This paper features the different success stories of successful non-CPAs who

graduated BSA from BU. It is a potent reminder that there is no unique path to success;
indeed, that success is not a single thing that everyone can all agree on (Bostock, 2014).
There are many ways to define success which correlates with the life experiences of a
person. The researchers will glimpse insights to what success really means to each of
the respective respondents of the study. The research participants are the successful
(define success) non-CPAs as mentioned hitherto. Since they are (imply the definition of
success). Hence, the theory that serves as the foundation of the study is the Great
Person Theory or also known as Great Man Theory.

This theory is usually applied as leadership theory which indicates the success of
a leader and the whole organization, but in this case it may be associated to the success
of a person. Great Man Theory (GMT) is the well-spring from which much of the
leadership literature derives (Bass,1990; Bennis, 2003; Burns, 1978). The literature
describes Great Men (Northouse, 2004). According to August Turak (2013), success
emerges from the active push of individuals rather than the passive pull of
environmental forces acting on them.

The Great Man Theory was a popularized by Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century.
This theory argues that great men and women shape history rather than being merely
shaped by it. It relies on what might be called an inside-out model of human
psychology. Similarly, early business historians extolled the virtues of self-made men
like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller and people like Dale Carnegie and
Napoleon Hill concentrated on inspirationally reinforcing the inside-out will to
succeed in the individuals (Turak, 2013). A self-made man is anyone who attains far
greater success than his original circumstances would have indicated was possible. The
self-made man often has to overcome great obstacles to achieve his goals. They attain
their success through education, hard work, and sheer willpower (Brett and McKay,
2008).

According to the book of Thomas Carlyle (1840), entitled Heroes and Hero-
worship, all things that anyone sees standing accomplished in the world are properly the
outer material result, the practical realisation and embodiment, of thoughts that dwelt in
the great men sent into the world. The idea presented in the great man theory also
revolves around this myth, with certain notions that a great man would magically rise.
The greatness of a person has nothing to do with the environmental factors.
 REFERENCES:

(Bass,1990) Bass, B: Handbook of leadership. New York: Macmillian, Inc., 1990.

(Bennis, 2003) Bennis, W: On becoming a leader. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books

Group.

(Burns, 1978) Burns, J: Leadership. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

(Northouse, 2004) Northouse, P: Leadership theory and practice (3 Eds.) Thousand

Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

(Bostock 2014) Bostock, Jo: The Meaning of Success: Insights from women at
Cambridge. University of Cambridge, 2014.

(Brett and McKay, 2008) Brett & McKay Kate: 25 of the Greatest Self-Made Men in
American History. 2008. online. url: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/12/28/self-
made-men/ (visited on May 9, 2017).