Vol. 2 No. 2, February 2010
In fulfilling our commitment to continuous improvement in CPA firm management, CPA Leadership Institute has created the Leadership Forum, a panel of the most prominent thought leaders in the profession. Each month we ask them to respond to a question dealing with CPA firm management and leadership.
This month's question is: If we define "management" as doing things right; and "leadership" as doing the right things (Peter Drucker), how would you rate accounting firms in terms of the effectiveness of their management/leadership? Keeping in mind Peter Drucker's insight, rate the leaders of accounting firms overall effectiveness in Management and Leadership on a scale of 1 -10 (where 10 is most effective and 1 is least effective).
In the first part of this month's question our panelists were asked to rate the overall effectiveness of accounting firm leaders in the areas of management and leadership. In general "management" was significantly more highly rated than "leadership".
The following includes selections from the complete responses. Members can read the complete responses. To learn about membership and to become a member, click here . Be sure to read about our CPE Webinars (approximately 80 scheduled for this year), which can be attended free by members at the Professional level.
For the archive of Leadership Forum Reports, click here.
Consultants and Other Prominent Observers
| L. Gary Boomer |
Boomer Consulting, Inc. |
www.boomer.com
gary.boomer@boomer.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 4, Leadership - 8
Management is under valued in most firms. Most partners and employees are too focused on personal charge time in order to be good managers...More |
| Steve Erickson |
National Consultant to CPA Firms |
www.SteveEricksonLLC.com
Steve@SteveEricksonCPA.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - n/a, Leadership - n/a
... To date the profession has not yet reaped the majority of the rewards that technology will ultimately produce. Great leaders will focus on a new client service delivery model to make this happen sooner rather than later...More |
| Bob Lewis |
Visionary Marketing |
www.thinkvisionary.com
blewis@thinkvisionary.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 8, Leadership - 5
...Leadership (outside of quality audit/tax/accounting services) is where most firms struggle because their leadership group is composed of CPAs who are not always well versed in the more diverse apsects of running a firm...More |
| Robert Martin |
Martin & Associates |
www.martincmc.com
bob@martincmc.com | <
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 8, Leadership - 5
Management is decent at most firms. Leadership is rare in small firms but more common in larger ones, perhaps because the payoff for good leadership is greater in large firms. |
| Jay N. Nisberg |
Jay Nisberg and Associates |
jaynisberg@snet.net |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 8, Leadership -n/a
...Leaders will need to adopt an Emerging Pragmatic leadership style which will require more partner buy in and greater participation. The autocratic style and even the benevolent autocrat will need to manage in a more "scientific leadership style"...More |
| Patrick Pruett |
The APA and Enterprise Network Worldwide |
http://enterprisenetworkworldwide.com
patrick@the-apa.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 9, Leadership - 6
... in my opinion, accounting firms' management capabilities are well ahead of their leadership skills. Leveling the playing field can be accomplished by effort and taking the time to choose one leadership area to work on and being diligent in seeing the thing through...More |
| Richard Rinehart |
Grant Partners, LLC |
www.grantptrs.com
rrinehart@grantptrs.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 6, Leadership - 4
CPA partners spend too much of their time working "in" their firms with their clients and firm micro issues (management) and not enough time working "on" their firms on strategy and their long-term futures (leadership). |
| Joel Sinkin |
Accounting Transition Advisors |
www.transitionadvisors.com
jsinkin@transitionadvisors.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 6, Leadership - 9
...In the overwhelming majority, I see firms who are honest, ethical, care about their people, their clients and “do the right thing.” What I also see are a significant amount of firms that do not have great business acumen when it comes to running their own practice. They frequently know more of what is going on in their client's world than their own. This is not to say they are not bright, articulate people, ...More |
| Sandra Wiley |
Boomer Consulting, Inc. |
www.boomer.com
sandra.wiley@boomer.com |
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 6, Leadership - 6
I believe that we get mixed up in the definitions, and in most firms leadership and management are seen as the same thing. Our firm leaders and managers must now -- more than ever -- do the right things and do them very well! ...More |
Firm Leaders
| Bob Knight |
Lane Gorman Trubitt, L.L.P. |
|
Effectiveness Ratings: Management - 9, Leadership - 5
We need to do a better job of holding partners accountable for their actions/business plans. |
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