343 search results for aquila+"creating the effective partnership"

chemistry and mutual respect matter

by

beakers containing colorful chemicalswhy and how to evaluate chemistry among partners.

by august j. aquila
what makes a great partnership

birds of a feather flock together according to the old saying.

more on great partnerships: why expectations must be defined | why shared values are important | why ‘walking together’ is so important | 6 ways to pay partners | how to build a better firm through teamwork | 8 questions to analyze your pricing | 24 points for after the deal is done | 5 questions for every mp to answer honestly | 6 practical ways to innovate | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

you can generally judge your chemistry with someone in the earliest minutes of meeting them. it’s often best to trust your first impressions, which are based on a lifetime of experience interacting with other people.
read more →

partner performance: defining the metrics

by

standard deviation curvehow do you know whether you’re working hard on the right things?

by august j. aquila
what makes a great partnership

over the last 10 years, i have conducted surveys with the pcps division of the aicpa, which dealt with performance management.

more on great partnerships: why shared values are important | great cpa firm partnerships begin with trust | the 4 best ways to use pre-retirement partners | work together better in 11 steps | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

in 2006 only 10 percent of the firms responding to the survey indicated that their partners had written goals. six years later, only 11 percent of the firms responding to the survey indicated that their partners have written goals.

read more →

why shared values are important

by

happy multi-ethnic business team with thumbs up in the officebe specific to help everyone walk the talk.

by august j. aquila
what makes a great partnership

after trust, the second building block for a successful partnership is having shared values. it does not mean that partners are clones of one another, but partners agree upon the firm’s shared values, on how they are going to treat each other, the clients and the employees. shared values are what bring a group of individuals together to achieve something that they could not achieve individually.

more on great partnerships: great cpa firm partnerships begin with trust | are you driving your best partners crazy? | 7 warning signs for your firm | the checks and balances your firm needs | don’t weed out the roses | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the concept of core or shared values gets a lot of press and most professional service firms’ websites promote their core values to prospects, clients and recruits. but, like so many management ideas that are on the soft side, shared values are often more talk than reality.
read more →

great cpa firm partnerships begin with trust

by

chemistry formula partnership science_1000009273-120613intand the 7 other key ingredients in the cpa firm success formula.

by august j. aquila

great partnerships are like great love affairs. there needs to be chemistry. after more than 36 years of consulting with large and small professional services firms, i’ve seen all sorts of chemistry. some partnerships were almost toxic, most were tolerable and a few were great. let me share my observations about great partnerships and how they got that way.

more on great partnerships:  are you driving your best partners crazy?  |  why ‘walking together’ is so important  |  the 4 best ways to use pre-retirement partners  |  7 warning signs for your firm   |    6 ways to pay partners  |  work together better in 11 steps  |  the checks and balances your firm needs  |  how to build a better firm through teamwork  |  drop politics, be accountable  |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

many new firms, and some longtime firms, unfortunately, don’t give a lot of thought to “what makes a great partnership?” their main concern is survival. but the sooner a firm starts focusing on what makes it a great partnership, the better off it will be.

read more →

are you driving your best partners crazy?

by

businessman holding two papers with happy and angry face each on themthe best firms know another way

by august aquila

professionals loathe anything bureaucratic. but we know of many firms who ask their partners to account, in detail, for every minute of their time.

more on leadership:work together better in 11 steps | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

yellow_key_clip_art-e1375897299811-16p-hiexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

to ask high-need-for-achievement professionals at the top of their field to provide what, to them, is bureaucratic data immediately implies a complete lack of trust and respect for their expertise and their position. it is simply a motivational disaster, which distances the partners from the firm. partners know that they have to account for their time but we know too many firms that, often at the behest of the finance function, ask for a level of specificity that drives the partners to distraction.
read more →

why ‘walking together’ is so important

by

three partners, one male and two female, walking and smiling outside a buildingpartners must show a unified front.

by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
creating the effective partnership

in our work with managing partners, we always talk about the importance of the partners “walking together,” of sharing that common vision.

more on leadership for pro members: 7 warning signs for your firm | the checks and balances your firm needs | don’t weed out the roses | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger | 8 financial ducks to line up now

but if the partners are to share the vision, they have to play an active part in determining the firm’s direction – and, critically, how it’s going to get there.
read more →

the 4 best ways to use pre-retirement partners

by

older man pointing out something in a document to a younger colleaguea firm’s senior partners may be their most underused assets.

by august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership

there may be some senior partners who want to spend their remaining years basking in the sun or playing golf.

more on leadership for pro members: 7 warning signs for your firm | 6 ways to pay partners | how to build a better firm through teamwork | 8 questions to analyze your pricing | 24 points for after the deal is done | 5 questions for every mp to answer honestly | 6 practical ways to innovate | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | 8 financial ducks to line up now | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

but given the negative and low returns of the stock market the last few years, more senior partners will be concerned about their economic future and will want to stay involved in the profession. this can be a win-win situation for both parties or it can be a lose-lose.

this can be a win-win situation for both parties or it can be a lose-lose.
read more →

7 warning signs for your firm

by

man with head down on laptop keyboardif it’s suffering these, a culture change is due.

by august aquila

accountability, according to the merriam-webster online dictionary, is “the obligation or responsibility to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” let’s explore what this definition means.

more on leadership for pro members: 6 ways to pay partners | work together better in 11 steps | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

first, there is an obligation. an obligation is a promise to do something. if a company has a financial obligation and fails to meet it, it may go into bankruptcy. if individuals fail to meet their obligations they also fall into a state of bankruptcy – i.e., failure.
read more →

6 ways to pay partners

by

paying for performance alone doesn’t always work.the number 6 made from dollar stacks

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

many of us, including myself, thought that the right compensation plan would solve the answer to underperformance and motivation. over the last 10 years or so, firms have moved from a formula-based plan to a pay-for-performance plan that takes into consideration

  • production,
  • business development,
  • value enhancement and
  • behavioral factors.

more on leadership for pro members: work together better in 11 steps | the checks and balances your firm needs | don’t weed out the roses | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger

while this has helped place more emphasis on performance, it hasn’t been a magic bullet. why are so many firms still missing the boat when it comes to motivating partners and staff to perform at a higher level?
read more →

work together better in 11 steps

by

11 peoples in a circle looking down at camerato achieve your vision, your team must work in unison.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. your vision is a journey to some place in the future. it’s not where you are today. it may even take generations to get there. it becomes even more compelling when it’s somewhere your people want to go.

more on leadership for pro members: the checks and balances your firm needs | how to build a better firm through teamwork | 8 questions to analyze your pricing | 24 points for after the deal is done | 5 questions for every mp to answer honestly | 6 practical ways to innovate | how to tell a culture change is due

while it’s the ultimate destination that people engage with, the journey there is also important. if the end point is exciting and has benefits that your people share, they will be more engaged in the journey. and, when partners are engaged with the firm’s future, they perform better.
read more →

the checks and balances your firm needs

by

businessman pointing to transparent board with text: governancewhy your firm should be a republic, not a democracy.

by auqust aquila
creating the effective partnership

what checks and balances exist in your firm to keep it strong but also to protect the minority interest?

more on leadership for pro members: how to build a better firm through teamwork | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | today’s top 6 partner compensation trends

maybe it’s time for more firms to consider a republic instead of a so-called democracy. the larger firms in the country are surely run more like a republic than a democracy. smaller firms would be well advised to change their governance to mirror the larger firms. but let’s start with the dictatorial form of governance – commonly found, sometimes wildly successful, but only to a point.

how to build a better firm through teamwork

by

persuasion word cloudpartnership is about persuasion. plus 5 questions to consider.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

just as the partners need to engage with the firm’s vision so do the firm’s people. but, like everyone, they actually engage with people not words.

more on leadership for pro members: drop politics, be accountable | don’t weed out the roses | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | 11 steps to building a better partnership team | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

so, effective partners continually engage with their people, regardless of their level and role. they go out of their way to create a personal bond, sharing personal information and operating with honesty and integrity in all of their interactions.
read more →