FOCUS on leadership We are all leaders By Sharon Haley, CPA
Sharon Haley, CPA, is a revenue agent group manager with the Internal Revenue Service in Oklahoma City, Okla. In her 16 years as an OSCPA member, she has volunteered for numerous serves the Society’s CPA/ Advocacy Council. Haley is a past Oklahoma City Chapter President, the 2016 recipient of the Oklahoma City Chapter’s Award.
am excited to be the 2021-2022 chair of the OSCPA Board of Directors. We enter another membership year that will present many challenges, but has there ever been a year of no changes, no challenges, no excitement? As CPAs, this is our opportunity to step up as leaders. I grew up in church as a PK, also known
I
as a “preacher’s kid.” As a PK, you learn at an early age that you are a leader. You must be mindful of what you say and how you say it. And when no one else steps up to lead, you are the chosen one. I guess you could say that was the start of my preparedness for my role as a CPA. We all have unique stories of how we came to develop leadership skills, but our common ground is the CPA license. Our skills are valuable in all areas and industries of the profession, and now is the perfect time to focus on the future and step into leadership. As CPAs, we lead by example and are
trusted. I see remarkable leaders in our Society, and I am grateful for their involvement, which I believe has been key to the Society’s resilience. It is important to be engaged and realize
the services this organization has to offer, as well as the services one can provide to ensure the success of our profession. Te OSCPA is a strong and reliable resource to help us build on and develop leaderships skills. I look forward to getting to know you all better this year. Until then, I hope this short introduction will do. I changed my major several times before earning my degree in accounting at the University of Oklahoma (OU). I thought political science sounded important, computer science proved I was smart, but what really puzzled recruiters when I graduated was the 20 or so credit hours of dance and drama!
4 CPAFOCUS July/August 2021
When I graduated from OU in 1984, I had a choice of working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as an internal revenue agent or working for IBM (we use to call them Big Blue) as a marketing representative. I remember my brother telling me I was crazy for not choosing IBM, but I pledged my allegiance to accounting at the IRS. Over the last 36 years as an internal revenue agent, I have had the opportunity to work in various positions. My non-management positions include auditing roles in both small business and large international corporate examinations. I have also worked on the review side of tax auditing, and I can say there is a lot one can learn from reviewing the work of others. Tere is even more one can learn from
performing income tax audits. Every audit is a new experience, different industry, different tax law to apply and, most importantly, new people to meet. I have been blessed to meet many wonderful people through my role at the IRS.
I have an artsy side and enjoy making
t-shirt quilts and creating recipes. I can tell you unequivocally that my recipes are so unique they have rarely been eaten by my family. I started running when I was 43 years old and plan to keep it up as long as I am breathing. I consider it a privilege to be part of
the OSCPA Oklahoma City Chapter, I am honored to serve on the Allegiance Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee, and I have been blessed to continue my church work (Yes, I am still a PK.).
I am gratified to be your chair and look
forward to leading the profession side by side. After all, we are all leaders.
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