Building a Team With Leadership Potential

Source: Accounting Today

In this article, Gary Boomer addresses the need for effective leaders, managers, and administrators, and urges accounting firms to make leadership and employee development a high priority. Boomer contends that accountants tend to stay at lower levels of work – accomplishing their own tasks and contributing to the team, but not rising to higher levels of leadership. He suggests that firm leaders are not providing enough staff development opportunities, and that in some cases, the existing staff does not possess the necessary talent to lead.

According to Boomer, existing firm leaders must be committed to developing their staff into higher level managers and leaders, and cannot afford to ignore this critical need within their firms.

In order to develop a team with adequate leadership potential Boomer recommends the following:

1. Bring people onto your team who are trustworthy, smart, and energetic. Firms may need to look beyond accounting majors to find the right people.
2. Put leaders in place who have or will have a good working rapport with existing firm leaders.
3. Apply the Kolbe Index and Synergy Report to assess the potential within your firm.
4. Be willing to bring people onto your team who are not accountants but have the necessary skills and training for leadership.
5. Provide each team member with a personalized growth track.
6. Help managers become better at what they do.
7. Be strategic and let the team know your plans for the future.
8. Utilize technology to meet clients' needs.
9. Adopt a business model that is a proven success.
10. Recognize and reward team members for their successes and personal growth.

For the complete article, read “Boomer's Blueprint: Leadership, Management and Administration.”

From Accounting Today, September 1, 2012, SourceMedia Inc., One State Street Plaza, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10004, 800-221-1809.