the size of your firm doesn’t matter. commitment does.
by anthony zecca
leading from the edge
let’s talk about leadership – the type of leadership necessary to drive an organization to become a standout, high-performing organization. although many of the principles are applicable to any middle-market organization, i have focused on professional service firms and within that, accounting firms where i spent my entire career.
every firm, every firm leader, every partner, and every team member can stand out and be a top performer. it’s a choice and a commitment to excel.
more on edge leadership: assessing your firm | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders | why leaders must ensure clarity | incremental vs. exceptional success | do you lead or just manage? | managing vs. leading | is your leadership team at the edge? | 6 leadership challenges through covid and beyond | edge leaders share 7 strengths | leadership must drive culture | leading from the edge
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throughout my career, i have worked with some fabulous standout organizations, some that were just improving a little each year and some that could not get out of their own way. i have worked with many leaders who consistently drove their organizations to excellence and significant growth in revenue and profits outperforming most in their industry.
i started to wonder, was there one factor that these standout organizations all shared?
leadership was and is the one critical factor that separated standout organizations from the ones that struggled to improve. leadership was and is what drives performance – and that is my central theme. the issue or question is what type of leadership achieves standout performance, because there is a spectrum of leadership that goes from poor, to average (center) and in a small percentage of organizations to “the edge” (i.e., standout, high performance). i will talk about leading from the edge.
my experience with so many organizations got me to thinking, what makes a great leader? is it personality? is it technical skills? is it their style of leadership? is it the underlying organization? is it simply the market they are in? is it luck and timing? is it all of the above, none of the above or is it something else?
what is it that makes someone a great leader? tons of books have already been written about leadership – so why write another book? i believe that leadership in professional service firms, particularly accounting firms, presents unique leadership challenges, reflecting the divergence in size, services performed, governance structures, markets in which they operate, and an ownership structure that often finds it difficult to separate ownership from management. accounting firms are facing significant headwinds driven by changes in what clients expect, want, and need from their accounting firm and the challenges that presents in moving from a compliance mindset to an advisory, value-based mindset. leaders in accounting firms must show the way and lead the change from the historical compliance-based firm to a firm that creates value for its clients – leaders must move from the center to the edge.
great leaders “lead from the edge” – they are constantly motivating each member of their team to reach and achieve ever-higher levels of performance – expanding out their personal “edge.” edge leaders are constantly testing the edges, knowing that their team and the firm are always capable of more. what sets edge leaders apart from most leaders in professional service firms is that they face and win the challenge every day to create that “more” in a motivating, inspiring environment. the “edge” for great leaders is not a static place, but an evolving, ever-moving edge. “leading from the edge” is a cultural model that starts at the top and permeates the entire leadership team and firm. the “edge” is not the same for every leader, but it is an aspirational model that reflects the best of what leadership is – a level of leadership that every leader or aspiring leader should strive to achieve.
great edge leaders adjust their leadership style to fit the situations they are facing. they understand that sometimes you have to push, sometimes pull, and sometimes walk alongside their team to drive performance. edge leaders understand that a one-style-fits-all approach to leadership just does not work and they have to adjust their leadership approach to the personality of the people they are leading.
“you have to meet (lead) people where they are.” – steve feron, leader of johnson o’connor
great edge leaders like feron understand that their team is diverse in many ways and the approach to leading a strong performer is not the same as leading others who are growing in their performance skills.
we will focus on what edge leaders look like and how they lead their firms as well as compare and contrast with center leaders – leaders of firms that are more complacent and unable or unwilling to drive their firms to the level of a standout, high-performing firm.
what distinguishes edge leaders from center leaders is the edge leader’s courage and commitment to create a vision and culture to drive their firm to the front of the pack. the edge leader understands the importance of empathy in driving everyone’s performance. the focus and ability to overcome challenges, anticipated or not, such as the current challenge presented by covid-19, and always remaining true to the vision and culture necessary to become a standout, high-performing firm represent the hallmark of an edge leader.
edge leaders understand that creating a sustainable standout, high-performing firm can only be achieved by:
- creating a culture of excellence,
- building a standout team throughout the entire firm whereby every person in the firm can flourish and grow in their skills and career,
- building an organization that is client-centric,
- being market-intelligent regarding client current and future wants and needs,
- instilling a culture of empowerment coupled with accountability,
- inspiring everyone to live the vision, mission, and core values of the firm,
- maintaining everyone’s focus on the future vision of the firm and the strategic plan to achieve that vision and finally,
- ensuring that the entire leadership team is always confidently courageous and leading from the edge.
we will examine each of the above aspects.
edge leaders constantly look down the road to understand what their current and future clients will need and what challenges their clients will be facing, then ensure that the firm is ready to help clients meet those challenges. edge leaders have a constant pulse on the future regarding firm-related challenges and opportunities, thus ensuring that the firm is ready, willing and able to overcome each challenge and to maximize each opportunity.
“my greatest challenge as the leader of the firm is making sure the firm is future ready.” – lou grassi, leader of grassi & co.
i started my career in 1970 as a junior accountant at a small $5 million firm in new jersey. i remained with that firm for almost my entire career, moving from junior to partner in 11 years and beginning my transition to management consulting in the mid-1980s. although auditing was my initial career path, i was so much more interested and passionate about understanding how each of my client companies worked. what made the good ones good? what made the bad ones bad? and what kept so many muddled in the middle of their industry by all metrics that mattered?
i was excited to observe great client companies, their leadership, their marketing, their core business processes, their challenges, and how they were able to stand out year after year. the more companies and leaders i observed, the more i realized that the one common factor reflected in each was they all were led by exceptional, edge leaders.
to me, it seemed so simple to stand out; so why did so many companies across all industries just settle for the middle and be seemingly content to just fit in? as i observed clients and spoke to management and employees in “average”-performing organizations, it just reinforced my belief that the ability to stand out and become a top-performing company was more impacted by leadership than anything else.
center leadership creates a culture in which the focus is on talking about change and success versus focusing on achieving actual results. talk is the currency of success – not results. the annual budget is the strategy and effort, not results, became the benchmark of achievement. empowerment and accountability are just words, and the courage to test the edges of the organization’s capabilities is not in the dna of the center leader or in the heart and soul of the partners. in center-led firms, the understood purpose of the firm as communicated by leadership is to improve the bottom line.
edge leaders communicate that their purpose as a firm is not to maximize revenue and profit but to make a difference in the lives of its employees, its clients, and the greater community it serves. edge leaders understand that growth and profit result from driving the execution of the firm’s vision, mission, core values, and strategy through teamwork, empowerment/accountability, and a constant focus on adding value with every client interaction – making a difference.
“we are here to make a difference.” – ron weiner, leader of perelson weiner llp
i will examine leadership and what differentiates an edge leader from a center leader. i will provide specific actions to achieve the level of edge leadership and to become a standout, high-performing firm. most of my work focuses on professional service organizations, particularly accounting firms, but the concepts apply to any organization in any industry and at any stage in their life cycle.
my own experience in leadership plays an important role in the concepts presented. when i took over the consulting practice in my firm, total consulting revenue was about $1.5 million with me and one other partner and a few staff. when i stepped down about 12 years later, the consulting division had grown to about $70 million with 24 partners, 300 employees, and eight offices across the country. i was the leader of a consulting practice that became larger than most professional service organizations. our clients ranged from small startups to large, multinationals such as toys “r” us, avon, engelhard, and mastercard to name a few. as the leader of the consulting division, i worked through many of the challenges discussed throughout my book. my own personal leadership experience, both the good and the bad, as well as my consulting experience with numerous leaders throughout many industries form the basis of my work.
my goal is that if you are the leader in a professional services organization, a practice leader within a firm, or an aspiring leader in any organization for that matter, what follows provides insights that you can implement to become an edge leader and drive your organization and your team to the level of a standout, high-performing firm/team. the size of your firm does not matter. if your firm has revenue of $2 million or $250 million, the road to creating a standout, high-performing firm as well as the evolution of your leadership from where you are today to the edge is the same.