Sweat the Small Stuff

Source: Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders

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

Inside CPA firms, it is all about time. As very visible leaders (partners, firm administrators, HR directors, marketing directors), what kind of example are you setting? Consider this quote:

“Leadership is example.” – Albert Schweitzer

Does this sound familiar? As a team member, you have been notified that the managing partner has scheduled a meeting of your strategic initiative task force at 9:00 a.m. You get a cup of coffee and arrive at the meeting room at 8:55 a.m. and you settle in for the meeting. You are the first to arrive. By 9:00 a.m., one other person of the five-person task force has arrived. Two others arrive between 9:05 a.m. and 9:10 a.m., and the last to arrive is the managing partner, who hurries into the room at 9:13 a.m. muttering something about having to make copies.

As partners in a CPA firm, and especially the managing partner, your team is watching you with a magnifying glass. They know every move you make and every word you utter. You set the tone. You guide the culture. If you expect people to be on time in the morning, be on time for meetings, be on time for client engagements and not simply waste time throughout the day, you must set the example.

Partners are sometimes just arrogant, knowing that everyone will wait on them. They forget the power of the little things. Little things can make the biggest difference in the efficiency, profitability, and reputation of your firm. Never forget the power of important “little things” like courtesy and respect.

Adopt the old marching band rule: “If you are early you are on time, if you are on time, you're late.”

For the complete article, read “Guess Who is Wasting Time? Punctuality Starts at the Top.”

From Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders, Rita Keller's CPA Management Newsletter, www.ritakeller.com, September 7, 2011.