TheLeadershipNotebook

Collaborating to Make a Difference

 

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress,

and working together is success.

~Henry Ford

Yesterday, The CPA Consultants’ Alliance (CPACA), an alliance I helped cofound earlier this year, published our first white paper:  CPA Firm Leadership: Communication Drives New Possibilities. This white paper is the outcome of a research study we undertook that focused on the CPA profession's current and future leadership opportunities and challenges in the accounting profession.

The white paper took an incredible amount of time and effort, but in the end, the document and all it represents, is a source of tremendous pride.

When we formed the CPACA, each of us members understood the power of collaboration. We knew that in theory, “the sum of the parts was definitely greater than the whole.”  And over the last six months, we practiced what we preached, working together each step of the way for the ultimate purpose of making a difference in the accounting profession.

It wasn’t always easy. Each of us has incredibly busy schedules and businesses that need our full attention. Each of us has our particular personality, background and experience that add perspective and opinions on how things should work. But we made time. We debated the issues. We dealt with challenges head on, with honesty and openness and a willingness to listen to and support each other.

As I embark on the next leg of my career journey and say farewell to the members of the CPACA, I know I will miss this group, their passion for CPAs, and all that I learned from them through our collaboration.

The CPACA’s mission is “to explore leadership issues facing the profession and develop and share solutions that benefit practitioners.  CPA Consultants' Alliance members support each member’s growth and collaborate to make a difference in the communities we serve.”

 

We did just that.

 

I’m proud of our work and I know that the CPACA, through all of our amazing members, will be an example of outstanding thought leadership in the accounting profession for years to come.

 

So collaborate and make a difference.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

The End of the Command and Control Leader?

 

“In these troubled and uncertain times, we don’t need more command and control;

we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence

in solving challenges and crises as they arise.”

~Margaret Wheatley

 

Command and control leaders. You love to hate them. These leaders are the “my way or the highway” type where the phrase “Just Do It” takes on quite a different meaning than Nike ever intended. But the reality is that this form of leadership has been the long standing default style for many leaders in our Firms and Corporations.  

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had the “pleasure” to work with more than a couple command and control type leaders in my years as a practicing CPA.  And my experience is consistent with the research on the negative impact of this leadership style:

No Flexibility   -- “My way or else.”

No Clarity   – “I only know what not to do.”

No Responsibility   – “Just doing my job.”

No Commitment   – “I’m just looking out for myself.”

But there is great news coming from a research study of 1,700 CEOs recently completed by IBM. The study reported that these leaders clearly see that the command and control leadership style is outdated and ineffective.

The implications are clear for the CPA profession as well. It’s time for Partners and Managers to move off this outdated and non-productive leadership style and embrace the leadership style that engages, inspires and aligns their professionals to outstanding performance and results. New behaviors can be learned and when CPA leaders see the positive impact on the bottom line, they’ll be more motivated than ever to shift their approach.

A New Era of Openness and Collaboration

The study also revealed what CEOs are looking for in employees, another clue that we’re moving in a direction that’s more open and collaborative. These CEO respondents want to recruit and hire people who excel at working in open, complex, and team-based environments. Highly valued skills are collaboration (75 percent), communication (67 percent), creativity (61 percent) and flexibility (61 percent).

It’s a new day and Firm and Corporate leadership must change with it.

How about you? What is your experience with “Command and Control” leaders? How do you see your leadership style shifting in today’s complex business environment?

To your success,

Mary

Firm Culture: The Secret Sauce

 

Could This Be Your Firm?

“…but culture was always a vital part of ______________________’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our client’s trust….”

The quote above is an excerpt from a NY Times Op-Ed by Greg Smith of Goldman Sachs who is resigning today after almost 12 years at the firm. I left the firm name blank above because I believe it could be written about many firms and organizations that’ve lost their way on the road to “success.”

But Smith goes on: “How did we get here? The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.”

Ouch.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for profitability and success, but Smith identifies Goldman Sachs’ problem as veering way far off from a client-centered focus. Smith says: “It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.”

Smith’s words are a wake-up call to professional service firms and organizations of all sizes. And to their senior leadership.

What is your firm’s leadership culture? Do you even know? What is the culture you want? What’s the gap between your current culture and desired culture? The Leadership Culture Survey ™ is an assessment instrument that I utilize to help senior leaders and their teams identify their gaps and create strategies and solutions for bridging the gap.

Assessment of your firm’s leadership culture can be your first step in keeping that “secret sauce” that makes your firm great and keep your client’s trust.

 

What do you think?

To your success,

Mary