SBF Partner W.G. Spoor: “I love change. I’m a change agent.”
In this first feature in our new series, “Getting to Know SBF,” meet SBF Partner W.G. Spoor.
W.G. Spoor is not afraid of change. In fact, he thinks that embracing change is a critical part of success.
“I feel like if you’re not constantly changing, you’re not growing. And I don’t want to get stagnant,” he said in a recent video produced by the Florida Institute of CPAs that highlights his leadership.
One of three SBF partners, W.G. is responsible for the firm’s domestic and international individual and business tax practices. He is notorious around the office for going to a conference or taking a course and immediately sharing ideas for big changes in how the firm serves clients. To advise business owners on how to adapt to changing times and remain competitive, W.G. believes SBF must model those characteristics itself.
“We want to be the innovator and the solution provider for our clients,” said W.G. “They’re looking to us to do that. And if we can’t be that, they’re going to look somewhere else.”
W.G. takes the business seriously, but he’s known for having a balanced approach to life. His father, himself a CPA and the founder of an accounting firm, was a model for that approach.
“Our firm had a policy: you always put your faith first, your family second, your firm third. And you had to keep that in balance, and if you couldn’t keep that in balance, our firm might not be the right fit,” said W.G.’s father, F. Gordon Spoor, a former partner of SBF.
All three SBF partners have worked to infuse SBF’s culture with that same focus on balance.
“Fortunately, I’ve found partners that believe in the same priorities that I do, which makes us work so well together,” said W.G.
One reason they work well together is that W.G. is good at exchanging ideas and finding common ground.
“I’ve been working with him for 15 years, and we’ve never left a room without coming to a consensus,” said SBF partner Rich Franz. “We have three partners in the firm — we’ve never had to vote. It’s never been two against one.”
That ability to truly listen to others and build consensus will serve W.G. well in his newest role as 2020-21 Chair of FICPA, to which he was recently elected. “I have something that I think is unique, and that can provide value, and I can help, and that’s what it’s about, giving back to the members of the institute that have given me so much,” he said.
As part of his duties as chair of FICPA, W.G. is serving on the RESET Task Force, a group of representatives from organizations and associations around Florida who are working together to advise the governor and the legislature on appropriate strategies for reopening business and tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
To get to know W.G. even better, and to hear from all three SBF partners, check out the video: https://youtu.be/dEiQn9zXmtI.
