and why no exceptions are allowed – ever. by robert j. lees and august j. aquila creating the effective partnership as the owners of the firm, the partners need to embrace and constantly live the values. the partners are the … continued
what it means to be a partner.
by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership
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. but, one of the problems we consistently hear about is the lack of clarity in what being a partner means. in the absence of clarity, the partners typically fill the gap by doing what they think it means, with all of the differences of thought and behavior that inevitably brings. it’s these differences in behavior that result in firms failing to maximize their potential.
if actions speak louder than words, what does that say about your firm’s core values?
by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership
the concept of core or shared values gets a lot of press and most professional service firms’ websites promote their core values to prospects, clients and recruits. but, like so many management ideas that are on the soft side, they are often more talk than reality.
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
for too many firms, their espoused core values don’t actually represent what the firm stands for and don’t guide individual behavior. often, in fact, neither the partners nor the employees know the firm’s core values and no one in the firm is evaluated or rewarded on how well they live them. read more →
no lone rangers, no prima donnas.
how healthy is your firm’s partnership? 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor marc rosenberg, cpa, has been asking that question for 20 years at more than 700 firms by now. he has a few ideas. in fact, he has a checklist of 15 items by which to measure the strength and sustainability of any accounting practice. how well does yours measure up?
the tried-and-true rules for successful partner teamwork
1. partners agree on a common vision, goals and a set of firm practices, which are followed by all partners, even if each partner doesn’t agree 100%.
2. key firm personnel are viewed as team players, particularly in servicing clients. clients are viewed as clients of the firm, not the individual.
3. people rarely go on sales calls alone.
read more →
by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership
although the whole purpose of engaging the partners is to commit them to the firm’s future, they also have to see a personal upside in the final destination. that upside can take many forms but it has to be spelled out. it’s critical that the descriptions are honest. smart people quickly stop trusting their leaders if they believe they are being lied to or the downsides glossed over.
creating the effective partnership: 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
if, for example, achieving scale is achievable only through a merger, the likely impact of the merger on partner earnings must be addressed. smart people know that earnings may be flat, or even drop, in the short term. the key thing is that the upsides to both the firm and the partners make the initial sacrifice worthwhile. read more →