Are CPAs Too Nice?

Source: Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Rita Keller.

In their work life, most Baby Boomers “grew-up” in a culture where an experienced partner (one of those old school, hardworking, maybe even somewhat of a tyrant types) threw a legal size red-rope folder on their desks and said, “Here, look at this and do what we did last year.” End of conversation. If they made a mistake, they often got feedback in the form of critically written review notes and a harsh lecture.

As these CPAs evolved and eventually became partners in the firm, they couldn't wait to buy out and retire out the old “speak softly and carry a big stick” guys and swore, “We're never going to be a jerk like Old Joe!”

So what did these CPAs raised in a very strict, confined work environment do? They took the opposite approach. I call it the milk-toast road, meaning they avoided holding people accountable to the point where they began to avoid any confrontation whatsoever.

They have people working for them who they admit are not great performers, are not meeting expectations, and should have been fired years ago.

They have clients who abuse them. These clients make unreasonable demands on partners and make life miserable for the team.

They don't want to be mean to people so they only give critical feedback via written review notes. Confrontation is to be avoided at all costs.

They tolerate partners who should never have been made partners in the first place.

I love CPAs because they are such nice people. But are they really too nice at times?

For the complete article, read “Mean, Nice, Strict or Wimpy?”

From Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders, the newsletter of Rita Keller, March 2013, www.ritakeller.com.