The Emerging Leaders Programme (ELP) is the first step in Grant Thornton's Global Goals programme. Closely linked to our Go Beyond 2025 strategy, the programme focuses on developing globally minded leaders who add value to international business and are committed to regional collaboration.
Every year, Grant Thornton International carries out the Emerging Leader Programme, a regionally organized meeting to support cross-border and cross-service line collaboration. During the ELP, online sessions and ourses are held, as well as an in-person meeting, that this year took place for three days in Panama.
The Emerging Leaders Programme is aimed at high-performing Managers and Senior Managers, who have demonstrated potential and are recognized as future leaders. This year, our representatives from Grant Thornton Argentina were Claudio Ivanchevich (BRS – Financial Services Manager), Elizabeth del Busto (Advisory Manager), Paola Genco (BPS – Business Process Solutions Manager), Stefanía Marcon (Tax Manager) and Yanina Figueroa (Audit Manager).
The programme provides participants an opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to maximise collaboration and impact across the region. Throughout the meeting, the Managers were able to develop communication and feedback techniques to apply in conversations with their teams and clients.
Under the motto “We don't predict the future. We help you shape it”, the groups were challenged to plan and carry out a sales presentation as a team.
The practise allowed them to strengthen their commercial skills, understand and put into practice the way our network provides services, guided by our CLEARR values, collaborating successfully in a culturally diverse environment, and connecting with representatives of Grant Thornton firms from throughout the American continent.
BRS - Financial Services Manager
It was an excellent experience in every way. From the possibility of networking, to being able to meet in person the collaborators of the different member firms of the Grant Thornton network and understand first-hand their culture and their way of doing business. It also allowed me to understand that, from the intern to the most experienced partner, we all share things: experiences, fears, situations that make us nervous or that push us to give our best.
In this sense, the experience of working as a team with completely unknown people chosen at random was something truly challenging and led us to discover a way to quickly organize ourselves, share our ideas, draw conclusions, and tackle several specific tasks. In my case, with the group that I had to make the business presentation, we are still in contact and we have already planned a virtual meeting for early December.
I want to highlight the organization of the event because it was very enjoyable. For three really intense days of talks, which provided us with a large amount of data and knowledge (many of it new to most of us), I emphasize that we all kept our attention with increasing interest.
I loved being able to share both workdays and leisure moments with so many people. Many of them come from cultures that we believe are like ours, but that have so many particularities and riches to share. Also, with people from cultures that we feel are very different, whether due to language issues, work culture, economic factors or other sociocultural issues. But in this experience, I believe that we were all able to overcome barriers, communicate and understand each other as people and colleagues.
Finally, I want to thank for the opportunity to share these days with my colleagues from Grant Thornton Argentina. A beautiful group with whom I enjoyed every moment, and we understood each other from the first moment. I hope to continue sharing great moments with them.
Advisory Manager.
The trip was very nice, it was a great experience. I enjoyed sharing with colleagues from different areas. After the pandemic, each sector is in the office only a few days a week and we always ends up spending time with our team. So, sharing an experience with people from another area was very nice.
The Program was very interesting. The fact that we were divided into groups to work allowed me to share with people from all the Grant Thornton member firms in America and learn what they do. For example, I was able to meet Advisory members from other firms, understand what services they provide and how. I told them about our Human Capital Advisory Services and for them it was something new.
In my group I had a colleague from Turks and Caicos, two from Grant Thornton US -one from San Francisco’s office and another from the Cleveland office-. A man from Kevane (Puerto Rico), a woman from Panama and a Manager from Brazil were also part of my team. It was a challenge to overcome the language barrier, but we all worked as a team to take it down and achieve a great presentation together. In fact, we have each other’s cellphone numbers, we have a WhatsApp group and we´ve connected on LinkedIn to stay in touch, get to know each other a little better and be able to network.
Although the course applies more to managers who are making the leap to a more commercial aspect of our work, there are topics that I can share with the members of my team. I always try to let them know that there is something beyond Advisory. I encourage them to get to know our firm and our clients. In the Programme I learned how important it is to know well our resources as a network, how we stand out in the market and how we should communicate that to our clients.
BPS – Business Process Solutions Manager.
The trip was spectacular. I appreciated it a lot because I know that I was considered me for the Programme because my work of many yeras was highly valued. I developed my professional career at Grant Thornton Argentina. Obviously, the firm allowed me to study and work at the same time. Without a doubt, this programme was a key point in my future development. It was a breaking point, a before and after.
The programme was closely related to the Go Beyond 2025 global network strategy. It was about connecting and interacting with members of other firms in the network. It was a good opportunity to develop a global mindset: understanding different cultures and ways of working as a team.
For the activity of preparing a project and simulating a presentation to a potential client, I had to work with three members of the Grant Thornton US firm (two from the Chicago office and one from California), one from Dutch Caribbean, one from Puerto Rico and a colleague from Brazil. Since almost everyone was an English speaker, English became our team's language. Although I work a lot in English, this was a different experience and I am glad I had it.
The network is built through us and although, as the programme says: we are emerging leaders, we already have a key role in the organization and we are already focal points of contact for colleagues and clients. Collaboration among us is one of the main pillars of our network. In fact, I had the opportunity to speak to people from the BPS division in other firms to establish connections and learn from each other.
The programme content was super interesting. We developed communication and feedback techniques. I think the five of us came back renewed, happy, because all of this is useful to us, not only at a work level, but also for our personal lives. Without a doubt, this experience encourages us to continue growing.
Tax Manager.
It was a very gratifying experience that, I think, left a mark on each of us who participated. Meeting leaders from other countries, talking about our projects as a firm, the opportunities we have and the ones we can build together, the difficulties and challenges we face. It is a task that began with this program but that, without any doubt, will require our daily and continuous contribution to strengthen us as a network.
I want to thank for this space to interact and leave our mark on each of the people with whom we were able to connect. I also want to mention my colleagues from Grant Thornton Argentina: it was a pleasure to have shared this experience with them.
The experience was extraordinary because we were able to connect with each other. The synergy with which we worked, the shared experiences of our daily lives, is something that I carry with me. Active listening and empathy allowed us to overcome cultural and linguistic differences, so that each person could make their valuable contribution, enriching the group and the debate. Now all that remains is to continue working together.
Audit Manager.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of this enriching experience. What I value most is to have shared knowledge, culture and learning with colleagues from many Grant Thornton’s offices. We managed to create new bonds by sharing experiences and tools, which will help us to put into practice and expand our global mindset and thus, achieve new alliances.
I think that I will be able to apply everything I experienced during those days in Panama in my daily life and in this Audit season that is about to begin. It will allow me to build strong and solid relationships with our clients and show them how their values fit with ours. The programme gave me tools to differentiate ourselves in our work, with the goal of becoming the most valued network of our profession.
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