In his weekly e-newsletter called, "Reading for Leading,"  Michigan's First Gentleman Dan Mulhern, wrote the following article:

Plante Moran: Caring makes it a great place to work

Friends,

Last week I wrote about Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work," and promised a series of five more RFL's on the topic. I will dedicate each to one of the "Fab Five," the Michigan companies that have all been repeat winners of this award: Plante Moran, Valassis, Republic Bancorp, Quicken Loans, and Bronson Health System. Like the rest of the 100 winners, these represent very different kinds of companies, with unique histories and approaches. The result is shared: great business success and extremely satisfied employees.

Plante Moran offers a good place to start. This is the 8th straight year they have been named to Fortune's list, and they have been the top ranked accounting and "business advisory" firm for the past seven. Why? Well, you could look to their important words, which establish their identity. They have a lot! A core purpose and core values; a "commitment statement," which contains their commitment, mission, philosophy, spirit and vision, and if that's not enough 15 lengthy "principles." Yeesh.

There are two things (beyond the sheer quantity!) that are amazing about these orienting words. First, nearly every single one of all these statements can be traced to the first two values: "We care," and "We are guided by the Golden Rule." For instance, their "Principle of Service," offers that the client's interest comes before the firm's; this is essentially an institutional aspect of the Golden Rule. But, the more amazing thing is not the words themselves. It's the frequency with which the words get spoken and acted upon. If you know anyone who has been with Plante Moran for 5 or 10 years, they can tell you precisely what all these statements mean. That's pretty different than many firms I have consulted to where, when you ask key leaders, "Does the firm have a written mission statement?" they eagerly say, "Yes, sure." And when you ask them "What is it?" some people inevitably start to look nervous and shift in their seats; they're not sure. At Plante Moran they really can tell you all 15 principles, and if one principle by chance escapes them, you can ask , "What is the principle of delegation?" Or, "Tell me about the principle of compensation." And they will tell you. Because the principles are discussed frequently.

The values, principles, and commitments are not just discussed. They are lived. "Caring" is something they recruit for, interview for, and even use their staff psychologists to test for. They have long had a "jerk free" environment, and if a jerk slips through the selection process and acts in a way that violates the golden rule, they will be counseled, and if they don't change, they will be moved out. The firm's leaders - starting with their version of the philosopher-king, founder Frank Moran - embedded the philosophy into the culture in myriad ways. For instance, newcomers have "buddies" (mentors who are a couple years ahead of them) for their first years at the firm; and a big part of the mentor's job is to teach about the Plante Moran way. Partners all have partners who are on their "team" and review their personal development plans. Firm values are built into the performance management, so that things like developing others become part of their performance and compensation review.

I have had the good fortune of dealing with people at Plante Moran for about 25 years. And I cannot think of one who was not a deeply caring person. I have been their client, and also had the good fortune of having them as my client. And what stood out in every instance, flowed I believe from their value of caring: I always learned when I encountered them. Think about it: if someone really cares for you, you will always learn. If a boss cares about you, he or she will teach! If a co-worker cares about you, they'll show you cool stuff. Think of a caring auto mechanic, dentist, lawyer, elected official, or customer service rep. If they care then they will learn about you: What do you need? What's not working? What do you want? What's your goal? And when they care, they will help you learn about what they are doing: about mufflers, teeth, wills, or the law. At Plante Moran, they create this caring, learning culture for each other.

Caring is the counsel Plante Moran would offer you, to

Lead with your best self!