During the Great Depression, South Dakotan Charles Steele worked every job he could, from shearing sheep to shoveling coal. A work week was twice the 40 hours people think normal today, he once commented. That background prepared me well for the demanding schedule of public accounting.

A vocational test propelled Steele into accounting. He went on to win the Elijah Watt Sells Gold Medal. In 1978, Steele was appointed managing partner of Haskins & Sells, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche.

In his first meeting as chairman, representatives from associate firms around the world approved the Memorandum of Agreement that launched DH&S International. In the following eight years, Steele united the various groups into a powerful and focused organization.