Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

THE LEADER’S ROLE

What does your managing partner do?  Does he/she lead?  Or, does he/she manage, administrate and coordinate?

I have found, via 30 years’ of experience in interacting with hundreds of firms across the country, that the most progressive, successful firms have a strong, future-focused managing partner who absolutely LOVES the firm and has its best interests at heart. They always put “for the good of the whole” before personal interests, before the interests of the partner group, before the interests of the biggest rainmaker or before the squeakiest wheel.  It’s a tough job and takes a very strong person.

I am seeing more and more transitions beginning to happen in firm leadership. And, yes, I am beginning to see more and more females taking leadership of their firms.  Here’s the gut-wrenching question for these females (and for any NEW managing partner… it applies to males, too.):  Have you been selected because you have the strong leadership skills necessary or because some of the partners think you are the easiest candidate to manipulate? I know, this is a tough question and it might offend you, but think about it.

Bryan Shelton, a consultant with The Rainmaker Consulting Group, wrote a newsletter article on this topic titled, “Are you a Managing Partner or Coordinating Partner?”  Bryan noes that a managing partner truly leads the firm and pushes it into the future.  A coordinating partner is focused on maintaining the status-quo.

My advice to CPAs transitioning into the MP role?

  • Outline and officially document your position description.
  • Make sure you know what your partners expect of you.
  • Define your scope of authority – what do you handle on your own and what FEW things do the entire ownership group need to be involved in.
  • Define your communication plan so that ALL owners are “in the know” but not necessarily in the decision process.
  • Research and then define your personal development plan.  (What conferences should you attend?  What should you be reading on a regular basis?  Find a coach who will push you to improve and hold you accountable.)

Your mission: Step-up to the role, embrace change, earn respect and trust, put the good of the firm before individuals, implement, be true to yourself and make it enjoyable, rewarding and even fun.

  • "The team with the best players wins."
  • Jack Welch

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

LIGHTEN-UP, IT’S THE WEEK-END

It’s the last summer hurrah!  You have a 3-day week-end to enjoy with family and friends.  Have fun.  Here’s a good video to lighten-you-up.  It’s the Evian Roller Babies!

  • "Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September."
  • Lyrics from September Song

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

OFFICE SPACE AND BEING COOL

CPA firms are not only great places to work, the CPA office itself is almost always very upscale and beautiful.  Many I have visited simply make me say, “Wow!”  And honestly, a few have made me think, “Eeeeek!”  The “eeeek!” firms usually win this designation because they simply have too much junk sitting around…. everywhere.

Allan Boress recently did a great blog post about being cool.  Allan says, “Cool is different, it is new. It is something people want to associate with, versus boring. It is daring, cutting edge.  People pay big money to try to acquire it.” Be sure to read the entire post.   Allan embraced a project to make his office space extremely cool.

Ever notice how you can spot a cool accounting firm almost immediately? You meet someone at a MAP conference or a CPE session and when they describe their firm, you can just tell that they are cool (or not).  My goal for all my clients is for them to be the cool firm in their market. That not only means office space, it means all-star people, brand recognition, website, etc.  Is that you?

One of the on-going issues for decades has been getting a private office. It is certainly a status symbol of the CPA profession.  Some firms even design their build-out so that they have offices available for ALL accountants.  However, most floor plans look very much alike…..  cubicles in the middle and partner/manager offices lining the window walls of the space.  A newer trend is to put the private offices in the middle of the floor, with glass walls/doors, and put the cubicles along the outside so that more natural light is allowed into the workspace.  The AICPA facility in Durham, NC is designed this way.  It is very cool.

Having a cool space really is a factor in recruiting.  Well, in light of the recession and focusing on saving dollars, some businesses are changing their approach and shrinking their footprints. They are moving many of their people OUT of private offices and putting them in cubicles.  As you can imagine, this move does not initially make people very happy. However, they do admit that communication usually improves.

Something you might want to look at is your square foot per person. the average square footage per employe has dropped from around 250 sq. ft. to 180 sq. ft.

  • "If you have a job without any aggravations, you don't have a job."
  • Malcolm Forbes

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

I KNOW YOU LIKE SHORT BLOG POSTS

I always try to keep my posts fairly short and easy to read.  Sometimes I fail.  It is because I just have SO much I want to share with you!

Here’s probably my shortest post.  Don’t know where this originally came from nor where I read it but I used it as a quote about three years ago on a blog.  IMPORTANT words for you to consider:

A three-word lesson:  ”Don’t point, lead.”

A five-word lesson:  ”You can’t lead with memos.”

A six-word lesson:  ”If your horse dies, get off.”

  • "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare for a good impromptu speech."
  • Mark Twain

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

JUST FINISHED-UP YOUR ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS?

Were they painful?  Were they productive?

Last November I did a post titled, Is No Performance Review An Improvement Over What You Do Now? Another one, for your reference is Streamlined, Digital Performance Evaluations – Halogen featuring Andrea Ballard of Peterson Sullivan.

Perhaps you have read the recent article in CCH Practice Management Forum by Valant and Hustad titled, Performance Reviews:  Moving from Painful to Productive? The authors cite a book by Culbert and Rout, Get Rid of the Performance Review! How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing – - and Focus on What Really Matters. Culbert and Rout explain that reviewing performance is important, but that employees deserve evaluations they can trust, not reviews cloaked in pretense and procedure that make all those involved uncomfortable.

I find that all this is very real inside CPA firms.  Many managers/partners are just burned out with going through the annual process and the recipients have learned that no real, concrete, constructive actions result from the process.

The authors of the article confirm my feelings….. the managers (in a CPA firm the managers and partners) are not doing a very good job.

Nothing is sadder than to see someone… who thought they had been performing acceptably, discover they are suddenly unemployed when all they had done was repeat the same behavior and performance that had been acceptable in the past. – - Does this quote from the article sound like something that might happen in your firm?

Here are the four practical steps offered by Valant and Hustad (be sure to read the entire article if you are a subscriber):

  1. Managers must clearly state and quantify their expectations.
  2. Commitment must be gained from each direct report to meet the manager’s expectations.
  3. Performance reviews must be conducted quarterly, allowing the manager to become the coach, not the annual judge, jury and executioner.
  4. Compensation must be linked directly to performance.

Now is the time to set the stage for the coming performance year.  Do you need to change/modify your performance evaluation system?  If you need assistance or just need to brainstorm, give me a call or send an email.

  • "One important key to success is self confidence. An important key to self confidence is preparation."
  • Arthur Ashe

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

FIRM ADMINISTRATORS AND PERFECTIONISM

Look behind the scenes at successful, growing, profitable firms and I bet you find an experienced firm administrator or chief operating officer.  Simply put, they keep the firm running efficiently while the partners generate revenue by providing the best possible client service.

Many of these firm administrators are very frustrated.  That’s a significant other topic that I will address another time.

If you are a firm administrator/COO in a CPA firm, you might be somewhat of a perfectionist. It is a common characteristic among people like you.  You do have a good reason…. you want the firm to be the absolute best it can be.  Although you have been trying, in some cases, for decades, you never seem to get there.

Check out this post by Monica Lawver on her Confessions of a CPA blog.  Monica quotes another great CPA profession blogger, Debra Helwig, the marketing and communications manager for IGAF Worldwide.

These two great bloggers talk about “taking it to the Happy Line” and “managing people one-on-one.”

  • "Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing."
  • Harriet Braiker

Monday, August 30th, 2010

MANAGEMENT VS. ADMINISTRATION FROM ROSENBERG

My good friend, Marc Rosenberg (long-time consultant to CPA firm leaders), shares a very clear-cut opinion about CPA firm administration versus management.

I’ve long been intrigued by the CPA profession’s tendency to consider two words as synonymous. I’ll share an example here:

Management vs. administration. Both important to the successful operation of a firm. But their meaning is quite different. Admin work can be done by people earning $50K-$150K annually, depending on the size of the firm and the skill level of the administrator. Average partner income in the U.S. is in the $300K range. You shouldn’t pay a partner to do administrative work. Management is being the leader of the firm, someone who manages partner behavior and performance, holds partners accountable, is the visionary, drives profitability. Administration focuses on the day to day, monitoring and reporting, operating systems, interpreting policy and supporting client service personnel. It’s my strong belief that partners should be staying the heck away from administration and leaving it to administrative professionals, thus freeing up partners to do the things that generate income in the $300K range. Two terms – similar but different.

My personal view is slightly different because I believe that the line between administration and management in real-life is very hazy, foggy and often blends together.  However, the line between admin/mgt. of a firm and firm LEADERSHIP is bold (and should be very clear).

Not enough owners, people with money, blood, sweat and tears invested in a firm, demonstrate leadership characteristics on a consistent basis, if at all.  Many CPA firm owners only have time invested….. really not much money nor BS&T.  They have lost the passion (or never had it to begin with).

Rosenberg is right, partners should be staying the heck away from administration and leaving it to administrative professionals.  And, it’s true that this can be done on a very professional, high-level for under $150K.  Client service partners should be WOWing clients, INSPIRING future leaders and EARNING the over $300 they get paid each year.

Rosenberg’s annual MAP survey is being released in September.

  • "People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision."
  • John Maxwell

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

TAKE A NAP

I have always been jealous of those people who could sit in a chair, shut their eyes and nap for 20 to 30 minutes, wake-up and feel very refreshed.  My dad could do it, so could my grandmother, my son and daughter-in-law reap the benefits often.

I just can’t seem to get with it.  If I go to sleep for 30 minutes and awaken, then I’m tired and sluggish for the rest of the day.

However, I seem to be the exception.  Sleeping on the Job (check out this article on businessweek.com), seems to be catching on.  A growing number of companies are encouraging employees to nap… at work.

It seems Americans are getting less sleep at night (averaging less than 7 hours per night) and according to a recent Stanford Study, many companies have turned to the humble nap to increase productivity.  Google, a leader for employee perks, has a number of futuristic napping pods scattered around its Mountain View, California campus (pictured above).

This might be just the thing for busy season.  Here are the Do’s and Don’ts of Dozing (from the article):

  1. Make time and space – - 20 to 30 minutes are all you need to reap the rewards of midday slumber.  The best time is the early afternoon – so consider a 1/2 hour lunch and the second 1/2 hour for napping.
  2. Set the proper conditions – - In the dark our brains produce more of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, so close the blinds and turn off the lights.
  3. Careful with the chemicals – - avoid caffeine for a few hours before a nap.  The same goes for nicotine, diet pills, etc.
  • "Fatigue is the best pillow."
  • Benjamin Franklin

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

LIGHTEN-UP – IT’S THE WEEK-END – - TIME FOR REFLECTION

I did a post last August that I believe applies to this time of year – - every year – - inside a CPA firm:  Soon it will be September, are your ducks in a row?

September arrives this coming week.  I bet that many of you are shaking your head and remarking:  ”Where has the summer gone?”

What have you, as a CPA firm leader, done to prepare your firm and your people for the coming marketing/sales season, recruiting season, and busy season?

  • Did you make this summer The Summer of Website so that your firm’s website doesn’t look homemade?
  • Did you renew your brand, make it look and feel more contemporary, more modern – - like Weaver did?
  • Did you roll-out a new marketing campaign to brand your firm as the COOL firm, like Freed Maxick?
  • Did you arrange for golf lessons for your interns or all-star females?
  • I recently had a great day at Bogumil Holzgang Harris facilitating two workshops, one on helping their managers really manage and one for the entire team on CPA Firm Economics. Have you invested in your team’s understanding and success in the CPA profession?  We received great feedback from the team, they appreciated the opportunity, plus it was also fun.  What did you do for your team this summer?
  • Did you revamp your client acceptance process so that you actually work for clients you like, who are successful and profitable for the firm?
  • Did you establish a campus blog by following the great example from Peterson Sullivan?

It’s almost September….. are your ducks in a row?

  • "Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath."
  • Michael Caine

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Social Media and the Potential Exposure for Your Firm

I recently received the NAPLIA newsletter (North American Professional Liability Insurance Agency).  If you are a member of AAA, I bet you received yours too – from Steve Vono.

I really liked the article on Social Media for Professionals – Managing Risk.  I hope you will all take a few minutes to read all about it.

Topics covered include:

  • What are the benefits of social media, and how do I gauge results?
  • What guidelines should I implement for my practice and employees?
  • What are acceptable work related uses of social media?
  • What are some of the liabilities and exposures?
  • Is there insurance protection?
  • What resources/time should be spent utilizing social media in my firm?
  • What changes should be made to our employee handbook regarding social media?

NAPLIA even gives you suggested comments to include in your employee handbook about social media.

That’s Steve with me, above.  He has proven to be a great resource for the Association for Accounting Administration members.  If you have questions, I know Steve would welcome an email or a call.

  • "For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else."
  • Winston Churchill
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