Many don’t. Execution is where most firms falter. When leaders expect results but fail to achieve goals, the missing link is inevitably a lack of execution. Look at it like this: A strategy is really just a road map to help get you where you want to go. When leadership is unable to implement strategies, it’s like trying to…

Developing a sound strategy is critical to a firm’s viability. Yet we are so influenced by what happens within our industry, we’re dubious about stepping outside of it. As a result, most firms develop a strategy based upon an “in-the-box” thinking. Within the accounting industry microcosm they will host industry conferences, submit to industry journals,…

In the era of emails and text messages, you probably (hopefully) advocate that staff engage in phone calls and face-to-face meetings with clients as much as possible. The same is true for how you manage them.   Today’s millennial workers want to be managed by communication, collaboration, and interaction. Particularly in an industry like accounting…

In my consulting with accounting firms around the country, I see what I saw inside my own firm — a challenge to differentiate in a commoditized industry. It’s not easy to stand out. My sense, however, is that we are overanalyzing when we need to return to simpler times and more impactful exercises. Like the…

One of the most popular courses at Managing Partner Bootcamp is a session I do on practical techniques managing partners can implement proactively. It’s a potpourri of the best decisions and worst mistakes I made, what worked and what didn’t in my almost 30 years as a firm managing partner. I call it Tricks and…

Inevitably, as one year draws to a close and another is quickly upon us, December engenders a period of contemplation – reflection on family, health, financial well-being, and goals both achieved and unrealized. We all think we’ve done well, but there is always room for improvement. For those of us leading accounting firms, it is…

In 1999, the partners at SS&G made a decision to have me reduce and eventually eliminate my client load. The ultimate goal was for me to dedicate my time entirely to one client: SS&G. The logic it followed was that it would enable me to lead to lead via planning, strategy, and execution. When we…

I knew a consultant, Don Istvan (z”l) and many years ago, I heard him speak about “The Tornado.” The Tornado referred to a graph he’d show in his presentations depicting charge hours versus non-charge hours at “Firm X.” The graph depicts the partners with the least charge hours and staff with the most. If one…

To everything there is a season. Nature. Life. Accounting is no exception. We’re in a strange industry. Perhaps more than others, the purpose of our time is dictated by the season. Tax Season. Busy Season. Planning Season. January through April we’re so involved with our core business that we spend all our time servicing clients.…

Over the years, effort has been made by firms to invest in leadership training programs which inevitably experience a low ROI. Leadership training can be defined in many ways with different vendors providing services and ambiguous results. Firms with the resources to do so often develop their own programs. Others have to “make do” with…