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While some accounting firms have been blessed with excellent leadership, many have not. And the key to successfully steering firms through the up and down cycles over the next five years will be leadership. Over the past 30 years a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the management of an accounting firm. MAP conferences abound throughout the United States and other parts of the world. As a result, MANY ACCOUNTING FIRMS ARE OVER-MANAGED AND UNDER-LED.
As accounting firms continue to mature as businesses, investments in attracting leaders and in developing the leaders within the firm will grow.
Lack of leadership accounts for many of the ills experienced by firms. Low growth, high turnover and poor firm sale prices all result when there is a lack of leadership. And, there seems to be a basic misunderstanding about the role of management and leadership in our industry. You can manage processes and projects, but you cannot manage people. You must lead people.
SO WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? Leadership is about direction. Leadership is about growth. Leadership is about serving clients in new and better ways. Leadership is about results.
Some will tell you that leaders are born visionary and inspiring people. However, I believe it is something very different. I believe that leaders do what has to be done and others are inspired to follow. I believe that business leaders create and build clients. They do that by serving those clients, building the people who serve the clients and making a profit from the effort.
In the military, leaders carry out the mission. In churches, leaders lead people to God and enroll others to help in the cause. In non-profit organizations (where many of the best leaders reside), leaders enroll and inspire people to volunteer their time to carry out the noble cause of the organization. In business, leaders grow the business, pure and simple. In Jim Collins' book, "Good to Great", the leaders who were profiled were not rock stars. By and large they were humble people who led by example and got things done. And the key ingredient that all had in common was an ability to plan for leadership succession. Collins classified the five leaders as those whose businesses outgrew their competitors for many years following the retirement of the leader he profiled.
Leadership is both art and science. Some people have natural leadership characteristics. Most highly effective leaders have learned to lead. Leadership is a practice, and a practice can be learned. Leadership is not knowledge. It is not education. And, leadership is not management.
Many of us enrolled in music appreciation classes in college, and we learned to enjoy the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. Others learned to play an instrument. Learning to lead is like learning to play an instrument. But many accountants attend the rah-rah conferences and get excited about management and leadership. Those are like music appreciation classes. You learn to appreciate good leadership and management at a conference. Learning to lead is more like learning to play the piano. It is a practice and starts small and builds as one becomes more proficient.
Peter Drucker said, "Leadership is performance. It is mundane work, unromantic, boring and unsophisticated."
Colin Powell said, "Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. Leaders possess intelligence, judgement and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done."
Jack Welch said, "Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example and getting results. Leadership training should focus on moving quickly, demanding accountability and rewarding results."
John Maxwell said, "Leadership is influence, getting things done with other people."
Steven Covey said, "Gandhi demonstrated great leadership time and again, simply by going and doing what had to be done. His methods were simple and uncomplicated."
Carlos Ghosn said, "You learn to be a leader by acting, by doing."
So, it is my prediction that over the next five years accouting firms will invest in good leaders and in leadership development. Well-led firms are successful in good times and in bad times. Well-led firms have the lowest turnover. Well-led firms are continuously looking over the horizon and planning for the next opportunity or crises. Well-led firms are the masters of their destinies, not the victims of the economy or other circumstances.
Troy Waugh is the author of two books and has been selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession by "Accounting Today". As CEO of Five Star3, LLC, Troy is the founder of The Rainmaker Academy and The Rainmaker Consulting Group. Five Star3 also includes The Alliance of Professional Associations.
For permission to reprint this article, please contact Melissa Hunter Hines at 888-797-RAIN (7246) or melissa@therainmakeracademy.com.
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