TheLeadershipNotebook

At Thanksgiving 2010, I'm grateful for.....

 

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

~Albert Schweitzer

Thanksgiving. For me it’s a holiday filled with family, traditions and gratitude for all the wonderful people in my life:  A fantastic, loving husband, three incredible daughters, close family and friends, and tremendous clients and colleagues who are all a source of MY inspiration and insight. They continue to rekindle my flame…. Each one is a constant reminder of how truly blessed I am.

 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

To your success,

Mary

 

The New Normal

“As it relates to science and technology, the rate of change in the next decade is likely to be 4 to 7 times faster than in the last decade. If it is 4x faster it would be like planning for 2009 in 1890, if it is 7x faster it would be like planning for 2009 in 1670.”

~Expert on Education Panel, the Aspen Institute

 

I’m in Las Vegas for the 2010 Accounting Today Growth and Profitability Summit. The Summit is a gathering of CPAs and their firm members to learn best practices and cutting edge ideas to facilitate firm growth and profitability.

The keynote address this morning was given by Tom Hood, CPA, CITP and CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs. His remarks were right on! The title of his address: Leadership in the New Normal; How to Lead in Turbulent Times was consistent with his message. Change is now the new normal. And complexity of change is increasing right along with its speed.

Trends like the uncertainty in the economy, a flood of new regulations and standards, increased globalization, technology explosion and changing demographics have combined to form the perfect storm for the CPA profession. (And the CPA profession is not alone with these challenges.)

CPA leaders don’t have to throw their hands up in defeat. But, a new type of leadership is required. Hood reminded the audience that for firms to survive and thrive in this “new normal” of continuous and complex change, certain leadership behaviors have GOT to change. Leaders in firms have to move from Command & Control to Connect and Collaborate. From PUSH to PULL. That’s a large order for a generation of baby boomer partners who have years of experience in telling rather than selling. In short, the “what” of leadership is the same but it’s the “how” that’s different.

What are the top three competencies for today’s leaders? Hood indicates his top three:

• Strategic thinking: Having a future-minded and flexible mindset and the ability to see emerging patterns and communicate in a way that people can easily grasp.

In my former firm, each of us partners had a hockey puck on our desk with the famous quote by Wayne Gretzke: “Skate to where the puck is going to be.” That quote was symbolic of our firm’s strategic mindset and our commitment to flexibility in shifting strategies when circumstances required a new approach. This mindset was one of the hallmarks of our success.

• Strengths based leadership: Understanding your individual and organizational strengths and leveraging them. Be self-aware in the moment.

The Werner Coaching & Consulting coaching model, Retained Learnings℠, was developed with a strengths based focus. Each of us has individual strengths in our personality, our emotional intelligence, in our experience and skill sets that can be leveraged for outstanding results. And remember, leadership skills can be learned.

• Network leadership: The ability to impact multiple systems across traditional lines of authority or boundaries established by expertise or reputation.

Getting out with your employees and your clients and connecting with them in an authentic way shows people they matter and inspires them.

Hood wrapped up his presentation with a quote from Emmanuel Gobillot, the author of Leadershift: The most important question for a leader to ask is, “Have I made you (them) feel stronger and more capable?” Certainly these are foundational words to live by in this world of the “new normal.”

What do you think? How is your firm’s leadership shifting to compete in these turbulent times?

To you success,

Mary

 

Why EQ?

“No doubt emotional intelligence is more rare than book smarts, but my experience says it is actually more important in the making of a leader. You just can’t ignore it.”

~Jack Welch

 

A couple of weeks ago I gave a presentation to a group from the Toledo Chamber of Commerce on the link between emotional intelligence (EQ) and our ability to influence others. The audience was lively and engaged and at the end of my presentation, a guy raised his hand with a question. “Why EQ?” he asked. He went on, “I’ve known several business coaches in the past and they’ve never introduced the concept of emotional intelligence or linked it to my business results.”

I can’t explain why his other coaches never mentioned it. Because as a CPA and a 30-year member of a professional service profession, I know that I experienced my greatest ability to influence my clients and achieve results when I successfully navigated their emotions and mine. David Maister, the professional service guru and one of the authors of The Trusted Adviser, said, “if you cannot learn to recognize, process and respond to a client’s emotions, you cannot be an effective advisor.” That made sense to me.  But it wasn’t until I decided to shift careers and return for my masters in Organization Development that I really learned the underlying theory of EQ and why it worked. My interest was piqued. And when I fully understood the connection between an individual’s level of EQ and his/her leadership effectiveness and firm business results, I was hooked. Now, helping my clients build their EQ and become more effective advisors and leaders is one of the guiding passions for my coaching practice.

One of my favorite resources on EQ and leadership is Daniel Goleman’s book, Primal Leadership. For me, it combines the results of academic research on emotional intelligence with the science of EQ, including how the brain works to help us learn new skills in the emotional realm. There’s not a drop of “woo woo” in this book and for an executive coach with a background as a CPA, I knew that would be important to build the business case to my coaching client base of executives, CPAs, lawyers and engineers. The book even describes a study that took place in a large ACCOUNTING FIRM.  Goleman describes the results:

“Consider an analysis of the partners’ contributions to the profits of a large accounting firm. If the partner had significant strengths in the self-management competencies, he or she added 78% more incremental profit than did partners without those strengths.

Likewise, the added profits for partners with strengths in social skills were 110% greater, and those with strengths in the self-management competencies added a whopping 390% incremental profit– in this case $1,465,000 more per year.”

That really caught my attention.

I know that many people run in the opposite direction when the word EMOTION enters a conversation. But the best leaders – Maister, Goleman and even that tough guy, Welch – don’t.  That’s “Why EQ.”

To your success,

Mary

 

 

Making change happen....

 

I've heard it said that making change happen is a lot like changing a diaper:

• It involves some crying
• We want someone else to do it
• There’s some mess involved.
• But everyone can feel great when it’s done!

 

 
What do you think?

To your success,

Mary