strategy

leader training is time well spent

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leader addresses co-workersfour questions to test your leadership culture.

by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn

being a good coach is just one of the expectations firms must have of their partners. they are expected to be leaders, as well.

more on leadership: managing partners must remember partners’ needs | 5 questions about your firm’s direction | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’

while most of the partners we know understand and accept that need, not everyone does, and not everyone understands what being an effective leader means.

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what if accounting firms were apps?

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smartphone12 ways the app phenomenon could change the way you think about your practice.

by hitendra patil

consider, for a moment, the new “app economy.” there are over a million apps in apple and google stores, with hundreds of them doing much the same thing in almost the same way. according to pew research, 90 percent of americans have cellphones and 67 percent find themselves checking their phones for messages, alerts or calls — even when they don’t notice their phones ringing or vibrating.

so, are accounting firms like apps already — offering the same services, same deliverables, same outcomes at the same or similar prices? if so, the only thing missing in the accounting marketplace is an “accounting services app store.”

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wisdom tells us to “hang out where clients do.” yet, there are hardly any “accounting firm apps” on the app stores. read more →

successful strategy execution requires focus on people

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business people working in group in the officeby robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn

momentum is critical in driving change, so it is no surprise that the initiation of activities that drive and support the strategy is key.

more on leadership: managing partners must remember partners’ needs | 5 questions about your firm’s direction | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’

it is also one of the reasons why focus is critical. and yet one of the mistakes we see are initiatives having too much time between them.

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managing partners must remember partners’ needs

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a businessman with some jigsaw puzzle pieces in his handand 4 questions to consider.

by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
creating the effective partnership

professionals loathe anything bureaucratic. but we know of many firms who ask their partners to account, in detail, for every minute of their time.

to ask high-need-for-achievement professionals at the top of their field to provide what, to them, is bureaucratic data immediately implies a complete lack of trust and respect for their expertise and their position. it is simply a motivational disaster, which distances the partners from the firm. partners know that they have to account for their time but we know too many firms that, often at the behest of the finance function, ask for a level of specificity that drives the partners to distraction.

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