{"id":131670,"date":"2024-10-17t11:59:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-17t15:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=131670"},"modified":"2024-10-29t19:22:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29t23:22:40","slug":"how-leadership-looks-and-feels-at-cpa-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2024\/10\/17\/how-leadership-looks-and-feels-at-cpa-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/strong><\/p>\n thirty ways that firms are developing staff into partners.<\/strong><\/p>\n by marc rosenberg<\/i> \u201cbefore you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. when you become a leader, success is all about growing others.\u201d \u2013 jack welch<\/p>\n \u201cgood employees make mistakes. great leaders let them.\u201d \u2013 anonymous<\/p>\n we are probably the millionth people to form a list of important leadership qualities, but we want to share what we have learned from working with cpa firms for over 20 years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n many of these traits are geared to partners and firm management, but many apply to staff as well.<\/p>\n vision:<\/strong> a leader is always thinking about what the firm should<\/strong> be and regularly meets with other firms to share best practices. good leaders embrace change.<\/p>\n delegation:<\/strong> leaders should not be burdened with heavy client responsibility and administration. they need to have the mental focus to create the time to manage a cpa firm well.<\/p>\n people skills:<\/strong> treat people well; show empathy. leaders see people for what they can<\/strong> be, for their potential. great leaders understand that the no. 1 reason staff leave firms is a poor relationship with the boss, so they work hard to be great bosses.<\/p>\n inspiration:<\/strong> introduce excitement and enthusiasm into the firm. this goes a long way toward engaging staff in the firm, a key to retention. you want staff to look forward to coming to work each day.<\/p>\n conflict resolution:<\/strong> excel at conflict management; deal with problems promptly.<\/p>\n change:<\/strong> facilitate change and overcome resistance to it. stubbornly clinging to the old ways guarantees defeat. understand the words of roberto goezueta, former president of coca-cola: \u201cto succeed, we have to disturb the present.\u201d<\/p>\n listening:<\/strong> listening is the first act of respect and mutual support.<\/p>\n accountability:<\/strong> unless there are consequences when people fail to do what is expected of them, they will be less likely to meet expectations. good leaders hold others accountable in positive ways instead of holding a club over their heads.<\/p>\n leadership development:<\/strong> leaders grow the people to lead the organization before<\/strong> the current leaders are gone.<\/p>\n communication:<\/strong> good communication is all about talking and writing … clearly.<\/p>\n cpa firms are businesses and should be run as such. embrace the corporate, not the partnership, governance model.<\/p>\n says tony kendall, managing partner of mitchell and titus: \u201ci can\u2019t manage this firm if i have to take a vote every time i want to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n charisma is vastly overrated; it\u2019s more important to be a leader with inspired standards.<\/p>\n leadership development practices<\/strong><\/p>\n training<\/strong><\/p>\n firmwide career development<\/strong><\/p>\n interpersonal skills development<\/strong><\/p>\n at a chicago roundtable group i led, i convened a panel of three new partners from local cpa firms. all three firms were midsize, enjoyed sparkling reputations in the chicago community and were highly successful by any measure. highlights:<\/p>\n mr: <\/strong>what were the keys to becoming a partner for you?<\/p>\n panelist: <\/strong>first, earning a reputation with the partners for getting things done and being reliable. second, mentoring i received from older partners was critical to advancing in the firm. third, establishing solid relationships with clients. this enabled me to win clients\u2019 trust as well as that of the partners.<\/p>\n mr:<\/strong> what are some techniques your mentors used to help you learn and grow?<\/p>\n panelist: <\/strong>although we are improving at it, none of us made our mark by being rainmakers. but our partners did two things to help us along. first, they understood that it\u2019s easier to grow a book of business if you have one to begin with. partners delegated clients to us, allowing us to capitalize on our strong client relationship skills to develop more business with existing<\/strong> clients through expanded services and referrals.<\/p>\n second, when clients called the senior partners and left a message, they would forward the message to us, fill us in on the details, give us some talking points and have us return the clients\u2019 calls.<\/p>\n it didn\u2019t take long for the clients to start calling us first. the common thread was the partners were proactive in helping us advance.<\/p>\n mr:<\/strong> when did you know you were close to becoming a partner?<\/p>\n panelist: <\/strong>two things: first, we would hear it in partner meetings. the partners sang our praises. second, partners kept giving us more and more clients to manage and more complex assignments.<\/p>\n mr:<\/strong> as you observe the traits of young staff at your firms, how would you describe them?<\/p>\n panelist: <\/strong>(1) they have a lot of knowledge, (2) they constantly need rewards and encouragement, (3) they want a road map for how to get from point a to point b in their careers, (4) they are always looking for ways to use technology and go paperless, and (5) they like to communicate electronically, which unfortunately has led to (6) a reluctance to converse with clients.<\/p>\n our good friends at convergencecoaching, a consulting firm that works with cpa firms from coast to coast, publish an outstanding weekly blog that we make a point to read as often as we can.<\/p>\n in one post, they profiled jim metzler. he spent 32 years with buffalo-based cpa firm gaines metzler kriner and then cofounded convergencecoaching with jennifer wilson. later he served as vp of small firm interests for the aicpa. currently jim operates his own consulting firm, metzler advisory group.<\/p>\n convergencecoaching: <\/strong>what do you look for in young up-and-coming leaders?<\/p>\n jm:<\/strong> leadership for cpas has two distinct roles. the first is that cpas must lead clients through successes, challenges and new opportunities. that said, i look for up-and-coming cpas who are enthused and excited about the clients they work with.<\/p>\n they exhibit endless thirst to learn more about the clients and their businesses. their enthusiasm is driven by a desire to make a difference for their clients and to help them get to a place they couldn\u2019t get to on their own. we can almost feel their eagerness to get out of the office and be with clients.<\/p>\n the other distinct role that up-and-coming leaders have is their participation and involvement within the firm. truly emerging leaders always volunteer to lead their firm\u2019s community service initiatives, special projects and team-oriented activities. they are usually the same people who take the time to mentor and coach the newest recruits in the firm and are willing to give of themselves to help make their colleagues more successful.<\/p>\n convergencecoaching: <\/strong>how do you develop leadership in others?<\/p>\n jm:<\/strong> i\u2019m deeply involved in the education of rising stars and new firm owners as part of the services of metzler advisory group. i mentor and coach an equal number of cpas and new firm owners who are not clients as well. there are many aspects to the coaching work i do, but the one theme i try to teach is how to think at a deeper level. this involves coming to grips with their own leadership strengths and weaknesses and their continuous improvement of both.<\/p>\n thinking, reflection and practice all add up to greater emotional maturity and accurate discernment in leadership situations.<\/p>\n convergencecoaching: <\/strong>what advice do you have for those looking to step into a leadership position in their firms?<\/p>\n jm:<\/strong> spend the time to learn more about themselves in their interactions and relationships with others, and then develop their leadership skills accordingly. the operative words here are \u201cspend the time.\u201d this is the achilles\u2019 heel for cpas. who rarely set aside time for improvement of their own personal behavior and abilities.<\/p>\n i always advise them to set recurring, noncancellable appointments with themselves to work on leadership and personal development skills. few, if any, of us are born with high-level leadership skills, but the good news is that they can be learned and mastered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" thirty ways that firms are developing staff into partners.<\/strong>
\ncpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset<\/i><\/a><\/p>\nmore:<\/b> eleven things that good mentors do<\/a> | give the recognition your staff needs<\/a> | the importance of great bosses<\/a> | how remote work is impacting accounting firms<\/a> | make work flexibility work for everyone<\/a> | why staff leave cpa firms \u2026 and how to stop them<\/a> | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management<\/a> | what relevance means for staffing in accounting<\/a> | how accounting staffing has changed<\/a>
\nexclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/h4>\nthe cpa firm is a business, not a practice<\/h3>\n
what firms are doing to develop staff into partners<\/h3>\n
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young partners talk about their rise<\/h3>\n
leadership spotlight: jim metzler, cpa, cgma,
\nowner of metzler advisory group<\/h3>\n
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\nby marc rosenberg<\/i>
\ncpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1339,"featured_media":133665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3002,2297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special","category-staffing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n