Success Breeds Success 

 

Profile

Success Breeds Success

The personal motto of Anthony Ariganello, CGA, and CGA-Canada's president and chief operating officer, "Success breeds success", is an empowering belief about attaining one's goals, and in turn, being inspired to achieve even more.

 

FROM: JAN-FEB 2004 ISSUE | BY PEGGY HOMAN

A few minutes with Anthony Ariganello, CGA, and it is obvious that you are in the company of an articulate and accomplished leader. Ariganello joined CGA-Canada as president and chief operating officer (COO) in June 2003. He brings rich experience, a passion for gaining recognition for the CGA designation, and a genuine respect for people to his role.

A CGA since 1982, Ariganello holds a bachelor of commerce from McGill University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He was born and raised in Montreal and has never really lived anywhere else, although he did commute to work in Chicago for a year and a half. He speaks three languages — English, French, and Italian — and has traveled extensively.

Ariganello made some big changes in 2003, leaving the corporate world and his beloved Montreal to take on new challenges in Vancouver. His wife of 23 years, Mary, and the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Melissa, will be joining him on the West Coast at the end of the school year.

He recently shared his perspective on assuming his leadership role at CGA-Canada, and on a range of issues facing the Association.

CGA Mag: What made you decide to pursue the opportunity to be president and COO of CGA-Canada?

AA: I'd have to say a couple of things. One, a change of pace, as I've been in the corporate 'rat race' pretty much all my life, having decided to go from university right into industry. Now, having spent more than 20 years in industry and having moved up the ladder with the four companies I've worked with, I decided it was time to do something else.

I spent 10 years with Nortel, and most recently, 10 years with Avon. My role as president of Avon Canada was changing due to restructuring. The company was moving many factory operations to the U.S. and clustering other functional areas there as well. My role was, in a sense, regressing in Canada. We talked about other opportunities in the U.S., but I decided it was time to move on. There were three other potential offers I was looking at when the opportunity with CGA-Canada came along. It captured my attention and I thought it looked interesting, as it was a president and COO role, similar to what I was doing with Avon, but with a completely different focus as there is no sales and bottom line orientation. And I thought, well, I do love the CGA designation — the designation helped me immensely to move forward in my career at a relatively young age.

Secondly, I thought it would be an interesting change of scenery and I don't just mean the geographic location. I mean a move from the corporate world to trying to do something for CGA members and for our designation. There is room for our designation to gain even greater recognition, both in Canada and on the international stage. I see an opportunity there and I think I can improve our position from where we are today. I believe that because of what I've done personally, and the fact that I can bring my corporate experience in to help our Association. I see that as a win-win, as I will learn something new while contributing to making our designation better and stronger.

CGA Mag: Do you recall choosing to become a CGA? What was the motivation for your choice?

AA: In business school at McGill University I discovered I loved accounting, I loved numbers, I loved math. I was doing well at school and the question was, 'what do I want to be?' Should I be a traditional chartered accountant? It seemed to be the choice many of my friends were leaning toward. But I determined what that path meant — going to work for an auditing firm and completing at least two years of auditing work; it just didn't seem to click for me. I knew I wanted to work in industry, so rather than spending two or three years with a firm, I looked at what other accounting options were available. There was the CMA option, or the RIA option as it was called in those days, and the CGA program. I decided the CGA program was a much better discipline for me, as I could go right into industry, so that's what I did.

CGA Mag: How does your corporate experience translate into the association world?

AA: I have extensive operational experience and I plan to look at what we can do to improve CGA-Canada's business processes. I'm looking forward to bringing in new tools such as new financial systems for better forecasting, better results. But more importantly, I'm looking to better our marketing programs. We need to be a huge communication powerhouse! When I speak about taking our due place in the landscape, we'll do that through a number of ways, but one way is to be better at marketing ourselves. So we need to be a huge voice out in the accounting world to speak about what we do and how we do it, and when things are wrong, we need to be out there front and centre. I have that marketing experience because of course, Avon sold products and we needed to be out in the market. Our brand was extremely important. I plan to draw on the experience I've gained through industry to make full use of CGA-Canada's strengths.

CGA Mag: Can you describe what your vision for the CGA Association looks like?

AA: I want brand recognition for CGA nationally and internationally. I want to work with the Affiliates to make sure we are recognized, both nationally and within each province, for who we are and what we represent. Part of that will be working to interweave the efforts of the affiliates as we work together. CGA-Canada has just launched its new research function, and I think that will help us gain recognition. My goal there is to conduct research in areas that affect many constituents so that we're gaining notoriety and credibility for our profession. Again, the way to do that is through the use of marketing skills.

I also want to focus on the organization and the strategy — defining where we want to go, what we want to accomplish over the next year, and making sure that we as a team are focusing on what the board wants us to.

CGA Mag: What would you say are the biggest issues currently facing CGA-Canada?

AA: Clearly, two of the biggest objectives for CGA-Canada in 2004-05 are to get and establish full public practice rights across Canada, and to get more recognition on the international scene.

The Association has done great work on a number of fronts and we need to get noticed. Our education standards are elevated, they are higher than they've ever been, and we need to take the space that is due to us. There's potential to grow our designation even further and to gain credibility and notoriety. Part of that is looking at different mutual recognition agreements that can exist with other prominent designations around the world. Also, we need to make sure that CGA is recognized globally as a leading accounting designation. I think there's tremendous opportunity there.

CGA Mag: And what do you see as the most positive aspect of taking on these challenges?

AA: The piece I like the best is the networking piece. For example, Avon is a direct-selling company, but the company itself is all about relationships. If you were not able to influence people to do something, i.e. to buy your product, to sell your product, to meet other people, then you would not be successful. I have a penchant for enjoying building relationships. With CGA-Canada, I'm looking forward to networking with my counterparts — people who influence our profession. I'm excited about influencing positive change.

CGA Mag: What are your thoughts on the new research function announced by CGA-Canada in 2003?

AA: As a body, we've done sporadic research without much strategic focus and I'm looking at what we can bring to the table as an accounting body to showcase some of the things we have found that need correcting. There are so many subject areas in which we can promote research and healthy change; we can lead tremendous progress by proclaiming that change needs to happen because it affects the profession and the public. If we're leading that change, we'll gain tremendous credibility at all levels. This is where I see the research function as very important to focus on.

CGA Mag: How extensive was your involvement with the CGA Association prior to taking on this role?

AA: I wasn't involved with the Association at the provincial or national level, as I had been very focused on industry and worked at my career totally from an industry perspective. I was involved with four different boards, but always at the industry level. I was chairman of the board of the Direct Selling Association, and on the boards of the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association of Canada; the Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association; and the non-profit organization, West Island Community Shares.

Also, I was never asked to be part of the Association; in fact, I didn't even know there were opportunities to be involved. If I had known, I would have gladly participated, as I value the opportunity to network and learn from my peers. I'm actively involved in Financial Executives International, and I was on the Conference Board of Canada's National Council of Financial Executives. From a marketing point of view, there are people like me out there, and as an Association we need to know what our members are doing and we need to ask people to get involved.

CGA Mag: You have an autographed football in your office. Are you a big sports fan?

AA: Actually, I'm a sports collector. I have an extensive collection of sports memorabilia. I worked in Chicago for a year and a half with Avon, and when I left, they gave me the football you see, which is autographed by Gayle Sayers, a famous running back for the Chicago Bears. That actually got my collection started. I collect footballs, helmets, jerseys; a lot of jerseys from hockey, football, and baseball. And I do like sporting events — this year I have season tickets for the Seattle Seahawks.

CGA Mag: Are there any analogies from sports you like to use in business?

AA: My favourite sport is football and I like to use analogies from football about total team effort. If the guy who snaps the ball to the quarterback makes a mistake, then the quarterback doesn't have the ball in his hands. The quarterback has to pass the ball to someone else and that person has to do something with it, but with the aid of his teammates who are blocking and tackling.

Basic blocking and tackling is very important in business, because we need everyone to do their job and do their job right, or else we flounder as an organization. I'm big on teamwork and having people work in support of one another to focus on the overall objectives. In my discussions with my senior executive team, I'm looking to ensure we have a cohesive, supportive team; supportive not only of me, but of the organization's goals and of one another. That is extremely important, as I want a team that helps one another succeed.

CGA Mag: Do you have a favourite saying or a phrase that summarizes your personal philosophy?

AA: My favourite saying is, "Success breeds success." I've used it extensively in places I've worked trying to promote people to better things. I believe that if you're successful, you can only be more successful, so I always tell people to look for things they can achieve. Have objectives, go for them, and when you achieve them, you'll see that you'll put forward even bigger objectives because there is nothing like feeling you've achieved something.

Lots of people say that to be successful you've got to be lucky; I also believe you create your own luck. Success requires passion and a lot of it is mental — if you condition yourself to believe you can do anything you want in life and you understand that sure, you'll have some defeats, but you pick yourself up and move forward, over time, you'll have many victories and those victories will inspire you to go out and obtain more.

My belief in life is to set high standards for yourself, high hurdles, high benchmarks, because even if you fail, you'll have achieved a lot more than anyone could've imagined. Generally, people are afraid to fail. But it is okay to fail and if you look at successful people, the reason they've succeeded is that they've never given up.

For example, look at Walt Disney, who was rejected 13 different times from banks when he had the idea to open up Disneyland. People said, "A theme park for kids? Are you crazy?" Now, how many people would've stopped after one, two, or even three attempts? And he was rejected 13 different times! The man had a vision, he had passion, and he had drive.

It is amazing what people demonstrate with strong conviction. I believe it is important to always persevere and to have a goal that makes you stretch. If you can go through life with the belief that you can do anything, you will be that much richer inside. Everyone is going to have a bad day, but the strong people pick themselves up, go for it, and believe next time will be better. By doing this over time, you will succeed by much more than those who give up.

CGA Mag: Can you name someone who has had an influence on you?

AA: I look up to and respect Jack Welch because he was so successful as a leader with General Electric. He had passion and drive, but his people were very important to him, as was building teams that would work effectively together. I believe in that very much.

CGA Mag: Is there anything else you would like Association staff and members to know about you?

AA: I really value people and believe everyone contributes at every level. To me, it is not about the title you have, it is about your work ethic and your commitment to the organization. Everyone contributes to the success of the organization; I want people to know that.

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Peggy Homan is associate publisher and editor of CGA Magazine.