four issues and solutions in leadership and management.
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 →
…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 →
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 →
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
how to fine-tune your management dashboard for effectiveness, innovation and growth.
by 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 →
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 →
how to integrate two firms after a merger: carefully. by august aquila the tough negotiations and hard-fought agreement were the hard parts, right? think again. now you must move your eye from the financial to the human side of the … continued
by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator
when i look through accounting today’s top 100 leaders list and the comments they have made about what they perceive to be the challenges in our profession, many of the answers are the same: change, talent and relevance are a few you’ll see. and they are all right to some extent, but there is a deeper systemic problem that i think could fix quite a few of these in one swipe. i’m not saying it will be easy, but it is a fairly straightforward problem once diagnosed.
the most interesting part is that the smallest firms are getting better at solving this than the larger firms. read more →
plus: the 8 leadership traits driving firms toward destruction and 3 steps to fix the problem.
by august aquila
creating the effective partnership
many accountants could add to this list, but here are some of the surefire signs that a firm has weak leadership driving the firm toward implosion.
the main categories of information for internal communications and management. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 while the substance of information varies from firm to firm, there are 10 categories that cannot go unconsidered:
what successful managing partners do
by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
how to engage partners in the future
the problem is that in the majority of cpa firms there is no clarity around what being a managing partner actually entails and, specifically, what managing partners should do to create and sustain their partners’ commitment to actively participating in delivering the firm’s future.
our research involving in-depth interviews with 150 managing partners at the world’s leading firms identified that the truly successful managing partners share three key activities: read more →
plus: 4 keys to tie pay to performance.
by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
how to engage partners in the future
partners are the culture in a professional service firm – what they believe, what they reward, what they do and how they do it determines what and how things get done. partners are the owners – they, and they alone, are responsible for the firm’s vision and its implementation.
being a leader means each partner must: read more →
nine reasonable entitlements and 15 misconceptions, bad ideas and outright abuses.
it’s a privilege to be a partner in a cpa firm. not an entitlement. too many partnerships seem to operate as if they had it the other way around. and, in most cases, those partnerships don’t usually make the best cpa firms. marc rosenberg has seen his share of dysfunctional firms. they are no better nor no worse than the people who run them. get these 24 points of partner roles and responsibilities correct and your firm could find a renewal in spirit and in growth.