The Off-Duty Professional
As he drove toward the auditorium in downtown Detroit, he felt somewhat uneasy, increasingly out-of-place. What kind of reception would he receive from the people waiting inside? He decided to park his car a block away, perhaps hoping to leave his white, middle-class accountant's image down the block as well.
The uncertainty grew worse, remem-bers Touche Ross manager Ronald Maday of his experience conducting a seminar for minority businessmen. When he stepped out of his car, he recalls, he groaned over his choice of a three-piece plaid suit. Off came the tie, off came the jacket, and then the vest. And when Ron Maday finally unbuttoned his collar, he unloosened a familiar accounting tradition as well.
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