Men Who Get It: John Sensiba, Managing Partner, Sensiba San Filippo LLP

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Diversity is the best resource we have,” explained John Sensiba, Managing Partner of the Northern California CPA and Business consulting firm Sensiba San Filippo LLP, “it’s not just me who thinks that – all our partners understand that diversity brings strength more than anything.” In an industry not known to have a wide range of diversity, a firm that expands its vision of what a partner looks like can gain a competitive edge, Sensiba notes.

Likewise, he continued, changing the gender make-up of a conversation will change its tone. “When we added our first woman partner, that changed the conversation. Having a balance tends to raise the level of conversation.”

That’s why the business case for diversity is clear, he continued. “If you define diversity in terms of gender, it’s an easy question. You’re ignoring 50% of the opportunities in the workplace if you look only to one gender. If you have a homogeneous group, you get a homogeneous answer – and that makes you weak.”

But it’s not just about business, Sensiba continued. “I think we’re a firm who gets it – it’s just a matter of following the golden rule: treating people the way you want to be treated. If you follow that rule, other characteristics don’t really matter.”

Developing Diversity

Sensiba described his career path as fairly linear. After college, he joined a smaller accounting firm, and then made partner before joining Sensiba San Filippo, a regional firm in 1994. During his career at the firm, he held several positions, including Tax Partner-in-Charge and Audit Partner-in-Charge. In January of 2008, Sensiba was elected Managing Partner.

The firm has worked hard to recruit women over the past few years – not just at the entry level, but throughout the career pipeline. “To find women who could move up to the leadership role was important to us,” he said. “You need to have good role models at all levels. Within our firm, we want all our employees to feel that ‘I can be successful. I can move up to the board room and I can be involved in my community and have a family.’”

Part of Sensiba San Filippo’s push to increase diversity meant implementing a ROWE (Results Oriented Work Environment), in which results matter more than face-time. This kind of work environment can be particularly helpful to provide career flexibility to employees, so they can work when and where they need to. “It also allowed us to have part-time partners, both men and women,” he added.

Sensiba believes this also differentiates his firm from the competition – while many accounting firms offer flex-work policies, they aren’t often utilized. “It can’t be a wink and a nod – it has to be the real deal and I think that’s a little innovative,” he said. “When we first started looking into it,” he recalled, “we were happy to see we were on par with what was being recommended.”

But, he continued, the piece that was missing was the communication – talking openly about how a ROWE works and why the firm supported this work style. “We definitely faced some challenges around communication. For some people, it would mean changing the way they’ve done something for thirty years that can be very ingrained. But I find that communication overcomes almost everything if you can sit down with someone and explain why you’re changing a system.”

Leadership Lessons

Sensiba said the recent recession was one of the most challenging times of his career – but he was proud of his firm for getting through it intact, and maintaining client relationships even during tough times. “We treated people the way we would want to be treated and made decisions I was proud of,” he said.

He explained that one of the important lessons he’s learned in his career is the value of cultivating leadership. “I had no idea about the importance of leadership and mentoring when I first started out,” he explained. “As an undergrad it wasn’t something that was even talked about.”

After researching and hearing firsthand accounts, Sensiba was convinced. “A few years ago, the partners saw fit to invest in a three-year leadership development program for our staff, so that we can have leaders throughout the firm. It’s so important to our success.”

The firm is also hiring its first training and learning development leader. The investment in leadership development will help the firm reach its growth goals, he continued. “We really have a vision for market growth through superior client service and technical skills. I’m excited about continuing to execute on that.”

In His Personal Time

Sensiba has been married for 25 years and has three children. Outside work, he enjoys spending time with his family and is very involved with his church. He also serves on his local hospital board. “What an interesting time to be involved in health care in any way,” he remarked.

He also enjoys reading business books, riding motorcycles, fishing, and spending time in the outdoors.