try one today; see what happens. by lisa tierney would you be interested in motivating the members of your organization to change in a way that would encourage them to take ownership of their role and show responsibility for the … continued
eight structured steps that cpa firms can use to develop and nurture talent.
unfortunately, even the best-intentioned mentoring initiatives can easily fizzle in the early stages, before delivering value to the participants and the organization at large, according to molly sargent of norwalk, conn.-based professional impressions consulting.
molly has trained and coached thousands of financial professionals and client-facing executives in professional image, presentation skills, business etiquette and sales effectiveness. since 1985, she has helped major accounting firms and fortune 500 companies, including aetna, american express, at&t, citibank, goldman sachs, jpmorgan, key bank, mastercard, pricewaterhousecoopers and prudential achieve breakthrough results.
with so much to gain, how can your firm initiate mentoring in a way that is successful and sustainable?
sometimes bosses make the best mentors.
by joseph t. eckelkamp
eckelkamp and associates, cpas
i’ve been blessed with many great bosses over the years — many were mentors. jim finkenkeller, jim garone, phil sattler, and marc welp immediately come to mind. but, without a doubt, the three that stand out above the rest are richard goldberg, keith roever, and jerry kolar.
in each case, the single thing that stands out is they genuinely wanted to see me succeed for my own benefit–not just because they needed me to look good so they would look good–and they were willing to “just talk” about stuff. that built very high levels of two-way trust that added to the relationship. all three remain close friends to this day even though i haven’t worked directly with them in at least a dozen years. i wouldn’t call any of them “drinkin’ buddies”, but the friendships are strong and enduring.