By some lights, James Lusk could be considered a CPA of paradoxes.

As vice president and corporate controller of Lucent Technologies, Inc., he fulfilled a goal he'd had since age five by becoming the first in his family to go to college-but with several twists. He was an undergraduate pre-med and finance major who later became a CPA. He is a former not-for-profit hospital executive who is now credited in playing a key role in the largest public offering in U.S. history - the launch of Lucent following its spin-off from AT&T.

Paradox or not, James is a living, breathing example of how the CPA designation speaks volumes for success, hard work and a dedicated spirit.

Attitude and Respect
James was once asked by a boss to remove the professional credentials from his business card because the boss said the CPA initials would turn people off.

That attitude is one of two issues at the heart of the problems facing the CPA profession, he says. The other is a lack of perspective displayed by some CPAs themselves. As a visionary who has realized his goals by "dreaming" about what he wants to achieve, as well as rallying people around what an organization should be, James wants CPAs to be more proactive.

"Typically, CPAs make statements like 'No one works the hours we work,' to describe their value; instead, they should consider their value in a much greater role as a strategic partner in business," he says. "But then again, I don't believe in simply waiting for people to come to you and say 'you're a strategic partner.' If you just wait for your ship to come in, nine out of 10 times it won't. You have to swim out and drag it in."

CPAs can better convey their value to businesses by making a simple, yet fundamental, change in how they describe themselves. CPAs should be evaluated by their strategic value, and recognized as the people who help create the plan that drives the business, tells the business whether they are on or off course, and helps them to steer back on course to meet their strategic goal.

"The key is to focus on the result you produce rather than the activity that occupies your time," he says. "Expressing your value in terms of hours spent and tasks performed is a perspective more suited to clerks. CPAs should take a higher road."

"What if they stepped back and took an example of a salesman's paycheck being wrong? If a salesman is worried about his compensation being accurate, his performance will suffer. A CPA's job then is really about keeping morale up, which is vital to the success of the business.

Out-of-the-Box Success
The problem for CPAs is that they can lose that perspective too easily. "Too many people get hung up in tools, such as budgets and deadlines. These are really things that reflect the company's progress toward the strategy, its performance against competitors and whether the cost structure is properly managed."

James' advice is gained from personal experience and reflected in Lucent's corporate culture in which the catch-phrase is: "Create an audacious future for yourself. If you don't, no one will do it for you." That 'audacious future' involves looking into the future and visualizing what you want to achieve. For example, his finance team looked ahead and wanted to reduce costs by half, add value and add systems. Though James admits the vision sounded crazy at first, the team tackled the goal by working backwards from the future vision by setting intermediate time goals.

They succeeded in the initiative by focusing on the "why" of what they were doing. By taking the attitude of "if it doesn't provide value, then stop doing it," the team was able to see many things that could be done better.

Based in part to the finance initiative, Lucent's change in financial performance is dramatic. Annual growth, once six to eight percent, is now increasing by 20 percent after three years. Net worth has increased from $18 billion to $150 billion in that time.

It was that kind of opportunity ™ and risk-taking ™ that prompted the New Jersey Society of CPAs to give him the 1998 Outstanding CPA - Business Leadership Award. The organization cited his leadership and innovative thinking that led to Lucent's development of a five-year strategic plan, five key "measures of success' and the company's introduction to a paperless payables and Web-enabled processing system.

But there's more to James' philosophy and his recommended approach for CPA success. "In a company, find the problem that no one is working on, or 'white space,' where you can add the most value."

For example, James had been working at AT&T two years when he noticed that their cost management didn't incorporate enough predictive indicators. He made some changes - he describes them as simple - and people noticed. "You have to look at a value proposition on its side, look at it from the end customer's view. If you look at something upside down, it looks different. In other words, say 'sign me up,' and create for yourself what you want to be!"

James welcomes your comments. Send him an e-mail to jslusk@lucent.com.