Unexpected Rewards.

• Author: MASON, LAURIE
• Position: Serving on committees

Volunteering Builds Knowledge, Referrals, Skills, Visibility and Friendships

The reasons CalCPA leaders participate vary greatly, but more often than not, it's the unexpected rewards that keep them active.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE BEEN PROMOTED!

Nobody would call Larry Russell a sucker, but he admits that his initial impulse to join CalCPAs Santa Cruz Discussion Group in the early 1980s snowballed out of control even before he attended his first meeting. All he did was call member relations for information about the group. A few days later, he received an information packet and its cover letter said, "Congratulations! You've been promoted to the discussion group chair."

"They must have seen me coming a mile away," jokes Russell, now a principal with Valencia-based Sitka Systems, a management consulting firm that specializes in computerized business information systems and a CalCPA Council member. Russell says that he worked with the discussion group for six years and enjoyed the professional contacts he developed within his community. Then, when he moved to Los Angeles, it happened again. "Somebody invited me to the Westside Technology Users Group meeting not telling me it was a steering committee meeting. They must have seen the big red 'X' painted on my back."

All joking aside, Russell wouldn't have stayed involved if he hadn't gained, both professionally and socially. "Bottom line of all my CalCPA leadership experiences is that I was asked to fill a need and I felt it was my obligation to help the profession that has provided me with a good living," he says. "The unexpected benefit has been that I've gained many dear friends."

DEFINING EXPERIENCE

CalCPA 2000-01 President Don Cursey's initial attempt at involvement was less embracing, and it made him angry--an experience that colors his leadership style to this day. Back in the 1970s, Gursey wanted to form a litigation committee, so he wrote a letter to CalCPAs president. When he received no response, he began leaving phone messages. Still no response. So he sent a telegram, which triggered an impersonal from letter. I probably would have left CalCPA except I had a perma-plaque on my office wall," he says with his characteristic straight talk.

It wasn't until 1984, when CalCPA finally formed a state litigation committee that Gursey became active. "We spent five years creating guidelines for litigation practitioners," he says. By 1989, he was the state Litigation Committee chair and also was involved in the Government Relations Committee. "We smoked cigars, worked on our papers. I always felt a responsibility." But he never forgot...