99.1% of attendees confirm MPB is the best investment they’ve made in their leadership skills

Our CEO, Gary Shamis, is an industry pioneer who transformed what began as his father’s small firm into the 37th largest accounting and consulting firm in the nation (acquired by BDO in 2014).

In his three-decade tenure as firm managing partner, Gary saw a significant lack of leadership development training designed specifically for accounting firm managing partners. Often, he realized, CPAs find themselves elected or appointed to senior leadership positions without receiving any formal leadership or practice management training. Gary took the skills he believes every firm leader should have, including those he gained through trial and error leading one for more than forty years, and created MPB.

MPB covers four key pillars:

Skills – this area focuses on developing the power (soft) skills required to effectively lead a firm. We cover critical thinking, executive presence, communication skills, negotiation, crisis management, and more. 

Practice Management – these sessions address topical issues like firm strategy, risk management, nurturing your firm’s talent, and organizational development and governance. 

Growth – digital growth and transformation have had a huge impact on the accounting industry in recent years. This area explores modern firm growth strategies, the role of M&A, and much more. 

Human Capital – talent acquisition, management, and retention are going through a period of profound change in the accounting industry. These sessions tackle contemporary issues including DE&I, hybrid work environments, professional development, and building a winning culture.

Sessions at MPB are a blend of lectures, discussions, case studies, and group exercises. Because attendance is limited to 12 participants, every session is interactive and allows participants to openly explore the challenges they face in their firms.

Each cohort concludes with an iLab, an exercise that sees teams collaborating to create and present an innovative initiative that could be implemented to benefit their cohort firms. With their solution, teams demonstrate the knowledge gained over the course of their MPB experience.  

We know our attendees have busy schedules and that committing the time may seem daunting. But alum will attest to the fact that MPB was the best investment they made in themselves. 

Our current format of a half day, full day, half day, builds in adequate travel time and gives our attendees the ability to fully immerse themselves in the experience. 

The break between the two sessions allows attendees to take time to build on the ideas they learned during the first session and then reflect on these during the second session. We work to provide all attendees to create strategies with ideas they can actually implement. 

Managing partners have always learned through trial and error. There’s never been a program with a curriculum of skills that managing partners need to build to be successful. 

Until now.

MPB is that program. It’s our focus to equip leaders with both the hard and power (soft) skills they need to move themselves, their firms, and the entire profession forward. 

The accounting industry faces a unique set of challenges – those that a generic leadership development course simply can’t prepare accounting firm partners for.

Far and away the biggest benefit our attendees report is the peer network they’re able to develop through their participation at MPB and in alumni events. We have created a community of more than 100 like-minded leaders that make up a strong and trustworthy professional network.

Attendees mention that they also appreciate introductions to highly vetted contacts, access to a myriad of experts, curated industry-leading content, and many other valuable resources to support their continued growth.