Five Questions With: David Almonte

"What I learned most from the other participants at the leadership academy was that we are all different and that is what makes each one of us great."

David Almonte is a senior accountant at LGC+D, where he specializes in traditional audits and reviews, as well as employee-benefit-plan audits.
This year, he was chosen to participate in the American Institute of CPAs 2014 Leadership Academy, which was held in Durham, N.C. over five days this fall. During the intensive five-day program, participants learned strategic-planning techniques and personal-success skills for handling complex management challenges.

PBN: You just completed the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2014 Leadership Academy, which was designed to help develop the next generation of leaders in the accounting profession. What was the most important takeaway from the four-day experience?
ALMONTE:
Attending the 2014 AICPA Leadership Academy was a once in a lifetime experience. I was given the opportunity to learn with and from some of the top young CPAs throughout the country, as well as being able to take part in discussions held directly with the current AICPA Chairman, Bill Balhoff, and the AICPA’s CEO, Barry Melancon. Throughout the course of the leadership academy we discussed many topics, including: what leadership means, how to lead our peers, how to lead the next generation and what challenges young CPAs face or may face in the future. After looking back at my experience, I would say that the most important takeaway for me would be the relationships I made with other young CPAs from around the country. I’m looking forward to apply what I’ve learned at my current firm, LGC+D CPAs/Business Advisors.

PBN: You graduated from Bryant University in 2009 but had been working in North Carolina until recently returning to Rhode Island. Are there differences between working in North Carolina and Rhode Island? What are they?
ALMONTE:
I graduated from Bryant University in 2009 and with the economy in a recession I was forced to look out of state for my first job. Most people would think of this as a road block early in one’s career, but for me it was a blessing in disguise. Having to move away from home, family and everything I knew forced me to grow as a person and immerse myself in a different culture that I would probably have shied away from, if given a choice. In terms of the way the firms operate, there were no differences between working in North Carolina and Rhode Island as we all follow the same accounting standards. After living in NC for the past 5 years and then moving back to Rhode Island I feel like I am a different person; a better person. I have a different outlook on life in terms of truly enjoying each day from beginning to end no matter what is going on in my life. I learned to slow down and enjoy my friends, family and co-workers. I forgot that winter in Rhode Island starts in October and never really ends until the summer. I learned the phrase slow down to speed up – we need to understand that great things take time and if we are so busy working and looking forward to the next day we will miss out on the good things in life worth exploring and enjoying.

PBN: What did the 36 other participants in the Leadership Academy teach you in the course of the sessions?
ALMONTE:
What I learned most from the other participants at the leadership academy was that we are all different and that is what makes each one of us great. We participated in a group activity called “the marshmallow problem” – a team-building exercise that involves dry spaghetti, one yard of tape and a marshmallow. The idea was to see what team could build the tallest tower with these simple everyday ingredients. The groups quickly learned that this task required people with different ideas to come together to accomplish a goal. The tricky part of the exercise was that once each group was done completing their respective towers we had to attach the marshmallow to the top of the tower without breaking it. Our team built a great looking tower, for a bunch of accountants, but as soon as we attached the marshmallow to the top of the structure the tower broke. During reflection time the team noted that the reason we failed was because we forgot to begin with the end in mind. Our group was so focused on building the tallest structure that we forgot about the little detail of attaching a marshmallow to the top. I learned that in life we need to have the ability to zoom in to accomplish the task at hand, however, even more important, is the ability to zoom out and look at the big picture.

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PBN: You are now five years into your career as an accountant. What do you see yourself doing in five more years, in 10?
ALMONTE:
Over the course of the five years I spent outside the state of Rhode Island, I worked for both a medium sized and a top-25 firm. I got married and my wife and I are expecting our first child, a girl. I obtained my CPA license which enabled me to attend the AICPA Leadership Academy. I moved back to RI and immediately joined LGC+D, a premiere regional public accounting firm where I continue to work with talented individuals and incredible clients. I am not really sure what the next five years will bring, but if it is anything like the last five years I know it will be an amazing journey. I look forward to giving back to my community as that has been a huge passion of mine since I was young. I look forward to getting involved with the military in hopes that I can lend the expertise I have gained thus far to help those active and past military both deployed and their families back at home. I look forward to teaching the next generation because they are our future leaders just as much as I am. I look forward to building and maintaining a reputation of integrity, trust, accountability and determination.

PBN: Since the other participants in the academy were from all over the country, you must have talked about the challenges of doing business in their home states? Did you come back to Rhode Island with a different sense of where the Ocean State fits among the 50 states as a place to do business? What was it?
ALMONTE:
All of the participants I met come from a state larger than Rhode Island. But, I learned that one person, or one state in this instance, can make a difference. Each participant who attended the Leadership Academy is now equipped with tools to bring back to their respective State Society, accounting firm, private business and state as a whole and share those tools with everyone we meet. I know that Rhode Island is struggling and there are a lot of people out of work. I look forward, as a CPA, to bringing my knowledge and experience to the table to help as many people as I can. We cannot forget that the “P” in CPA stands for “public” and it is our duty to protect them and teach them about how to improve their financial futures. If we help the people who live in Rhode Island take charge of their financial futures it would go a long way in helping the state to move forward.

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