Beyond the Boardroom: How Shared Values Guided a KPMG Leader Through Crisis

There are moments in business when the impact stretches far beyond the constraints of the boardroom and reveals the humanity in all of us. For Ricardo Delfin, a senior partner at KPMG, such a moment came suddenly, far from home, just before the launch of a custom executive education program at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Each year since its inception in 2015, the Office of Custom Executive Education has hosted and delivered the KPMG Americas Leadership Development Program, which has educated and empowered more than 250 leaders within KPMG’s America’s region. And every year, senior partners like Delfin, take time away from their responsibilities to experience Georgetown and build new skills to enhance their ability to lead diverse, global teams. 

A Course in Collision: The Accident that Changed Delfin’s Life 

In 2022, on the fateful Sunday’s eve before the program’s final module at Georgetown McDonough, Delfin had taken an Uber from Dulles Airport and was almost to his hotel when the car was struck head-on by another vehicle going the wrong way up an exit ramp. The next thing he remembered was waking up and realizing he had sustained multiple life-threatening injuries.

“It was a late flight. I arrived around 1 a.m.,” said Delfin. “I was in the backseat responding to a ton of emails and messages from a long day of travel – when suddenly I felt a quick movement of the car. When I looked up to see what was happening, I just saw headlights coming towards my Uber. Then, I blacked out.”

When he woke up, Delfin could feel his body was in terrible shape. He pieced together that he had been in an accident. At that moment, many questions raced through his mind:

Where am I?

How long will it take people to realize I am not at the program?

Will anyone know where I am?

How damaged is my body?

With the mangled car sprawled precariously in the middle of the highway, he began to realize he was struggling to breathe and quickly concluded his injuries were serious. (Delfin later learned that he had sustained 14 broken ribs and a ruptured abdomen, which was why he couldn’t breathe.) Worried another car would come from behind and cause another collision, Delfin pulled himself out of the car.

“The next thing I remember is a lady arriving at the scene and saying ‘guys we’ve called 911,’” explained Delfin. 

Emergency services rushed to the scene, and he was immediately transported to the nearest medical facility at the Virginia Hospital Center.

“I had no control over where they were taking me. If I’d had this accident in my country [Mexico], I would’ve been able to tell them which hospital or doctor and to call my wife and tell her where I was. I didn’t have any control.”

Georgetown’s long-held Jesuit tradition of cura personalis means a profound care and responsibility for one another, attentive to each person’s circumstances and concerns and gifts.

The next day, Delfin was due to welcome the two dozen KPMG partners assembled in the classroom at Georgetown. After attempts to reach him were unsuccessful, KPMG and Georgetown staff began to worry. News of Delfin’s accident finally reached Ashley Baker, associate dean of Custom Executive Education, through a colleague of Delfin’s who had also been a participant in a previous cohort. Delfin’s wife was en route, they said, and would be arriving within the hour. Realizing a nearby relative would not be able to make it to the airport in time to meet Delfin’s wife, Baker quickly made the decision to drive to the airport and meet her himself.  

“I thought it would help her to be met by someone who knew what had happened, and knew Ricardo,” explained Baker. “I was the only one who knew those things, and also knew the area and the hospital where he had been taken. I did what anyone would do in that situation, and just jumped in and helped.” 

The Road to Recovery

Over the next three months, Delfin’s road to recovery was long and hard, including going through more than six surgeries at the Virginia Hospital Center. He was not allowed to travel or even leave the hospital during that time. Thankfully, his wife was able to be by his side, and his sons also regularly traveled to be with him.

“The same people who gave me peace–my sons, my wife, my siblings, my mother, my friends–those are the ones who gave me the power to fight for my life,” explained Delfin.

During his time in the hospital, Delfin felt deep care and gratitude from the nurses and doctors who he believed were his angels. He is quick to acknowledge he could have not gotten through the recovery experience without them.

The feeling of gratitude and appreciation was reciprocated by the staff at the Virginia Hospital Center. At the end of Delfin’s hospital stay, the hospital staff awarded Delfin for being one of the patients who had most inspired them that year – a true testament to the impact that care and compassion can have on all human beings.

From Crisis to Catharsis: Shared Values-in-Action between KPMG and Georgetown

Just one year later after his accident, Delfin went back to Georgetown to support the next cohort of partners in the KPMG Americas Leadership Program.

“I also come from a Jesuit university, so Georgetown feels like home to me. I see a lot of similarities,” said Delfin. “Even something as simple as Ashley going to the airport to pick up my wife and giving her a shoulder to cry on, visiting the hospital multiple times including bringing his son, giving me words of encouragement – it gave me a mental companionship, which gave me comfort. So, I knew I needed to get back to Georgetown. Both Ashley and the dean welcomed me back with open arms.” 

Delfin is an alumnus of the KPMG Americas Leadership Development Program, and the lead for clients and markets at KPMG Mexico. KPMG International’s independent member firms constitute a global presence of 189,000 professionals, including roughly 9,000 partners, operating in 152 countries. The purpose of the program, consisting of modules in Mexico City, São Paulo, and Washington D.C., is to foster exceptional leaders in a globally connected world. Participants engage with firm leaders, program alumni, Georgetown McDonough faculty, executive coaches and others, giving them access not only to the best thinking on leadership, but also a powerful network of friends and mentors. 

“When I develop leaders at KPMG, I tell them it’s not only the technical skills that you want to develop, it’s the soft skills, too,” said Delfin. “Being a companion – being someone who takes care of the whole person and not just the job. That’s what I’ve found in Georgetown. [When the accident happened], they were concerned about me as a person, my wife, and kids. It helped my family feel that they were not alone during those challenging times. That’s an important value – for everyone to be treated with respect and to embrace the whole person. That’s something I treasure.” 

The success and longevity of the KPMG-Georgetown partnership is the result of both institutions’ commitment to following a core set of common values, according to Delfin.

“Through this program and beyond, Georgetown is not just developing professionals – they are developing people. These mutual values are why KPMG and Georgetown are so aligned,” Delfin said.