2024 Top Consultants: Dean Bell

Dean W. Bell is an Advisory partner and the Market Activation Leader for KPMG's Deal Advisory and Strategy practice. He was elected to the Board of KPMG in 2021, for a five-year term and currently serves as chair of the firm's Compensation & Pension Committee and member of the Audit and Finance and Governance Committees.

In his Market Activation leader role, Dean executes the go-to-market strategy with the firm's industry, channel, and sales team leaders and drives collaboration with KPMG's broader advisory practice to bring KPMG's services to market.

With more than 25 years of experience in client service, Dean's previous roles include Transaction Services Leader within the Deal Advisory and Strategy practice. In this position, he provided oversight over the Accounting Advisory Services (AAS) and Financial Due Diligence service networks for the practice.

Dean has also been the global advisory services accounting change leader for the lease accounting standards under ASC 842 and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 16.

Dean is a graduate of the Partnership for New York City as a 2022 David Rockefeller Fellow. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for NY Road Runners, as well as the Greenwich Boys and Girls Club.

What has motivated you to excel over the course of your career?

I have always been driven by curiosity and a desire to learn new things. My KPMG experience has been such that no year has ever been a year of stagnation. I have had the ability to challenge myself, become uncomfortable, and grow into a valued partner to my colleagues and clients.

Whether it be working abroad, tackling a new solution-build or being tasked to lead high performers, I have always been stretched to propel myself forward in my career. The one common reason for this is having the courage to be uncomfortable, and use my years of experience to always be in a learning mode, while utilizing the skills I developed to find solutions for each challenge I faced. The pliability to use my experience and crack the code on solving for the challenges of new adventures is always something I look forward to as I go to work each day. Additionally, the fortune to work with the most talented and diverse teams inspires me to bring the best I have and be an excellent consultant.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

I don't think there is one factor that has been the biggest in my success thus far. I think there are many, but when I boil it down, it is the following:

• It is bigger than me! My approach is that I represent my firm and my partners, and no one thing that I am doing trumps the greater firm. People recognize that, and gravitate to work with me.
• Collaboration! It could be the years of playing sports during my adolescence, but I have always loved being part of a team environment. Working at KPMG tells me that we have multiple solutions that can help solve the issues our clients face. The culture of teaming is one that ensures that we are relationship driven and not transactional in our approach.
• Authenticity! You know what you get with me. I am going to be direct, transparent, but will communicate with compassionate candor.
• People First! I know that consulting is a people business and I treat each person with respect and provide them with support in any way that I can. The rise in my career has been due to those before me who served as my sponsors, paved the way for me, and helped me hone my skills to grow and thrive. It is my turn to use my blessings to do the same and be the steward to the new generations. Our people are our biggest asset, and I'm proud to be someone who embodies that.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

It is in my DNA to tackle challenges as I expect to do hard things in life, whether I'm leading a team, or planning my marathon schedule. As a consultant, clients look to me when a situation is difficult or complex. If it were easy, they wouldn't need me! Helping clients solve their business issues with outcomes that I create is truly satisfying, as I position myself as their journey partner. What starts as a task to solve turns into long-term relationships where I learn to understand the client's business and connect the best of my firm to what will help in meeting their aspirations. I'm grateful that I am devoted to a career that has a direct impact on the people I interact with. Whether it's deal-making or transformation, our work impacts clients and the broader markets. Moreover, the opportunity to work on projects that address some of the most pressing issues in the world, such as sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and the emerging impact of AI, help me align my values with my work. There's a great conversation happening in the world right now and I wake up each morning with a sense of purpose to meet the business challenges of our time.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

Personally, being blessed to have a loving and supportive family and a group of friends is what I always point to as my biggest achievement, as they have enabled me to also advance in my career. I have numerous other moments of pride and achievement over my 25-plus year career in consulting.

However, one that does give me an immense sense of joy is when KPMG was awarded the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Firm of the Year. The award coincided with the SPAC boom of 2021 & 2022. As the leader of the Transactions Services business at the time, I was at the center of KPMG's efforts to serve the exceeding demand our clients faced across the process of initiating the process of being a public company on an accelerated timeline. I coordinated the offering solutions of tax, audit and advisory, and worked seamlessly to serve our clients bringing together a comprehensive product that showcased the strength of the KPMG brand. My ability to execute on a strategy and vision and think client and firm first, allowed the firm to shine. Our clients met their deadlines through excellent client service and we were sought out as a firm which could handle the complexities and challenges of this extraordinary event.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

The best advice I've ever been given is to be authentic and true to myself. I take that to mean: don't ever forget where you come from nor who you are. It is an important reminder for anyone, but especially for consultants, who often must deal with different personalities, motivations, stakeholders and situations. I know on the other side of the table is a person, who like me, wants to do well in their job. They want to know that I can be trusted and help make them be successful in what they have hired me to help them accomplish. This has served me well, as being authentic means being honest, respectful and confident in my abilities. It also means having the tough conversations as candor is critical during the rollercoasters that can occur in an engagement. Being authentic has been my superpower in my various roles as it is critical to build followership to rally the troops behind a vision and aspiration.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I'm grateful to be recognized as a leader in our profession. I take very seriously my responsibilities to my firm, our clients, the industries we serve, and the markets that rely on our work. I'm passionate about being in the middle of a world of constant change and having the honor to be considered as someone who faces change head-on and delivers excellence with humility. I also consider the recognition of my values and a track record of service to my clients and team – these are the factors that should be at the top of everyone's ballot when assessing the nominees as it means that you are truly making an impact and contributing to a great work environment of high performance. To me though, this recognition also validates my choices for role models early in my career, and in turn the advice I give to younger professionals on their professional lives and building their careers. I love meeting executives from all over the world, leading teams and leading by example. I look at this recognition as the profession saying, "you're on the right track, do more of that!"