A-Team Blog

Right before "Saturday Night Live" debuted in 1975, Dan Aykroyd thought to himself, "If we die tonight, it's all over. I may as well get into the snowplow business." I suppose we've all had those moments, but perhaps not on that scale. This leads me to the question, "If you could not have a career in accounting or finance, what would you do for a living?"

Last night I was reading an interview with Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was asked "What is the hardest thing about being a leader?" His reply was, "Understanding when to follow and not lead." That is absolutely the best answer I have ever heard to that question, and is something that I suspect every manager (definitely including me) struggles with on an almost daily basis.

Managers who are reading this...what are your thoughts? What do you think about what Ken Kendrick said?

As the MD Biz Expo floats into the final hour, I am reflecting on the very worthwhile week this has been. That opinion is not solely mine; it is shared by everyone I have met.

Known industry folks such as Ron Baker, Edith Orenstein and Barry Schimel have graced the landscape. Relationships with people previously unknown to me were forged, too.

Last night, Gail Perry and I were on stage presenting the prize drawing of a Kindle to one lucky recipient, Anita Flechler. This was during the induction ceremony of the newly-minted (I love saying "newly-minted") Maryland CPAs.

You can almost smell the cooking of crabcakes in the air here at the MD Biz Expo, presented by the Maryland Association of CPAs. Gail Perry (CPA, Managing Editor) and I are fully immersed in this terrific gathering spearheaded by Tom Hood, Executive Director of the Maryland Society. Tom even treated me to a nice piece of salmon last night.

In yesterday's session on Second Life, the creator of Second Life, Philip Linden, popped in to the virtual session. Linden stated that he believes Second Life will replace a portion of business travel in the coming years.

Many accountants like math challenges, so here's a dandy. I've been to hundreds of baseball games in my life, but at a recent AAA minor league game I witnessed something I had not previously seen. If you can tell me what the actual odds are of this event, I will send you a very special AccountingWEB gift!

Here's what happened: In a game where 9,140 people attended, the batter hit a foul ball into the right-field corner, which was caught in the air by a fan. On the next pitch, the batter hit another foul ball--caught in the air by the same man!