As featured in the RSM International internal communication platform, RSM Link

José  

José (Pepe) Gómez-León - Consulting Partner and Chairman of the Board of Partners at RSM Puerto Rico, and Chairman of RSM LATAM Council - has been with RSM for almost 25 years and has proved himself time and again to be an exemplar figure of RSM’s DNA and the Power of Being Understood, winning the Spirit of RSM Award in 2020. José’s perennial support in the Latin America Region has been a pillar of growth, even stepping up to take on the role of Regional Leader, and all of the attached responsibilities, without hesitation, before Eileen Turkot took over the role.

We interviewed José to find out more about him, how he began in his career, and what he believes to be the future of Consulting at RSM.

Could you start by telling us a little bit more about yourself?

My story is that of many immigrants in Latin America. I was born in Cuba from Spanish parents, raised in Puerto Rico and attended college in the United States. I think that explains my multi-cultural perspective and why I feel at ease working in global markets. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s in Management, which again defines something else I really like – combining technical knowledge with business perspectives. I have been married to my wife Anita for 33 years and have worked at RSM Puerto Rico for 35 years, so I guess you can tell I love long-term commitments! I live my life based on a few important core values….and I am ecstatic to say that I share these same values with RSM.

In the past few years, RSM Puerto Rico has managed to overcome two natural disasters, a hurricane and an earthquake, which devastated the island. Despite all of this, RSM Puerto Rico has remained resilient. What was your strategy in developing your Firm’s resilient spirit and going on to achieve double-digit growth in such a short time, in spite of the challenges that your Firm faced?

In September 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by hurricane Irma (category 2) and hurricane Maria (category 5!). The impact that Maria had was devastating! We lost electricity and telecommunications for weeks! As a firm, we were closed for approximately one week, but when we re-opened it served not only our clients but also our employees, who came to our offices to use our generator-backed facilities for simple things such as charging their cellular phones. At that point in time, we basically had two things in mind: first, help our employees and clients as much as we can; second, let’s take it a day at a time. I think that attitude of “all hands-on deck” and “let’s endure this disaster” really carried us through those initial months. But that attitude really was set by the Partners…. the “tone at the top” was clear to everyone!

Another very important part of our resilience was that financially, we had enough cash reserves and available line of credit to carry us through a few bad months. Our financial discipline was key! It held us until the economy really came back, in January 2018. When the economy restarted, it was not only our existing clients who came back to have their many needs served, but they even brought along many referrals for new clients, always citing our commitment to service in tough times. When you analyse the 4+ years after these events and you see that RSM Puerto Rico has grown about 50% over that span of time, in my mind it really boils down to one thing - Service Leadership. That becomes even more apparent when you realise that our growth has been completely organic (no acquisitions or mergers) and that has been driven, in my opinion, by our respect for our clients and our people.

RSM Puerto Rico is looking ahead and making great advances in matters of Consulting, Technology, Diversity and Inclusion, how is it possible to maintain this agility within the Firm?

Agility requires several building blocks: vision; continuous market analysis; strong communication channels; and above all, the right values and sense of immediacy. I believe that RSM Puerto Rico has that. Let me address our commitment to diversity and inclusion. To us, it is simple – we believe in a society that is diverse and that opens doors to everyone! For such a small island, Puerto Rico is very diverse, and that influences society in general and every single one of us at RSM. It is in our DNA. Regarding Consulting and considering our size (200 employees in a market of 3.5m people), it is incredibly difficult to achieve agility in Consulting, as that requires many different skills sets so as to cover Technology, Risk Advisory, Management Consulting and so much more. It really requires vision, keeping up with market demands, and diverse recruiting (more than 60% of our Consulting staff are Engineers and IT people). But we have been able to maintain the largest Consulting business of any CPA firm in Puerto Rico (including the Big 4) for several years…. always reminding ourselves “better be nimble, better be quick”.

How do you balance your responsibilities as the RSM Latin America Board Chairman, providing insight and leadership to the Consulting Centre of Excellence with those of being the Chairman of the Board of Partners at RSM Puerto Rico, in addition to serving clients?

I will use the phrase “service leadership” as one of the reasons I am able to maintain my multiple responsibilities. Above all, I am here to serve everything that is dear to me – my co-workers, my clients, my family, my society, and RSM. I always try to serve to the best of my ability and by setting the right examples. It is a commitment to serve that, for some reason, I have always had. Obviously, in order to do your job well and balance responsibilities, there are other needed traits. First, you have to realise that RSM is full of great resources and that you can rely on them for great teamwork! Second, being fully bilingual is a blessing, especially in the LATAM region. Third, having good communication skills is a must; it is not only a matter of communicating effectively through written or oral means…timing and tone are also key! Fourth and last, you need to put in the time and be well organised! I have never shied away from working long hours, and over the years it has become a lot easier, now that we are getting used to working remotely and under more flexible schedules.

What is your vision for the future of the region, considering the boom in the cryptocurrency economy in Latin America?

Latin America is still a region in development, with lots of opportunities. From an RSM perspective, it is an important goal for us to have full members in every country throughout LATAM. As a region, we must strive for the following:

  1. Achieve full sustainability and maturity for every RSM Member, having in mind the fact that many Member Firms belong to Econ 3 and Econ 4 countries with limited resources, but are still critical to RSM’s ability to provide services on a global scale
  2. Becoming more active in the global landscape, which implies becoming “global players” through our participation in RSM’s regional and global structures, and through our compliance with all of RSM’s global requirements
  3. Becoming an integral part of the RSM innovation process, especially taking into account opportunities that the market presents (for example, the high level of cryptocurrency companies in El Salvador and Puerto Rico).

I truly think that LATAM is on its way to achieving many of these goals. Our region has a remarkable singularity of language, vision and objectives. Thinking in the “bigger picture”, I believe that LATAM could become an important component in the regional strategy for the Americas, as well as a critical part of RSM’s global strategy, not only serving global customers to the best of our ability, but also providing a pool of talented individuals that could contribute to key projects.

And what about you as a person outside of work – what do you like to do in your free time?

Outside of work, my priority is family! Spending time with them travelling is perhaps what I enjoy the most. I love good food and good aged rums, but most importantly is to have them with friends and family! But it is also important to give back to society. That is why I serve on the Board of Directors of a couple of not-for-profit organisations, which is something I enjoy. But I still have a pending wish…learning to play classical guitar! I guess you can never run out of dreams and plans!