leadership

4 questions radical firms must face

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embrace the laws of disruption.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

with revolutionary change, comes disruption. you knew that, right? the three laws of disruption say that:

  1. disruption comes to us all. so, if you’re reading this, you’re going to be disrupted. congratulations, that’s a good thing!
  2. disruption comes because of changes in the product-market fit.
  3. there are only three methods to change the product-market fit.

more on radicalism: being radical is all about your customer | being radical starts with being the change | why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

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gender bias still a problem

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businesswoman opens door to brick wall5 ways men receive preferential treatment.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

gender bias reflects entrenched beliefs and assumptions about women based on stereotypes about appropriate roles and behaviors for women.

unconscious thoughts about the kinds of work women are and are not suited for, especially if they are mothers, remove highly qualified women from consideration for leadership opportunities and positions.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: why women are overlooked (and how to fix it) | 3 ways men are favored in the workplace | women need promotions, not just advice | mentor or sponsor? how to distinguish roles | 4 ways women leaders improve firms | cpa firms must ‘man up’ and get women on board

in the past, working women suffered overt discrimination and explicit bias. they were told outright they were not “fit” for certain jobs, were too emotional and unreliable to be given responsible roles, and were taking the place of men who needed to support families. sometimes the bias was ostensibly intended to “protect” women and occasionally it was hostile. but it was out in the open and women understood the barriers they faced. read more →

being radical is all about your customer

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think in a new way, starting now.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

once you begin brainstorming about your new processes, you need to think about it from as many different viewpoints as possible, with an emphasis on design thinking. the easiest way to define design thinking is to look at it from your customer’s perspective instead of yours.

more on radicalism: being radical starts with being the change | why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

it’s not all about you. i know, i know. but hear me out. it’s hard to look at your firm from a customer’s perspective. that’s why we gravitate to a firm-centric point of view. this point of view asks questions like:

  • what do we sell customers?
  • how can we reach customers?
  • what do we need to establish with our customers?
  • and how can we make money from our customers?

we’re think­ing about ourselves internally. nobody wants to hang out with someone who only thinks of themselves, yet that is the way we run our firms.

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why women are overlooked (and how to fix it)

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five young business people at work in an office setting.3 reasons why men don’t pick women protégées.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

let’s assume a powerful man works with two junior colleagues, a man and a woman, who are both equally talented, motivated and superbly skilled performers. according to what we know from research and experience, that powerful man is more likely to sponsor the man than the woman.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: 3 ways men are favored in the workplace | women need promotions, not just advice | mentor or sponsor? how to distinguish roles | 4 ways women leaders improve firms | cpa firms must ‘man up’ and get women on board

why is that? what factors go into a sponsor’s calculation about where to place his most active support and for whom to expend his political capital? and why don’t more women come across as “leadership material,” even when their talents and abilities should make them great candidates? i have some answers.

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3 ways men are favored in the workplace

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businesswoman looking directly aheadleaders sometimes don’t see women in the same light.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

let’s assume a powerful man works with two junior colleagues, a man and a woman, who are both equally talented, motivated and superbly skilled performers. according to what we know from research and experience, that powerful man is more likely to sponsor the man than the woman.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: is sponsorship right for your firm? | and now, a few words about sex (and 14 tips) | make flexible scheduling work for everyone | your protégée needs your feedback mentor or sponsor? how to distinguish roles | 4 ways women leaders improve firms | cpa firms must ‘man up’ and get women on board | 5 ways gender bias plays out at cpa firms

why is that? what factors go into a sponsor’s calculation about where to place his most active support and for whom to expend his political capital? and why don’t more women come across as “leadership material,” even when their talents and abilities should make them great candidates? i have some answers.

read more →

being radical starts with being the change

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here are the questions you need to ask.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

“say it with me now: i am a change agent.”

before you consider adopting the cloud or any of the “new firm” mindset, you have to ask yourself if you are willing to be the change.

more on radicalism: why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

once you decide, first things, first. own it! you have to commit. if you teeter it will be harder. jump in feet first and feel the shock of the cold water. i’m not saying it won’t work if you wade in, i’m just saying it’ll be more of a challenge.

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why start being radical now?

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your competition can come from anywhere now.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

i’ve been in the cloud for eight years so it’s old news to me.

the biggest thing to do is to look around and look at the competi­tion. you can probably leave your firm and start your own firm with less than $400 a month in software and without or very limited overhead. isn’t that terrifying for you old-timers!

more on radicalism: going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

that’s what the next generation of accountants has at their disposal. and they are doing it whether it’s good or bad, whether they have the experience or not. they are opening their own accounting firms. the times they are a-changin’. read more →

women need promotions, not just advice

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woman and man executive standing in front of office buildingmen advance 2-to-1 over women without sponsors.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

the benefits of sponsorship are indisputable. having a highly placed sponsor is a distinct career advantage and when competing for top positions it can be a critical differentiator.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: is sponsorship right for your firm? | your protégée needs your feedback |  9 ways to promote your protégée to others | 8 ways to help your protégée focus on career opportunities | 3 ways to initiate informal sponsorship | 3 roadblocks to women and men working together well | fear of sex and rumors inhibits sponsorship | mentor or sponsor? how to distinguish roles | 4 ways women leaders improve firms | cpa firms must ‘man up’ and get women on board

protégées gain career-enhancing opportunities that others do not get, such as: read more →

going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’

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happy young businessman jumping in tornadothere are 4 keys, but they come down to meeting needs.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

people often ask me: what makes a firm a “new firm?” there are four fundamental tenets.

more on radicalism: why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

these four tenets, although adopted dif­ferently within each firm, compromise a new set of values that most of the “movement” firms embrace. ready? here we go:
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mentor or sponsor? how to distinguish roles

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business partners smiling in an urban settingplus 18 ways to help.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

the practice of mentorship is well known and well established in today’s workplace. a mentor is someone who helps a more junior person learn, develop and achieve her professional goals.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: is sponsorship right for your firm? | and now, a few words about sex (and 14 tips) | make flexible scheduling work for everyone | your protégée needs your feedback |  9 ways to promote your protégée to others | 8 ways to help your protégée focus on career opportunities | how to start an effective sponsorship … and follow through | 3 ways to initiate informal sponsorship | 3 roadblocks to women and men working together well

mentoring is the process by which the mentor and mentee work together to identify and help the mentee move toward those goals. but sponsorship is intended specifically to promote career advancement. read more →

why should cpas be radical?

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businesswoman lassoing light bulbthe alternative is complacency. we all know where that leads.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

cpas must be “radicalized” so they cannot be lulled into com­placency and driven by reaction to their current firm or live­lihood. the changes that are happening in today’s fast-paced world need to be addressed.

more on getting radical: the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

you and your team have already felt the changes. the silent majority of many employees are hurt, suspicious and feeling unheard. they see and experience the changes happening around them and don’t understand the complacency or the resistance to change from firm management. you may even be feeling this yourself within your firm of one.

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4 ways women leaders improve firms

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senior businesswoman studying proposalplus 6 market advantages.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

most male leaders today under­stand how important it is to keep high-performing women in the pipeline and help them achieve their potential within the organization.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: is sponsorship right for your firm? | and now, a few words about sex (and 14 tips) | make flexible scheduling work for everyone | your protégée needs your feedback |  9 ways to promote your protégée to others | 8 ways to help your protégée focus on career opportunities | 3 ways to initiate informal sponsorship | how to establish a sponsor-protégée relationship | 3 roadblocks to women and men working together well | why women resist networking and powerful role models | women must see politics as leadership to get ahead | mommy bias persists | different standards, double binds challenge women

these men are genuinely concerned about their firms’ inability to retain and advance the women they hire because having a substantial number of women leaders is a demonstrably significant benefit to the company, while a lack of gender diversity at the top of organizations can be very costly to the bottom line.

in an increasingly competitive market for talent, retaining the best people and placing them in executive roles where they can have the greatest impact is a business imperative. abundant research shows that companies with higher percentages of women leaders and senior-level managers tend to outperform their competitors. read more →

the roots of ‘radical’ cpas

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young businessman thinking, software icons in thought cloudhow the ‘new firm’ was born.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

i started to use this newfangled payroll software that worked through the internet. back then they didn’t call it the cloud. it was just payroll software that used an internet browser. it solved my business problems of preparing paychecks, paying taxes and filing tax returns for my customers. the technology was paycycle, a cloud-based payroll software.

more radical cpa: the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

paycycle (which has since been acquired by intuit) fundamentally changed my firm and my life. all of a sudden payroll became one of the most profitable areas of our firm. it also became a catalyst to selling and packaging our other core services.

it was the beginning of something bigger.

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