Great person theory explains TEI's success over nearly seven decades.

• Author: McCormally, Timothy J.
• Position: Tax Executives Institute

In the mid-1840s, Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle propounded what at the time was known as 'the Great Man Theory"--the idea that history can largely be explained by the influence of great men and women, or heroes, who through their charisma, intelligence, and political skills have an outsized and decisive historical effect. The counter-argument, ascribed to Herbert Spencer, is that great men and women are the products of their societies and that their success actions would be impossible without the social conditions built before their lifetime.

I have no difficulty reconciling the competing theories championed by Carlyle and Spencer in the nineteenth century, especially within the context of Tax Executives Institute. In 1940s, Paul Smith had the vision to see the need for an organization of in-house tax professionals and the commitment to see the vision through to fruition. To be sure, he was a product of his times, and had he not "taken up the cause" at some point someone else likely would have.

The key phrase in the previous sentence is "at some point." TEI was formed in 1944 because Paul Smith was where he was, doing what he was doing, perceiving the needs he perceived, and acting upon those perceptions. Had he not been there would TEI never come into existence? Would there today be an organization devoted to in-house tax professionals? I have to believe the answer is yes, because the idea is so strong--the need for the organization so great--that I have to believe that eventually someone would have come along and say, "Hey, I have an idea ...."

Eventually. And that's the rub. What often separates the great from the good and the average are timing and persistence. Great men and women raise the hands and step forward when others -good, solid people whose lives are overflowing with endless "to do's" and competing demands--pause. The hesitation doesn't make them bad people; it makes them human.

During the third week of April, I visited three chapters--in New Orleans, Seattle, and Anchorage--that confirm the vitality of TEI as a whole and the transcendent importance of individuals--of men and women who step forward, as products of their time, to help build and maintain the organization.

New Orleans Chapter

TEI's New Orleans Chapter, founded in 1948, was among its first. It has a storied history, as does the Crescent City itself. In 1976, a young attorney with the Ethyl Corporation became president of the New Orleans Chapter, and from the...