With the current COVID-19 crisis brewing and firms being encouraged to implement social distancing, organizations around the country are scrambling to shift their employees to work remotely. Your firm may not feel fully ready, but regardless, you may have to also take this step. Your building management may force you to close your office, or [...]
Over the years, I have studied ways to help people work cooperatively with one another. A recent program helping marital partners create healthy ways to relate caught my attention. In his book, Communication Miracles for Couples, Jonathan Robinson identifies three key areas that make the difference. He describes them as “high octane gasoline that makes [...]
The amount of change in our profession can be overwhelming at times but it definitely is the word of the hour. Everything feels like it's changing, and every one of us needs to change in a lot of different ways. Thus, we've named this first episode, The Change Imperative. Why is so much change happening? [...]
“The smart ones ask when they don’t know. And, sometimes, when they do.” –Malcolm Forbes, Entrepreneur and publisher of Forbes Magazine A client, coachee or prospect would like to learn more about our services and we have an hour scheduled with a ton of ground to cover. How can I ensure we touch on the [...]
Whether it is owner disagreements, performance issues, client concerns, or competitive situations, our professional lives are filled with potential conflict. But given the choice, most will shy away or ignore conflict rather than deal with it. Why? Maybe because conflict isn’t fun – or even comfortable – and we’re not very sure we’ll handle it [...]
Transition is top of mind for most CPA firms today. The topic emerges in almost every conversation we have with clients, at conferences and in our everyday interactions with firm leaders. Whether we’re talking to firm leaders or emerging leaders, client loss is one of the biggest fears commonly shared by BOTH transitioners and their [...]
Have you ever searched everywhere for your glasses and found them on top of your head? Or driven somewhere and not be able to remember the exact route you took to get there, or worse, ended up somewhere different than where you planned? Do you find yourself changing topics frequently in a conversation and then [...]
Firms around the country are struggling to recruit and retain experienced professionals to serve their clients. Partners are nearing retirement, and many don’t have clear successors in place to ensure their firms keep running. Given the need for talent, we should leave no stone unturned in our quest to identify our next generation of leaders. [...]
Communication is a central theme in our work with leaders at all levels. Whether it’s communicating to help team members adopt change, sharing your firm’s vision and how each element contributes to achieving that vision, following up on feedback from an employee engagement survey, or delivering feedback, communication is key to building a high-performing firm. [...]
