Twenty plus years ago, I wrote a CEO’s Message on this same topic. Though my story was a little different, my sentiments are the same now as they were then. Unfortunately, our HQ archives do not go back that far so I cannot share that Message with you. (If you happen to have a copy and send it to me at Parnell1@NACVA.com, to show my appreciation I will give you free attendance to our NACVA and the CTI’s Business Valuation & Financial Litigation Hybrid & Virtual Super Conference this August 17–19, 2022, virtual or live, your choice.)

This time around, my Message is a little more straight forward, and that is, there is no greater satisfaction one can get in their career than knowing you have helped others to grow and succeed. Money does not hold a candle to having been a positive influence in someone’s life. Teachers understand this well; enlightening others is compensation in itself and is why so many are happy to teach for what is typically little compensation. That is very admirable in my book. A few criteria we use at NACVA in selecting our instructors are that you: one, love teaching and two, relish the act of helping to educate your fellow man/woman. It is my experience that those two qualities almost always ensure the person we have recruited will be a great instructor. And it makes sense because we all intuitively know that the highest achievers in our society love what they do.