dom cingoranelli joins steven sacks and judy trepeck.
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with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption
with an increasing number of accounting firms embracing employee coaching, it’s becoming clear that many just aren’t doing it right, practice management advisor dom cingoranelli tells steven sacks and judy trepeck in an exclusive new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 discussion.
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“there are more and more firms who are really taking seriously their investment in their people,” says cingoranelli, emeritus founder, senior consultant at succession institute llc. “they understand that for the long term they need to develop their intellectual capital. and they realize that it’s not going to happen by itself.”
“but,” cingoranelli says, “some of them are still learning how to do it. they don’t know what they don’t know, in some cases. sometimes there are barriers to success. barriers in terms of lack of support from the top down. barriers in terms of focus on short-term performance metrics for everybody.”
dominic cingoranelli is emeritus founder and senior consultant for succession institute, llc. he has assisted professional firms in making the transition from “eat what you kill” business models to a “one-firm” business model, as well as providing general management consulting to the profession.
dom has performed strategy consulting and planning, process improvement studies, management consulting, training and development, team building, coaching and group process facilitation for a variety of groups. his clients include professional firms, professional and trade associations, project managers and executives on large, complex projects for major manufacturers, midsize to very large businesses, and other organizations dealing with change, performance and leadership issues. his list of projects includes work for names like daimlerchrysler, ford, gm, siemens, ch2mhill, american institute of cpas, and numerous multi-million-dollar highway construction projects and the contractors who build them.
transcript
dom cingoranelli and judy trepeck with steven sacks
steven sacks
hello, i’m steven sacks owner of solutions to results a consultancy that helps professional service firms and organizations in the areas of communication, culture, education and training. joining me today is judy trepeck, managing director of the trepeck group, which provides consulting and education to the cpa community. judy previously played critical roles in the aicpa in both domestic and international matters, and was also a state and local tax judge for the state of michigan. today, we’re with dominic cingoranelli, recent past executive vice president and co-founder of the succession institute that specializes in consulting management on matters relating to succession, performance management, and organizational development, both within and outside the accounting profession. thank you, dom, for joining us today.
dom cingoranelli
steve, thank you for letting me join. steve and judy, i appreciate the opportunity to be with you this afternoon.
steven sacks
that’s great. you know, dom, firms talk about how their employees are the most important assets. firms invest a lot of resources and training and development. however, when it comes to coaching, to help in the areas of cultivating expertise in business development, and international, or i should say interpersonal skills, the firms fall far short in their desired outcomes. so, before we jump into today’s discussion — in the heart of discussion on coaching and mentoring, they’re both terms using being used interchangeably. but you have a different take. what are the main differences between coaching and mentoring?
dom cingoranelli
yeah, thanks, steve. these — these terms are bandied about interchangeably and they shouldn’t be. mentoring really describes a process where the agenda is driven by the protégé, the person being mentored, rather than by the mentor. typically, it’s a, usually a less formal process. usually, the discussions are ad hoc in nature. the mentor often comes from outside the area outside of the group, or the segment where the protege is working. and, so it’s, it’s — it has some real benefits for firms that could afford it in terms of helping people get onboarded, helping people understand the culture of the firm, helping high potentials learn how to succeed within the firm as they go forward in the leadership ranks. but, coaching is far different. coaching really is something where the coach holds the protege accountable for performance, to help the coach person, the protégé, grow in their competencies to help them get where they need to be in the firm. it usually requires the coach to have a fair amount of understanding of what that protege is doing. it’s usually a more formal process. the discussions are driven by the coach. and there’s accountability. the protege is held accountable for certain performance expectations set by the coach as well. so, you can see between these two definitions, there’s quite a big spread. and, so people start throwing these discussions, these terms around, we have to ask him. tell me more about what it is you expect this person to do in this role.
steven sacks
so, do you think that coaching is being done properly in cpa firms today, regardless of their size?
dom cingoranelli
well, yes and no. there are more and more firms who are really taking seriously their investment in their people who understand that for the long term, they need to develop that intellectual capital that’s between the brains up between the ears and the brains. and they realize that that’s not gonna happen just by itself. and, so more and more firms are trying to do that, but, some of them are still learning how to do it. they don’t know what they don’t know, in some cases. sometimes there are, are barriers to success; barriers in terms of lack of support from the top down. barriers in terms of, of focus on short-term performance metrics for everybody. let’s just get the billable hours in; bill it and collect it. and, if you get time after you put in your 60 hours, or whatever it is, see if you can coach that person over there to get them functional. and, and, so those really create some issues for many firms, but because they’re just not doing it right. you know, one time we called up, we were doing interviews for a firm to get ready to go in for some strategic planning. we learned that one of the partners was very, very awesome. she was like bionic in her coaching of people. so, i talked with her. i said, hey, tell me about your coaching. what how does that fact your pay? and she says, well, so far, it hasn’t hurt me yet. and so that’s unfortunately, that’s the kind of culture that we run into all too often in the profession.
judy trepeck
i talked to a large firm at one time that felt like they were having problems with their coaching process. and what i found was that the coaches, number one, didn’t get any training to be a coach to somebody. and number two, looked at their own work and their own set of responsibilities. well, heck, i got to get those done first, before i can spend any time with dom, you know. so, by the time they’re ready for dom, it was 8:30 at night. and dom’s a young guy with his family and, you know, trying to balance his life. and, so the timing was all off. so, i saw that there just wasn’t the training, that a coach really needs to be effective,
dom cingoranelli
well, not only that, not only a lack of training, but there’s also a lack of understanding of performance management. and, so the firms think that if they keep paying people for what they’ve always been doing, and then just say, hey, by the way, you need to coach some of these people and make them better, then it’s going to happen. but if coaching those people doesn’t figure into what is going to go into my paycheck, why do you think i’m going to do it? if you keep paying me to do something else, why do you think i’m going to do this? and, so there’s a combination of all of these factors that come together to create a perfect storm of incompetent or — or just non-existent coaching at times,
judy trepeck
or bad?
steven sacks
yeah. fundamentally, aren’t there certain types of skills that a coach must need, presumably interpersonal skills and otherwise? where do you find the gaps? what specifically is missing?
dom cingoranelli
yeah, that’s, that’s another good question. when you think about what a coach does, you know, a coach has to help people understand their expectations, has to help set them up for success, has to assess where they need assistance, and then find ways to provide that assistance, and give them the on the job learning experience, formal and informal training. you can see that that’s all pointing to some very key competencies. so, for instance, communication, like you said, interpersonal skills. communication. does the coach know how to ask open-ended questions? does the coach know how to actively listen? can the coach monitor nonverbals? how self-aware is the coach? what sort of — what sort of level of emotional intelligence does that person have as being asked to coach? not only that. how much do they understand when it comes to delegation, to the process of coaching in the firm, to what motivates people? how about, as you said, general interpersonal skills, including generating a following, developing a following so people want to have this person help them? people trust them. can they engender trust? if i don’t trust you why would i think you’re going to help me get better? if i’m used to getting snarled and snapped at why would i think that you’re going to make me a better professional. not only that, but they need to have some sense, job competency regarding the area that we’re being coached in as well. you know, it’s — it’s, if i’m in the tax side of the house, why would you expect me to be able to coach you to success if you’re in the assurance services side?
judy trepeck
except that there’s a perspective that outside — somebody outside the team can give to — i’m presuming a young person, you know. so, i mean, tax and the, you know, i understand that, you know, because the competencies, you know, can be different. but sometimes it’s hard isn’t it to have a coach in that same — you know, that same line as you’re working, or somebody whose team you’re sitting on?
dom cingoranelli
well, actually, that’s the ideal situation, because that’s the only way that coach is going to understand what you’re doing to help you get better at it and to hold you accountable at it. and for you to be able to go to them and say i need some help here. and, so what you’ve described having somebody sit on the other side, that actually is what the mentors do, and they do a good job of it. for the firms in a small to medium — small to mid-size, small to medium-sized firms who have very limited budgets, we suggest go with the coach to begin with. if, then ,you’ve got that working properly. then if you want to layer on another, another level of assistance, then put in the mentoring side over and above it like that.
judy trepeck
how long do you think — or maybe how long is it typical if we can say that, typical amount of time that somebody remains with the same coach? like, is it a year, you know, what i mean? like a year or 18 months or, you know, before they should get a taste of somebody else, right?
dom cingoranelli
yeah. and that’s gonna vary, because there’s so many different factors to consider. a small firm may not have the luxury of being able to get people multiple coaches. the other side of it too, though, is that as you progress, then you should be getting coached. as you get to another position, you should be getting coached by somebody else in that new position as well. and so that can vary 12 months, 18 months, something like that. just kind of depends on what your circumstances are.
steven sacks
so, if a firm decides that it needs coaching for whatever reason, how can someone — let’s say, the managing partner or the leadership group within the firm, immediately tell whether someone has the right aptitude and attitude to be an effective coach?
dom cingoranelli
well, you know, that’s, that’s a great question. because when you look at this, you guys have got some wonderful questions here today. you know, again, right aptitude and attitude. do they have a passion for developing and growing people? or do they have a passion for just cranking out work? do they have a passion for sitting back research hairy technical things? or do they have a passion for helping other people learn how to research their hairy technical things? do they have a sense of that, like we said, before, their self-awareness, self-monitoring? the will? do they have themselves a willingness to learn, a willingness to be open to learning new ways of doing things? because part of what you’re going to find is when you’re dealing with people, there’s no — everybody’s a little different. so how do you approach somebody particular needs within — within a framework within a structure to help them be successful? so, all those kinds of things. and again, what sort of interpersonal skills that you bring? you know, we have all seen people in the firms we’ve worked, in organizations we’ve worked, with the organizations where we’ve helped, just simply, if you would look at them, and you’d ask that they’re their peers, or the layer above them who are the who are the coaching potentials here? there’s always one or two that just come right to mind. and then there’s always one or two or more who just everybody just says no, that’s, that’s not where we’re gonna get the highest and best use for those people. right? so that’s kind of what we look at.
steven sacks
so, in, so once you found the right person who has the right aptitude and attitude and you’ve sort of pre-planned how you would like to approach this whole new era of coaching. let’s talk a little bit about the coaching process. what does it typically entail?
dom cingoranelli
sure, sure. you know, bottom line, coaching process, bottom line, is there to help somebody learn how to do their job. is helping them connect the dots between their cognitive understanding of what this job should look like, and the actual practical, getting the job done. how do we actually get out there and make it happen? sure, i’ve been trained in how to perform certain audit or review procedures. great. what does that look like in this firm? how do i actually make that happen within the budgets and do a good qc job and all of that? i’ve been trained about some principles of corporate taxation. how do i actually apply those and in either the planning work i’m going to do or the compliance work i’m going to do? so, really, the coach’s role, it involves helping them understand where their developmental needs are, getting the buy in on it, holding up the mirror to them in that respect, to say, here’s kind of what we see, here’s where we think we can really help you grow. and then looking for developmental assignments, the training, and so on, and providing that ongoing monitoring and feedback. and one of the areas where people really fall short in our profession, maybe more so than in others, but for sure in our profession, is knowing when and how much to monitor somebody. and, so it’s like a one size fits all. i go to you and i say steve, here this, this tax return, this file, this, this project, needs completed within two weeks, within a week, whatever it is. and i give it to you. i say, you know, look at what we did last year. if you have any questions, come see me. and if that’s the first time ever you’ve done that, what’s that going to look like at the end of a week or two if i just walk away. and yet so many people make the mistake of doing that — because they look and they say, well, look, he’s got, he’s got an accounting degree. he’s got a master’s degree. he’s got this many years of experience. heck, he even passed the cpa exam. he ought to know how to do this. nobody held my hands when i was growing up in the profession. why should i hold? right? you know, why should i hold their hands? and, and, so they — they don’t understand that we have to take a look at — has this person ever done this job before? this particular kind of work? how expert are at they doing? by the way, how comfortable are they with it? if they’re a little insecure, or a lot insecure, i’m going to need to spend a little more time with them, to get them comfortable with it, and help them be successful, rather than just dumping them into the deep end of the swimming pool. and every time they come up for air and they just got over to grab that — that side of the swimming pool, i step on their fingers. and i say, no, no, you’re okay. you’re okay. just keep, keep trying. you’ll learn how to swim, if you stay out there long enough. just keep treading water.
steven sacks
so that’s an interesting analogy. i didn’t know there was such violence in the profession. so, as a coach, what type of action plan would you create? how far out would you go? you know, what are some of the basic elements?
dom cingoranelli
well, you know, and this kind of goes back to judy’s question when she talks about, you know, how long do we spend with a coach. if we’re looking at having somebody and being able to work with them for a year or so. you know, really, we look at kind of a 30-, 60-, 90-day kind of approach. and, so let’s take a look at creating an immediate action plan based on — on some very, very reasonable kinds of steps that need to be put in place right away, and see what that’s going to do over the next weeks, next 30 days or so. and we continue to check in and see how we’re doing. and we continue then to build on that success. one of the things we talked about in action planning is let’s not, let’s not take more than one or two areas at a time to focus on. because you can, you may have 10 or 12 areas you need to work on, right? but let’s focus on one or two or three or four and, and allow them to get some really good traction in those. and then we can add the next two or three in on top of that as we go forward. and, so it’s a matter of sitting down with the protege and talking about what it is we’re going to work on, and then create some — a shared understanding by working with them to say, here’s what i think the next steps would be. and here’s how we’re going to measure success, which i know you’re going to want to talk about. but, but, that’s another thing. many people will take somebody that don’t know what they’re doing. going to say, okay, here’s where you need to fix things, you need to get better at this. i want you to come back to me in two days with an action plan. look, most of the people to come to work for us are reasonable, bright, intelligent, motivated, folks. most of the time, if they knew how to do it, you wouldn’t be having this discussion with them to begin with. that’s why they need us to help create the action plans. in many cases, they’re going to need a little bit more help just to kind of understand what that’s going to look like, step by step.
steven sacks
that’s interesting, because we were going to talk about measuring success and what the metrics that –that you put in place. you know, i’ve worked in public accounting, worked in associations. same with judy. so, we’ve seen a number of different environments, you know. what has evolved the most over the past 5, 10, 15 years in terms of measurements? or are there new metrics that are being employed?
dom cingoranelli
i think the metrics — the metrics totally depend on what you’re trying to do. and so, to the extent that people are getting an awareness that we need to leverage our work better, which you know, is something that the succession institute has hounded people about for years, is partners need to leverage. they need to push work down. managers need to take their work and push it down. it needs to get pushed down to the lowest level possible in all situations. so, to the extent that people are finally looking and saying, okay, how do we leverage our work? then there’s metrics we need to create, that we need to follow to say, so how much work have i pushed down? what level of work am i working at? and so what kinds of codes am i using to bill my work? how many — how many billable hours on my work if i’m a partner now are being done by other people outside of the partner level? what sort of a ratio is there to that? so many of our — our metrics are pretty easy to do, you know? heck accountants, right? we’re accountants, we, we measure stuff! well, where accountants start getting a little bit flummoxed is when we’re dealing with qualitative metrics. how do we — how do we attract something like teamwork? i need somebody to be a better team player. well, some of these things are obvious to a reasonable person who’s just watching. and, so if judy comes to me and says, dom, i need you to help me on this project. and i always say, yeah, yeah, i’ll get to it. and i never helped judy. that’s something that can be reasonably observed over a period of a week, or two, or three or four. and we can look and say, you know, dom, it doesn’t sound like you’ve been a good team player. judy keeps asking you for help, and you just keep putting her off. and i — well, yeah, i always help her. well, no, let’s take a look at where you have. and then we can take a look at other metrics to see. have i helped judy or not? so those kinds of things. you know, some of the issues with people in our profession is not everybody’s wired to be quite as self-aware as others. and, so, they may be a little more difficult to get along with than others. we, we can watch for those kinds of behaviors. or how about responsiveness to clients? you know, those are the kinds of things you can kind of poke around in emails and phone calls and try to figure out. did dom get back with this client when he was supposed to? is there a turnaround time that i’m meeting or not? does that make sense?
judy trepeck
let me before, you know we end, i want to make sure — let’s talk about the mentoring versus the coaching side. i know that i’ve had probably three, i would say three really great mentors in my professional career. and i’ve always, i’ve usually sought them out. you know, you meet somebody and you go, boy, i would love to spend more time with that person. and when i’ve asked, it’s kind of interesting. one person that i asked when i called her to ask her if i could come visit her and her firm, and pay her for her time for like two days, and just hang with her and see what she does. you know, she was like, whoa, nobody’s ever asked me that. anyway, those mentors taught me different things that i learned within the firm. do i have a responsibility to — because i was, i had my own firm at the time — a small firm. but, do i have a responsibility to share, that i do have an outside mentor, or what i’m learning from that outside mentor with the people, the partners, or my supervisor who i work for, you know, how to, what’s the balance between that and how much information is optimal to share?
dom cingoranelli
so, do you have a responsibility to share within your firm with — to your bosses that you’ve got an outside mentor? i don’t know. that’s a good question. you know, it’s the kind of thing that if, if you have a reasonable working relationship there, and good, good respect for you among the bosses, why wouldn’t you share it? you’ve got some high-powered person outside the firm mentoring you with that, right? you don’t have to, i would imagine. but why wouldn’t you? you know, many firms, as you mentioned that, judy, that’s a good point. many firms bring in outside coaches, or mentors, or consultants, to help high-level people, either high potentials to help them move up, or sometimes, sometimes we were brought in to help folks let them down. yeah, yeah. not, not like you, but folks who were struggling. and, so when they bring us in is kind of like, they’re throwing everything at the problem they can to try to fix something, right? and everybody’s leadership is aware of that, too. but, that’s not uncommon for highly motivated, driven professionals to go and look for somebody outside the firm as a mentor. now, that’s not the most common mentorship that we see. partly because there’s maybe not that many highly driven, self-motivated, results-oriented people that look and say, where do i need to go to get a little bit better help on this? you know? in that respect, you were probably kind of the — the outlier — in a good way.
judy trepeck
yeah, no, i understand what you’re saying. yeah, it was unusual at the time.
dom cingoranelli
well, and i think it’s still somewhat unusual as we look at it in terms of external mentors, and seeking them out. but that’s also another, what you’ve pointed out is another — another attribute of a mentor relationship, is that the mentors are often sought out by the protegees. they look and they say, i want to know what she knows. i want to know what he knows, i want them to walk with me and show me what i need to do to be like them, or to be successful. yeah, that’s a good question. good point.
steven sacks
judy, do you have any final thoughts or questions for dommy as we near the end?
judy trepeck
no, i mean, it’s such a great topic, and it’s so critical. it doesn’t matter what size the firm is. it’s, it’s a critical issue. because leaving people to be on their own, and, you know, learn it through osmosis, you know, that kind of thing. it just doesn’t work. and if we’re willing to pay somebody, we ought to take responsibility to help nurture them. so, i just i appreciate, you know, being able to talk about it with — with somebody like dom, who has been doing this for a really long time, and helping firms create that process, that — that you refer to, so that they can be successful at it. because being bad, you know, having it not be successful is worse than not even doing it.
steven sacks
i agree, i think now since we have two major factors, which are causing an inflection point, and one is the time in which senior leadership of firms will be retiring, added to that when we get back to the so-called “new normal,” if you will, where remote operation of firms — where communications is going to be critical, that i think firms are going to start to look at how effective or not their coaching system is, or whether they need to establish one pronto. final thoughts, dommy?
dom cingoranelli
i agree. and the remote workforce presents even more problems when it comes to coaching people because you’ve got that — you just can’t do the same thing on the screen as you can when you’re in person with somebody. that’s gonna — that’s gonna make coaching even more valuable and more necessary as you go forward with it.