leadership

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.

read more →

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 →