to you right now. 2) To make traveling fun, bring a friend. If you can't find somebody to go with, give me a call! The shared experience of traveling together often creates not only a great story, but usually a nice bond between the participants. This is especially true when you're driving to the destination. Remember: Don't think of travel as an obligation, but rather an adventure. The challenges it will inevitably provide are simply opportunities in disguise. Make the most of them! Happy trails, ~JWN

Harry Howe, Professor of Accounting

Harry Howe:
A True Renaissance Man

Arranged and edited by Joseph W. Norman

For more from Bigger Impact co-founder, Joseph Norman, visit www.normanized.com. 

Enjoy the read about...Harry Howe...below! Thanks for your readership!

Dr. Harry Howe is a well respected academic and leader in the SUNY Geneseo and Accounting community. However, his work as Professor and Coordinator of Accounting for the Jones School of Business is just one piece of a man with a truly unique set of experiences. Growing up in a loving family outside of Boston, Harry and his four siblings learned the importance of a diverse knowledge base. In turn, all became voracious readers and interestingly enough all ended up in one of the many forms of “education.” Below you will find Harry’s stories of his work as a father, husband, sculptor, contractor, business owner, and professor. Enjoy!

Joseph (JWN): I’m curious Dr. Howe, where did you grow up and what were some of your experiences in New York City?

Harry Howe (HH): I grew up outside of Boston. Went to school in New England (Brown University), and originally went down to New York City to pursue a career as a sculptor. I did that pretty seriously for about eight years. The big factor that really changed the way I looked at the world was having my first child and then my second child. That perpetuates a lot of changes and perception. So, I had always done a certain amount of construction work to put bread on the table. It is unbelievably common in any area of the arts in New York City to have something other than the arts to provide a livelihood.

I like the freedom that working in construction gives you over your own time. You could contract and do some kind of a job, work really hard at it for a few weeks and then have a few weeks or a few months to pursue something in the studio. It was kind of a nice balance and along the way I picked up a fair amount of knowledge about different building trades and putting things together.

I did commercial interior build outs for largely commercial clients, we did some high end retail client work, but largely offices, showrooms and things like that. I did that for about ten or twelve years, until it came time to move on and try something else.

JWN: What led you into running your own construction company?

HH: It was a logical outgrowth of what I did. I knew how to put the product together and it became more and more common for me to hire people to do some parts of it. Certainly, once earning a bit more of a living and putting aside resources for a growing family became a much more important thing to do, running the business became logical.

I really enjoyed it. It was an endlessly fascinating collection of people that you ran into both from the client and contractor side. I’m really glad that I’m doing something else at this point in my life, but there were a lot of pretty good years and interesting experiences I had there.

As a true student of his many pursuits, the conversation of Harry’s construction business moved into some history of New York City buildings and architecture.

First, the Empire State Building…

HH: That’s an amazing building. One of the little items of New York City social history that I always love about the Empire State Building is that there is a big plaque showing the names of all the master mechanics. You can read a lot into the social history of construction. The Irish stone masons, the Italian terrazzo and metal workers; the trades were mostly dominated by those two. There was a master wrecker who took down the Bellmore Hotel which had been on the location of the Empire State Building. Dmitri Kozlov was his name. I think of him as this kind of mad Jewish Russian destroying the building or something. You can see this plaque in the lobby of the building which is kind of a minor masterpiece of Art Deco architecture down there.

Next, onto the geography of Manhattan…

HH: You have that kind of valley between the villages and lower Manhattan. There is a guy named Carl Condit who was a historian, not so much of architecture but of buildings. One of his books discusses the role of New York City as a port city and a natural hub for communication and transportation. One of the specific factors he looks at is the underlying geology of the city. It is no accident that you have a really big central business district in lower Manhattan and a huge central business district in Midtown Manhattan and everything else is quite a bit lower in terms of rise. It has a lot to do with just how far below the surface the load baring Manhattan schist is.

JWN: You have a wide variety of interests. I’m curious what sparks all of these diverse passions? Were they the product of how you grew up?

HH: I think an awful lot of curiosity comes into play. I certainly credit my parents for nurturing a great sense of curiosity. We’re all great readers. I’m one of five children, and in one sense or another we all grew up to be educators. My sister was a teacher for many years, two of my brothers are journalists, and my other brother has been Chief Information Officer for a couple of high tech companies. He was also Commissioner of Public Utilities for Massachusetts for a while. Each of these roles has something to do with informing the public or some constituency about some particular set of issues.

I think a lot of that just comes from vigorous after dinner discussions growing up. The conversation was always pretty free wheeling. Not too many topics were off bounds. Although, more than once my mother would say from her end of the table, “Can we please raise the level of conversation?!?” When you have four boys and a sister, you can imagine that things can get a little out of control.

The conversation moved into some of my own diverse set of pursuits, leading Dr. Howe to respond as follows…

HH: A few things I would like to respond to in what you’re saying is the interest and willingness to combine language and communication skills with numerical and quantitative reasoning. Many people become somewhat phobic. If they are good at one, they reject the other. Interestingly, I think it is more often the quantitatively capable people who feel the freedom to explore communication. If you ever read Scientific American, you realize there are a lot of scientists out there that are very good writers. And, for a lot of reasons that probably include a certain amount of politics, people who have gravitated towards the humanities tend to be a little suspicious about numbers in general - and finance and economic matters in particular - which I think is pretty regrettable.

One thing I have seen on an anecdotal basis is that the two best conditions to come from if you’re serious about making a pot of money are to start out with a whole lot of it or to start out with very little of it. It’s probably a little better to start out with a little bit of it. I have done my own thinking about this set of issues, but it didn’t happen until several years later in life.

JWN: What are some of your other interests? I know you have dabbled in hiking and rock climbing.

HH: I haven’t had much time at all for the rock climbing in quite a while, but that is a great example of something I was very passionate about for a number of years. It was a lot easier to get to really good climbing venues when I lived further back east in the state. I was about a five or six hour drive from the New Paltz area which is a really great climbing area. You need to be spending a fare amount of time doing it, and I find myself at Geneseo spending a fare amount of time doing a lot of stuff that is around here. But, I really love climbing.

I still try to get a fare amount of hiking, walking, and bicycling in to stay active. I read an awful lot. And, then I find that I am very involved with many things around campus. Right here in the Jones School of Business I am busy coordinating the Accounting program, but over the last four or five years I have taught a freshman seminar.

I think that is a great opportunity for the students to experience a small classroom environment and hopefully learn some of the benefits of speaking up and getting involved in a class. Something I expect you don’t have much of a problem with, but many students are reluctant to do that. So the idea of a small seminar, I think, is a great addition to the kind of things we do at Geneseo.

It is a great opportunity for the faculty to explore something that might be out of the main line of their academic employment. So, for two years I taught a seminar on some of the philosophical arguments underlying capitalism. We largely used a short book by Milton Freidman, but we brought in a few other readings as well.

I did a course one year on high tech accidents; sort of looking at the costs and benefits of a variety of complex systems. There is a great book by a sociologist named Charles Perrow called Normal Accidents. His thesis is that there are certain kinds of systems which by their very nature – of complexity and the fact that a number of processes are tightly coupled - it is all but inevitable that you will experience accidents. And yet, these tend to be exactly the kind of things we rely on in modern society for power, for transportation of goods, for air travel and all the rest of that. So that was a pretty interesting class to teach.

Last year and this year again, I am co-teaching a seminar on slavery as it has existed all over the world in different cultures. I’m doing that with a friend of mine in the Philosophy department, Dave Levy. He is a seriously bright guy. It is a lot of fun to have a colleague like Dave who is just so quick at picking things up and has such a disciplined mind, but a really great sense of humor too.

I have been a member of the All Campus Judicial Committee for about ten years at this point. I think the thing I most value about that is the opportunity to understand a little bit more about what goes on in the life of students. We get to see students about two and a half hours in the classroom each week usually. And, there are another 165 and a half hours out there where they are doing something. Although the judicial committee involves somebody who has gotten in some sort of trouble and has made some poor decisions, understanding what went into that and the kinds of things that go on throughout the campus is a really useful reference for anyone who teaches here. And, occasionally there are opportunities to exercise some really good judgment. In some cases, I have felt very strongly about dismissing the student.

On a happier note, I am faculty advisor for a couple of Greek organizations. Zeta Beta Zi, which is a fraternity with many good brothers, and the APO service organization. I have also volunteered for a number of political discussions and faculty dining events. There are a lot of ways to be involved with other people in this community. You have much opportunity to get to know people outside of your department and hopefully contribute something. It has been a great life.

JWN: Now, I know you went to Union College for your graduate education, so what brought you to Geneseo?

HH: Well, the job. I had wanted to stay in the New York State area. I had a couple of job possibilities in other parts of the country and then here in Geneseo. The guy who was largely in charge of the Ph.D. program knew somebody here at Geneseo and had a good feel for the place. He said, “Harry, you should look at this. I think it might be exactly the right place for you.” So, I came up here and met a few people and interviewed here in the winter of 1995. I really liked what I saw. I was absolutely thrilled when I got the phone call from the then head of the School of Business making the formal job offer. In fact, I recall exactly where I was when I was speaking on the telephone.

Later that night, I ran into a former professor of mine, an Austrian guy who was a really great statistician. I said, “Joseph, I’ve got some good news. I’ve just been offered a job at Geneseo.” I remember his reaction, he said, “Oh, that’s good Harry. Those guys are competition for Union.”

But, it is a really wonderful college. I think it took me not all that long to realize what a good fit it is and that is not an uncommon reaction. If you look around campus and you see how long a number of people have been here, there is a reason for that. There are some very capable and accomplished people who wouldn’t have much problem being a whole lot of other places. They just get the value proposition about what this place is all about. We have a pretty interesting slice of students from all over New York State.

JWN: And, what is that value proposition?

HH: I think if you look at Geneseo from a strategic point of view, one way you can slice it is to say that there are a certain number of bright, college capable kids that come from family backgrounds which make it almost inevitable that they will go to some private college here in New York State or somewhere else. And then there are all the other bright, capable, college bound students. I think that virtually all of those kids will give a serious look to Geneseo, unless they are absolutely driven to be in a particular geographic area or they are allergic to snow or something. I think we have a pretty good draw from all over the state and that creates a pretty interesting balance.

I have a lot of friends and a lot of satisfaction in what I do. I really believe in the program and I am happy that I ended up in a place that I really enjoy being at. It strikes me as awful to be someplace that you hate or don’t like. I see a certain amount of that at conferences I go to. But, we have in addition to good students, a very collegial department. There are not a whole lot of politics or backbiting, which unfortunately is pretty common in a lot of academia. We are very fortunate to have good leadership in the Jones School of Business. Mary Ellen (Dean Mary Ellen Zuckerman, VIP) has done a great job.

In any large organization you are going to have fracture lines, but that makes life interesting. As a public liberal arts college, we are lucky to have someone like Chris (SUNY Geneseo President, Christopher Dahl, VIP) who is just such a good spokesperson for the ideal of what a public liberal arts college is all about - making that opportunity available to bright capable kids on a meritocratic basis. It is a good thing.

JWN: I’m curious, who are some people who may have inspired you or been big influences on you throughout your career, personally or professionally?

HH: Well, certainly great teachers. I was fortunate, I think, that in each of the schools I went to I had a number of really dedicated and caring teachers. And, cumulatively they make a huge impact.

I think of Dave Burling in Junior High School who was a wonderful American History teacher. He had us reading Supreme Court cases in seventh grade.

Fred Tramolo, at Exeter, who was a legendary English teacher, and someone who would just spend hours working with you on something you were writing and pretty fearlessly tear something down if it needed to be torn down.

Richard Fishman is a sculptor I worked with a lot at Brown. I think I learned an awful lot about the process of thinking about an unstructured problem from Richard. That is a fungible skill which applies to a lot of different endeavors. He also had a great openness to a lot of different ways to looking at something with great curiosity. And, also a real pride at being an adept mechanic. So, I learned a lot about welding and perfectionism from Richard.

Don Arnold and Jeff Lippitt, two really important Accounting teachers I had at Union, which helped me get through a Ph.D. program and set a course for where I wanted to go.

Teachers have an amazing and unexpected series of effects on us.

JWN: What is your definition of success? What is it that you want your students to take away from the classes you teach?

HH: I think the best definition of success is being able to do something that you really love doing. And, if you can help other people achieve that type of success, it is really sort of “success squared.” I have done a lot of different things over the years and I have to say, for the most part I really enjoyed those things. There is hard work in parts of any job that is less attractive and some of the obvious glamour items. But, when you wrap it all together and make a decision on whether or not you enjoyed doing it.

I got tremendous satisfaction out of really working hard as a sculptor. Ultimately, it didn’t go where I thought I wanted it to go, but it was very absorbing at the time.

I had an awful lot of satisfaction out of being a good construction mechanic. I’m probably the only tenured member of the Geneseo faculty who has a six inch soil cracker in the basement and knows how to use it to create a complete drainage, waste, and vent system for new construction. I was a pretty good plumber, a more than adequate electrician, a good framing carpenter, but I was not somebody who you would want to have tiling for you.

Running a small business is unbelievably absorbing and for the most part a satisfying thing to do. There is an awful lot of friction and conflict, but when you walk onto a site and see a couple dozen people doing something and a tremendous amount of change happening every day, you really get a kick out of it.

And then what I have been doing at Geneseo for the last twelve plus years has been an intensely satisfying thing to do. The idea that graduates from our program can leave here at age 22 and be on a track to become a respected professional is great. They are immediately able to move into a place of their own and develop that way. To think of young people having knowledge in professional preparation to deal with people that are really twice as old as they are and from a position of power and a certain amount of knowledge is a neat thing to think about.

Ultimately, I think accounting is an essential part of running a market based economic system. If you are going to have property rights you need people to understand what the property actually is; to measure it, to record it, and be able to communicate about it. You can believe as a lot of people do that property rights are not only an inherent right in themselves, but are the foundation of a whole lot of other liberties and rights. That is something that I think I have picked up from my father, who was a contract lawyer, over the years. He spent most of his life practicing law.

JWN: What did your mother do?

HH: She raised five kids and then went back to work after my youngster brother went off to college. She started working as a secretary at Wellesley College and ended up becoming a departmental secretary. I have a much better understanding from the last ten or twelve years of just what that job entailed, how incredibly important it was, and how forbearing she had to be for a lot of academic pre-Madonnas, and just how much she brought to the job. There is a lovely bench on the campus in memory of her. She died quite unexpectedly at age seventy, the first year I came to Geneseo. But she was a richly loved and respected member of the Wellesley community.

The five of us span a total of about thirteen years and she just did an awful lot of things for all of us. Whether it was taking us over to hang out with all of our cousins, her sister, my aunt, has seven kids, and all of us grew up as one big extended family. We did a lot of family trips and outings. We would go to museums, theatres, concerts, parties, and discussions and things.

She had a pretty good sense of humor. She had her honors diploma from Smith College hung up over the washing machine in the basement. She was of that generation where no matter how bright or educated you were, it was a very normal thing for a woman to stay home and be a housewife. We were really lucky.

JWN: What are some of your career goals over the not too distant future?

HH: A lot of my personal goals are wrapped up in the success of the Accounting program. I really believe in what it does both for the students that go through it and for society in general. It’s a challenging time across the board in education. There are a lot of specific things we need to do to continue to be a leading program. We have a relatively new masters program that really everyone in the School of Business has come together to help create and support in one way or another. I have been director of that for the past several years.

I think we are making really good progress in growing the kinds of courses we really need to have and getting the kinds of resources we need. I see that as really being a successful and valuable adornment to what is already a good foundation in accounting education.

I think the success of the program is first and foremost in my mind, but I have a number of things that I have been writing as well. One of my efforts will be coming out in book format in the coming months. One is ready to go to the editor for serious review and one is not too far along, but one effort is going to be quite possibly the most comprehensive treatment of a subject on planet Earth. I take a bit of satisfaction in that.

JWN: What is your favorite candy bar?

HH: I guess, when I get a hold of it, a good old fashioned Hershey bar is not the worst thing in the world by a long shot. And, Cadbury I remember used to make some pretty good milk chocolate. I don’t pretend to any great sophistication in my choice of candy bar, so both of those are good solid products that I am happy to endorse.

JWN: What are some favorite books?

HH: I have loads of favorite books, but three that occur to me right now, because you and I share an interest in finance are as follows. First, is the New Financial Capitalists by Baker and Smith. This particular book is a short history of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and an explanation of the leveraged buyout movement. The first couple chapters provide a careful and thoughtful treatment of the role finance capitalism plays in an orderly economy. This is an area that a lot of Americans are sensitive about. If people don’t understand finance, there is a tendency to assume the worst about what business people are actually doing. When you look at the history of how value is created you really start to appreciate the creative role that thoughtful allocation of capital to new and emergent businesses brings to the table.

Another is a book by Charles Kindleberger called Manias, Panics, and Crashes. It is a topology of bubbles in various markets, whether it is natural resources, comic books, credit, or tulip bulbs. What is great about that book is that it is not only good history, but it presents the understanding that human psychology and passions are really the story of all of these manias, panics, and crashes. There is a tendency to get excited about things and lose all sense of proportion and kind of divorce valuation from fundamentals. And that brings me to the third book…

Any person who is at all interested in finance and investing should read at least part of the first edition of Benjamin Graham’s Security Analysis. Graham pioneered the concept of value investing on the realization that once you peeled away the emotional reaction a lot of people had in securities, there was tremendous cash flow potential in any of these abused issues. For somebody to come up with that insight and to argue as forcefully as he did about a rational plan of investment, I think, was an interesting act of moral courage in 1934. You can certainly see the impact that his approach had on the world, not only from his own success, but from his star pupil’s, Warren Buffett.

P.S. Fresh content at www.normanized.com. Check it out! <<<--- i="i">

Dr. Harry Howe

Associate Professor / Coordinator of Accounting

SUNY Geneseo

Jones School of Business

South 107

Phone: 585.245.5465

Email: howeh@geneseo.edu

Letter from the Editor

Life and Times of JWN

Make Yourself Known As aforementioned in previous issues of the "Life and Times of JWN," I have a sincere desire to travel the world and motivational speak about my variety of interests, philosophies, and best practices. I am pleased to inform you this week that I booked my first speaking engagement. On October 9, 2007, I will be the Keynote Speaker at the Future Business Leaders of America District Conference held at my Alma Mater, Windsor Central High School. Thanks to my friend Mary Jo Wardell, business teacher at Windsor, advisor to Windsor's FBLA Chapter, and coordinator of the event, I have been given a great opportunity. At the event I will open the conference with my thoughts and later lead a workshop on leadership for high school students from all over Central New York. I am thrilled about the opportunity. This leads to my thoughts on a topic I toil over quite a bit: How do you get yourself known? I have read extensively on this topic and some of my favorite advice and inspiration for action, which I will share with you today, comes from Jeffrey Gitomer, a traveling speaker, salesman, and author, whose books take up quite a bit of space on my bookshelf. He taught me that it's not about who you know, but who knows you. In order to make yourself known you need to put yourself in front of as many people as possible. Just getting there is one step, but Making a POWERFUL Impact, is the next step. (Click here for my article on that subject). Being seen as an expert on a subject is quintessential to maximizing your time in the "limelight." A few ways to get in front of people: 1) Write an article for a publication, no matter how big or small it is. This will make you known amongst your peers as an expert on whatever you write about. If you don't know who to write for, create your own publication for your friends, family, and associates. That's what Ben and I did! 2) Speak at an organized event, again, no matter how big or small it is. Public speaking is one of the most feared activities, but also the most productive in terms of personal marketing. Get out of your comfort zone and go after it! 3) GET INVOLVED! When you take the chance to get involved with an organization focused on something your passionate about, you immediately move your level of "who knows you" higher. KEY HINT: Don't just show up to meetings, take on a leadership role and put yourself in front of the organization. 4) Join Team VIP! Send us an article on someone who inspires you or something you are passionate about. We would be happy to feature it in a future publication. The key is to put yourself in front of people, no matter the capacity, because when you are in the front, people want to meet you. It is much easier to make a meaningful connection with somebody when you first inspire them to connect with you. Learning, understanding, and implementing these principles has already paid great dividends for me and will continue to well into the future. I am happy to share them with you, so they may affect your life in a positive way. Just living the dream, ~JWN

Christopher J. Norman

Christopher J. Norman:

“The Norman Brothers’ Equalizer”

As told to Joseph W. Norman

Christopher Norman is my brother and dear friend. He is an individual I have the utmost respect for both as a Health Care Professional and as a human being. Growing up with Chris and observing him pursue his passions – singing and acting especially – inspired some of my own pursuits in these fields at an early age. In turn, I found much fulfillment and learned much about myself through these endeavors.

Chris is considered the equalizer in the Norman household because he can always ground our oldest brother Jack and me in some harsh, cold reality with his sarcastic wit. You will see evidence of such flare in the following question and answer session. His wonderful sense of humor always makes him a pleasure to be around.

Chris possesses a patience that some may say is Job-like. This has served him extremely well in his capacity as Associate Director of the Children’s Unit (soon to be AD of the Geriatrics’ Unit) at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. In fact, on September 11, 2007, I will be traveling with my mother to Westchester, New York to see Chris be recognized at an awards ceremony for his exemplary service at the NYPH. He is already being nationally recognized for his work just three years into his tenure at the hospital.

It is my pleasure to feature Chris in the Notable and Newsworthy: VIP Profiles this week because his unique skill set, tremendous character, and passion for life have been both educational and inspirational for me. I’m sure I speak for my oldest brother Jack as well when I say Chris is one of the most honorable individuals I know. Please, enjoy reading his story and his thoughts on life. ~JWN

VIP: Give us the short story. (Briefly explain your family, education, work experience, etcetera).

Chris: Born in Pennsylvania, I was raised in what I now consider “upstate” New York, in the small town of Kirkwood. I have two brothers - one older, one younger. (Go ahead, insert the “middle-kid insecurity” joke of your choice.) During the formative years, I attended school in the Windsor Central School District. Upon graduation, I was ranked fifth in my class and had maintained the position of Class President three years running. I had also been involved in everything from Spring Musicals (which I enjoyed and was good at) to Cross Country (which I enjoyed but was never good at). I left home for college at SUNY Geneseo, knowing I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare; whether as a veterinarian or doctor, I wasn’t sure. Initially I pursued a Biology major (Pre-Med) but eventually converted to Psychology (while continuing Pre-Med), a decision I have never regretted. My medical school aspirations wavered over my years at Geneseo, and upon graduation it was a conscious decision to not jump right into graduate study, but rather gain some work experience. In addition to several resumes all over the state, I also applied (on a long-shot) for a very competitive Volunteer Summer Internship at the Westchester Division of New York-Presbyterian Hospital (an acute care psychiatric facility). I was selected for it – working as a Nurse’s Aide on the elderly patient unit – I loved it, and thus have made a life for myself in the “downstate” New York area for the past three years. I presently serve as the Associate Director of the Children’s Unit at NYPH – Payne Whitney Westchester, with transfer pending back to the Geriatric Unit. I am also a full-time student (again!) at Dominican College, currently enrolled in the Weekend Accelerated Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing Program, with aspirations to higher education in Nursing. Between work and school, the annotated version of my life is that I have none.

Chris at home in Kirkwood, NY, celebrating Christmas in one of his favorite outfits, sweatpants and a sweatshirt

VIP: What are some interesting things you have ever received or given as gifts?

Chris: I took great pride in the chintzy necklaces I used to buy my Mom from neighborhood garage sales…and because she was the amazing woman she was in the capacity of Mom, she accepted them, thanked me graciously, and even ventured to wear them on occasion. Looking back, I have to believe her excitement upon receiving these gifts was a total illusion because these baubles truly were tacky, but she made sure that I knew she loved them, and I’ll never forget that feeling of appreciation and pride for doing something nice for her.

VIP: With your current efforts, personal and professional, what is the impact you try to have on people on a daily basis? (Or, when you leave a room, what is it you want people to be saying or feeling because of Christopher Norman?)

Chris: Growing up, my Dad always told us: “Love what you do and everything else will fall into place.” I enjoy a great deal of passion and pride in what I do at NYPH – from the administrative work to the direct patient care – and perhaps subsequently, there have only been a few days where I’ve felt like I have a “job”. Especially in my professional life, I choose to live by example. Change starts with feeling good about yourself and how you decide to interact with the world. With my coworkers and my patients, I try to maintain a positive outlook, serve as a source of empathy, give importance to everyone, and just be available to help out however I can to facilitate success – whether that is making it through the day or through the next half hour.

VIP: What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?

Chris: My patience, empathy, and open-mindedness are the qualities on which I pride myself the most. I am also my own worst critic, sometimes bite off more than I can chew, and have difficulty not “taking my work home with me” if I’ve had a rough day.

VIP: What are some of your pet peeves?

Chris: People’s use of the word “tolerance” in reference to things that are different from what they are accustomed to. To me, tolerance implies a kind of obligation to “put up” with change, or a different perspective, or whatever, and does not connote an actual acceptance of difference.

VIP: What are some of your hobbies?

Chris: I love to sing, whether it be in the car, the shower, or on stage. At Geneseo, I had the honor of performing with the Geneseo Chamber Singers, and recently (following an audition) I have been invited to join a local community choir – the Greenwich Choral Society – which I’m looking forward to immensely. Otherwise, I’m an avid reader - mostly of textbooks, but also of philosophy, fantasy, and self-help - movie-goer, and beach bum. I also love to travel, whether by car, train, bus, or flight; I take just as much enjoyment in my destination as I do in getting there. I also enjoy going to Broadway shows, art exhibits, and local plays.

VIP: Who are three people, from any time period, that you would like to meet?

Chris: I’d like to have known my maternal and paternal grandfathers: Louis Jack Norman (The Original) and Ralph Stickle. Grandpa Norman passed away before I was born, and my recollections of Grandpa Stickle are only vague and mostly from old photographs. From my parent’s recounts, they would have been interesting gentlemen to know better. Otherwise, it would be a true honor to meet Florence Nightingale (“Flo”, as Professor Stanley refers to her) – considered to be the Founder of Nursing. Her compassion and perseverance to affect so much change for the better in the lives of her patients…I feel like it would be incredible not only to speak with her but to just watch her practice.

VIP: What is some advice you would give a student in college or one that just graduated from college?

Chris: Don’t feel like you need to have everything figured out when you graduate. You will get SO many ideas thrown at you during college, it’s a great opportunity for self-evaluation - to get a better idea of who you are and what might make you happy. Don’t be afraid to look at yourself and ask the hard questions: “What am I doing in this major? What am I getting out of this experience?” I think too many people get locked into a major and then a consequent job and then end up unhappy because they were afraid to change their minds somewhere along the way. More often than not, life happens…just go with it, and keep your eyes open.

VIP: What are some attributes of a good leader?

Chris: In my opinion, open-mindedness, acceptance, charisma, flexibility, optimism, and passion all make for a good leader.

VIP: Some quick ones; favorite candy bar, food, movies, books, sports, quotes?

Chris: I love a good Nutrageous bar and consider myself a connoisseur of the cheeseburger. I love romantic comedies and often cry like a prepubescent girl during them…though conversely, I love action movies with fast cars and well-done fight scenes; cold, cheap beer, and a Sunday afternoon football game when the leaves are starting to turn. Lots of quotes have made me stop and think, but the one that has always stuck with me is the Golden Rule: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You. Good words to live by, in my opinion.

Christopher J. Norman

Associate Director of Children’s Unit

New York Presbyterian Hospital – Payne Whitney Westchester

Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing Candidate

Dominican College

Work Email: chn9009@nyp.org

Personal Email: oinkamaroo@yahoo.com

Cell: 607.743.8570

Letter from the Editor

Life and Times of JWN

What's your score? NOTABLE: I would first like to congratulate my friends Mark Rusin and Kathryn Hack on their marriage last Friday. I had the pleasure of attending the ceremony at The Lodge in Skaneateles Falls, New York. Best wishes Mr. and Mrs. Rusin. Now, after doing some personal financial research this week, I would like to urge all of you to go check your credit score. If you already do this on a consistent basis (you can receive a free report every six months), then GREAT JOB! But, for many people, they don't have a clue. I came across freecreditreport.com about a month and a half ago thanks to my brother Jack. Currently, I use the service to stay abreast of what is working for and against my credit score. The neatest thing about the service to me is that it runs an electronic scan of my report on a daily basis and emails me when something changes; i.e. an inquiry from an agency, a new account, etc. This is invaluable information, because it also gives you tips on how you can improve your credit. My score is 734. The primary things negatively impacting me are a lack of longevity in accounts (over three years is the desired range) and a relatively low total credit limit. Your score is created from a multitude of factors which help agencies determine your financial reliability. In life, your score matters because it can get you cheaper interest rates on credit cards and loans. It can also be pulled by your landlord. Either way, at the end of the day, IT SAVES YOU MONEY! You can literally save thousands on the mortgage on your home if you take the time to manage your credit score periodically. ACTION PLAN: Get your score from one of the three credit agencies; Experian, Transunion, or Equifax. IT IS FREE!!! Freecreditreport.com uses a subsidiary of Experian, so that is the agency you get your report from using that service. That is my personal finance rant for the week. Get out there and take control of your financial future. What better way to start then by getting your credit score and learning how to make it better? In other news: Senior year at Geneseo is starting well - finally getting organized so I can rock its world. Also, I'm enjoying a three day weekend. Happy Labor Day all. Respectfully yours and... Always my best, ~JWN