leadership

partners have love-hate relationship with leadership

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aquila leadership context modelby robert j. lees, august j. aquila
and derek klyhn
creating the effective partnership

regardless of their ownership structure, most firms either operate as partnerships or would prefer to operate as partnerships.

the tensions between being a business and the loss of the values and ethics of being a partnership feature strongly in our research.

but accounting firms are different from their corporate counterparts in a number of ways, which impact their functioning and, therefore, their leadership. read more →

3 reasons why men don’t pick women protégées

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woman and man working with calculatorwhen leadership models are male, sometimes female candidates go unrecognized.

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: men advance 2 to 1 over women without sponsors | 18 ways sponsors can help their protegees | the 6 market advantages of women-led firms | beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters read more →

check your relationship ratios for better business success

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by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

here’s a quick exercise: choose any person in your work life or personal life. now think back to last few interactions you had with that person. recall what was said and classify your list into two groups.

what interactions, comments and questions did you have with your chosen person that were negative? here are some examples of things that are in the “negative” group: read more →

what does being a partner mean?

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aquila how to engage partners in the firms future clip square cvrpartners persuade their people to join them on the journey and to play a part in building a better firm.

by robert j.  lees and 
august j. 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. 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.

creating the effective partnership: every partner’s first question: ‘what’s in it for me?’ | the 9 building blocks of a winning vision that the big four have discovered | the politics of an accounting firm partnership | nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams | audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today read more →

mirror, mirror on the wall

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11 weekly self-assessment questions for successful professionals.h

by august aquila
the effective partnership

when’s the last time you talked to your partners about the “mirror questions”? we all know that it’s easy to kid ourselves about how well we’re doing. but when we have to look ourselves in the mirror, well, it’s another story.

rather than giving the partners the questions they should answer, we suggested that they come up with their own self-assessment. specifically, we wanted them to devise questions they could ask themselves each week to evaluate how well they had performed. in the end, we came up with 11. read more →

the 6 market advantages of women-led firms

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ida o. abbott, sponsoring women
abbott

changing marketplace demands changing firms.

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 women in accounting: men, women: a tale of two brains for business  |  beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters  |  firms that ‘get’ women stand to win the talent wars

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. read more →

beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters

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man woman handshake shake hands istock_000010387373smallit’s time for the men running cpa firms to “man up” and get serious about promoting women into leadership roles.

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

smart accounting firm leaders want to be in the forefront of efforts to advance women. as the global economy continues to become more competitive, firms need to use all the talent they can muster — and more and more of that talent will be women.

ida o. abbott, sponsoring women
abbott

today cpatrendlines launches the exclusive new series, “sponsoring women: what men need to know.” author ida o. abbott delivers the tools cpa firms need to develop a new generation of women in leadership. training, encouragement, and even mentoring are all helpful. but abbott argues it takes person-to-person sponsorship to finally break through. particularly, she says, it takes a man. the role of women in the cpa profession is a critical issue. abbott’s is an eminently practical strategy. and it’s about time that men “manned up” about promoting women cpas. – the editors

companies that successfully tap into the full potential of women will be far ahead of their competitors. the key to doing it is to identify women who are likely to succeed and sponsor them so they reach the top levels of leadership. this requires direct per­sonal involvement by leaders, particularly leaders who are men.

read more →

when a staffer stops listening

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four issues and solutions in leadership and management.ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

question: one of my managers is complaining that the staff don’t listen to him. the specifics are that he assigns work and it isn’t completed on time and is usually incomplete and full of errors. he says he doesn’t want to supervise people anymore. any suggestions?

answer: i have many suggestions, sorted into four general areas.

here goes: read more →

making meetings more productive

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a…by making people more accountable.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: we seem to have a lot of meetings where great ideas are exchanged and then nothing is done. any suggestions?

response: a problem with many meetings is that there are no action items decided upon and assigned. a secondary problem is that many easy and quick-to-do items are assigned but they do not lead the firm toward their overall goals. read more →

eight key goal areas for partners

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aquila
aquila

getting specific with leadership duties and partner accountability.

by auqust aquila
creating the effective partnership

as leaders of a firm, partners need to do more than pay for themselves and contribute to overhead expenses. their duties to the firm and to each other extend to bringing in new business, improving their own skills as well as developing skills in others, contributing to strategy and a passion for continuous improvement in all things.

more partner issues: are bad clients driving you crazy?  |  6 steps to handle staffing problems in a merger  |  new times call for new cpa firm metrics  |  why cpa firms fail in innovation  |  when the deal is done: a 24-point checklist for the morning after  |  7 signs your firm is headed for an implosion  |  why some partners should not retire  |  why is it always about partner compensation?

most firms don’t take enough time to develop meaningful partner goals because it is a very time-consuming process. but, if you want to get better results in this highly competitive environment, this is the road you need to take.

here are eight key areas where partners can and should provide leadership in a firm. read more →

can you hear me now?

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eight reasons why accounting firms need to work on internal communications first. by bruce w. marcus a terrific definition of chaos is when a client asks two different people in your firm the same question – and gets two different and … continued

new times call for new cpa firm metrics

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how to fine-tune your management dashboard for effectiveness, innovation and growth.

dreamstime_xs_9983601.jpgby august aquila
creating the effective partnership

don’t kid yourself – it’s a new world out there. accounting firms need to become more transparent. partners and employees need to truly understand the firm’s vision and value proposition. they need to see how their daily actions move the firm toward its goals. mission and vision can no longer be vague, fluffy statements that mean nothing to your clients, employees and partners, and prospects.

this new environment requires firms to actually implement their goals by looking at specific objectives and measures. performance and execution are the key operatives. the old measures, by themselves, won’t do the job anymore. they are still valuable, but new measures are needed today. firms no longer compete with the firm down the street in terms of mere marketing. they now complete in how they manage the practice, treat their employees, win employees’ hearts and minds and provide a true learning environment.

what would it be worth to you if you had a system which could measure your business development and management efforts?  in short, measure how well you are implementing your firm’s strategy? read more →

how does your firm measure up?

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take gallup’s 12-question leadership test.

after using many different varieties of opinion survey, the gallup organization came to the conclusion a few years ago that the responses to just 12 questions can show why one organization, division, department or any other managerial unit is happier and more profitable than another.

on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “no, or rarely,” and 5 being “yes, mostly,” how would you score? read more →