3Ten Misconceptions about Compromise at Work

In 1979, Jose Gomez was a rising star, one of the youngest certified public accounts (CPAs) ever to make partner at Grant Thornton accountants; he was well respected and active in community affairs. But just after making partner, two officers from one of his auditing clients, ESM Government Securities, let him in on an accounting ruse that was hiding millions of dollars in losses. Warning him repeatedly how embarrassing it could be that he had signed off on two previous annual audits without discovering the issue, they pressed Jose to “give them time to recover.”

Jose felt cornered. “I was 31 years old. I felt I had a terrific career path in front of me and a lot of ambition.…I also didn’t want to ...

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