wo years ago KPMG introduced a values charter. Most of the ten items hold no surprises. You would expect a successful global giant to include aspirations like: ‘We will be proactive and innovative with our clients, and will respond to their needs quickly, efficiently and objectively.’ Or: ‘We will support our leaders, encourage our peers and develop our people.’ But who would have expected the following items? ‘We will respect our own and our people’s need to balance personal and business life.’ ‘We will learn from our experiences and will take time to enjoy our successes in the company of those we work with.’ As Rob Parsons points out, these ideals cannot be implemented overnight, and living them out is harder than publishing them, but at the very least KPMG has put these issues on the agenda.
Parsons suggests we must redefine the concept of success. The questions at the heart of success are: Is it possible to make it in business without losing in life? What is it all for? For whom am I doing it? And above all: Why am I doing it?
Parsons is an international speaker on business and family issues who formerly built a successful law practice. To judge by the plaudits on the cover, his books and seminars are highly regarded in the corporate world. (For example, the CEO of SmithKline Beecham R&D says he would recommend CEOs to give this book to every manager in their company.) Many of the questions posed by Parsons about the meaning of success might be usefully integrated into a millennium life-style review (as advocated in the other book reviewed this month). He offers seven principles of success: