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If you knew the future, what would you do differently?

I love this question. Many firms like to think about the future - they do it every year as part of their strategic planning. But too often, strategy sessions result in doing more of what has worked in the past. It's like trying to drive a car using only your rearview mirrors.

As a futurist, I help firms use the windshield—to identify the trends coming at them, to give them a true, strategic advantage over their competitors.

Here are two trends that will drive intense change in firms. Is your firm future ready?

1. Demographics

Both the U.S. and Canada are becoming older. And browner. And the workforce is becoming more dominated by women. Currently:

• Over half of all CPA grads are women
• 25% of all CPA grads are nonwhite
• 13% of high potentials are nonwhite (according to AICPA's Top Talent Survey)
• 5% of partners are nonwhite

 Let's play this forward ten years:

• Over half of your high potentials should be women
• One-fourth of your high potentials should be nonwhite
• One in every six of your new partners should be nonwhite

Is your firm on track to capitalize on these demographic trends?

2. Commoditization

Since the recession, many firms have been stuck in pricing wars, effectively devaluing audit and tax services to mere commodities. Today, clients shop for these services like they shop for boxes of cereal: a lot of different companies and brands and packaging, but all competing on price.

Commoditization is a race to the bottom. And CPA firms can pull a play from the software playbook, which suffered through commoditization a decade ago: wrap the product with great service and a unique customer experience.

How is your firm fighting through commoditization?

Rebecca will be the opening keynote at the 2013 Boomer Technology Circles & Talent Development Advantage on August 20-21 in Kansas City, MO. For more information on this event, and to register, please visit www.boomer.com/btcsummit and www.boomer.com/tda.

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Here are some of last year's stats:

• 2,693 students
• 253 firms
• 764 webinar participants

We'ere expecting this year to be even bigger!

For those unfamiliar with the event, it’s simple; Students and Firms both sign up at meetthefirmsweek.com and create their CollegeFrog profile. At the end of the event every student who signed up will be uploaded to every participating firm’s profile. No applying for the students and no searching for the firms. 

In addition we will be hosting webinars with industry pros that will give students valuable advice and information on accounting degrees and careers.

If you are a firm or student who has yet to sign-up, head on over to meetthefirmsweek.com to get started!

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Below are three areas of your firm’s website that need your attention.

Focus On The Homepage

What does your website’s homepage say about your firm? Not only should your homepage offer easy navigation for your site visitors to use, it should also communicate your firm’s personality, client testimonials or success stories and up-to-date information regarding your firm.  How you do this exactly is up to you.

Some ideas that could help improve your homepage:

1. Contact one of your best clients and ask them a few questions regarding their satisfaction with your firm’s services.  Ask their permission to use their responses as quotes on your homepage.  If you get enough information, consider writing a success story and link to it from the homepage.  
2. Have professional photos of your staff (or select individuals if your firm is large enough).  Add their photos, along with a short quote from them, in a rotating banner on the homepage.  The content of their quote could be about their area of expertise and the quality of service they provide. 
3. Create a "latest news” section for your homepage. Post your firm’s press releases, blog posts, newsletter or tools.  This will help keep your homepage looking fresh and not dated.

Represent Your Services Well

It’s beneficial to have a webpage dedicated to each of your services. Having one page with every service listed on it, without the ability to view additional information for each services, is holding you back from clearly communicating your firm’s value  to that website visitor.

Some ideas that could help improve your individual service pages:

1. Include photo, name, job title and biography for the leader of that service
2. At the top of the page, state the value proposition for that service in 1-3 sentences
3. Include a brief synopsis of your firm’s expertise in that area
4. Include a client testimonial or success story
5. Contact us button

By making sure these elements are on each of your individual service pages, the website visitor will feel more confident in contacting you about that service. If you decide to include the above information, most website visitors will be compelled to continue searching the internet until they come across a firm’s website that seems to understand them and their need.

Spruce Up Your Content

First impressions go a long way.  When a prospective client comes to your website for the first time, they form opinions of your firm’s abilities within the first 10 seconds.  A well-organized website along with well-written content will better gain the trust of the website visitor that your firm understands their clients and that they need.  A "flashy” website design is secondary to well-organized and well-written content. 

Here are some tips for improving your firm’s website content:

1. Reading on the web is much different than reading a book.  Only have paragraphs be between 3-5 sentences long if possible.  By doing this, your website’s content will be much easier to scan and much less focus will be required by the reader.
2. Use simple headings.  Catchy and clever headings have their place, but most of the time use simple headings to guide the reader down your webpage.
3. Write in active voice using strong verbs and simple sentences.  Get to the point and don’t spend much time "telling a story”.

Although there are many elements to a great website, these three areas can be the different between your website working for your or working against you.  Want more ideas on how to improve your website? Search your competitors and see what they are doing. 

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The privilege of teaching leadership skills to firm leaders allows me the opportunity to identify various issues that are frustrating and sometimes difficult to negotiate. One of the issues that have risen to the top of the list recently is the age old issue of "Interruptions.”

The ability to protect focus time, sneak off and find quiet, or to simply rest is challenging in our busy world today and becomes particularly difficult in this age of mobile devices. What’s more, the noise level of society in general has been increasing steadily for decades.

Try to schedule just 15 minutes on a regular basis to catch up on industry publications in your office and you will be inundated by email messages, staff stopping by to ask you a question and the phone ringing.

While each of us craves the ability to work uninterrupted on occasion, especially on highly critical, challenging, or first-time types of tasks, we forget, that we interrupt others with the same abandon that they interrupt us.

Worse, even when we have the ability to control our exposure to the next voicemail, email, or text message, craving to know who has gotten in touch with us lately, we succumb, and click and tap away to see who our latest correspondent may be.

The Rising Tide

The research regarding interruptions in the workplace today paints a grim picture. Unmistakably, interruptions are on the rise. Basex, a U.S. technology research firm, completed a survey that reveals that interruptions account for 28% of the typical career professionals’ workday. While this is not directly tied to our profession, I doubt that the statistic is very different for our firms. 

Worse, on average, employees typically get only 11 minutes to focus on any task before encountering another interruption. Thereafter, another 25 minutes on average are consumed before returning to the original task or project, if it happens at all on that day.

Other studies show that interruptions typically occur between every three and eight minutes and, that once a worker is interrupted, there is an almost 25 percent chance that resuming on the original task won’t occur until the following day.

It’s time to declare your independence. No one controls your schedule exactly like you do, not even an authoritarian partner. Most of the interruptions that plague you in the course of a day are in part, your own doing.

Allow or Do Not Allow

At some level, you allow most interruptions to happen – either because you think you have to be available 24/7, or you fear missing the one phone call, or one email message that will make or break your quarter, or for that matter your career.

You fall into the trap of being too available, of checking messages too frequently, and of not relying on your natural ability to accomplish great things when you’re able to focus intently on the task at hand.

Here then are some suggestions for taking charge of your personal environment, so that you can be your most productive self in those situations where concentration, intensity, and focus are essential:

• Surround yourself with everything you need to fully engage in the process, which also might involve assembling resources, people, and space, as well as ensuring that you have a quiet environment free of distractions.
• Give yourself the hours or days you need to read, study, and absorb what’s occurring, and to make decisions about how you’ll apply new ways of doing things and new technology to your career, business, or organization.
• Go "cold turkey,” which is not recommended for most people! Suspend whatever else you’re doing and engage in whatever it takes to incorporate a new way of doing things. This is enhanced by ensuring that you’ll have no disturbances, bringing in outside experts, and assembling any other resources you need to succeed.

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Once a society where information was pushed out to us through mediums likenewspapers and television, we now have a greater capability to "pull" in the information that we want most, sifting out that which is unwanted.

Similarly, companies that once survived and thrived on their ability to predict demand and "push out" products and services now struggle to adapt to our changing world. What is hot today is not tomorrow.

In 2010, John Hagel, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison published a thought-provoking book, The Power of Pull, that tries to define this change, something that they call the "big shift." In it, they discuss several important tactics that can be used to adapt, many of which revolve around talent - finding it, retaining it, developing it, and most important, the idea of innovative collaboration.

Companies can no longer rest on their laurels, because just around the corner is something new or better. Instead, they must constantly be on the edge of innovation, examining how the world is evolving and how they can evolve to keep up. One of the best ways of doing this is by tapping the personal passion of the talented people staffing these companies, allowing them to work together to create, innovate and transform businesses.

That means that your company or firm must offer something that keeps talent flocking to be a part of your business, and you must offer an environment where they can develop as rapidly as possible.

HEAVE-HO

One company that seems to be getting it right is The Siegfried Group, which not only operates on the pull system itself, but facilitates an environment where its professionals and its clients can, as well. Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., The Siegfried Group on paper is a CPA firm that provides accounting and finance services to Fortune 1000 organizations on an as-needed basis. Sounds like just another CPA/consulting firm, right?

So what sets Siegfried apart? In one word: talent. If you ask founder, president and chief executive Robert Siegfried, CPA, what makes his firm more powerful than others, it's the unique ability to attract and retain excellent and outstanding talent.

However, Siegfried does more than that. Its model is built upon providing large organizations with the ability to pull in talent when they need it. Siegfried's clients range high, low, deep and wide, varying from clothing manufacturers to financial institutions, to energy companies and around and back again. These companies are looking for a flexible solution to their changing needs, and Siegfried provides it: ready access to great talent.

In this new world of pull, organizations must focus on outcomes, instead of processes - "I don't care how we get there, just get us there." If companies are able to trust in the fact that they have talented people, then they can set their talent free and allow them to work together, using their collective talents, to reach an end goal.

It is entirely that premise that makes Siegfried a trusted resource for so many companies. Clients may not know what professional they are going to get until the qualification process, but they know that they will be talented. According to one Fortune 500 client of The Siegfried Group, the biggest thing that a Siegfried professional can do "on the job" is be creative and innovative, and, ultimately, eliminate the need that they were brought in to fill. Someone like that, the client said, will be brought back time and time again.

POWER OF PASSION

For the Siegfried professional resources, this pull environment provides a constant source of professional development. Siegfried finds talented people, and provides them the opportunity to become even more talented.

Siegfried professionals are introduced into new environments and new industries every six to nine months that require them to use knowledge gained from previous work experience, their time at Siegfried, and the unique attributes that set them apart from others to be successful. These passionate professionals not only seek out these types of challenges, they crave them! The ability to swim in the deep end on a regular basis challenges Siegfried's people to push their skills to the edge. Many Siegfried professionals, past and present, will tell you that through Siegfried's model, they were able to attain 10 years of experience in five years, and the variety of work provided through this "accounting residency" helped them figure out what they really wanted from their career, and then get it!

The same is also true for the internal support structure. Robert Siegfried encourages what he calls "stakeholder" participation in the firm's success. That means that every employee shares in its successes and its challenges. Entrepreneurial thought is encouraged and company leadership is open to suggestions on ways to enhance the firm, drive profits and improve the business model.

The firm's ability to adapt to the changing marketplace has put it in a phenomenal position of strength. At a time when most companies would be thrilled to see 10 percent growth, The Siegfried Group posted 59 percent growth in 2011.

PULL IT ALL TOGETHER

The next step, of course, if figuring out how you can apply the basic ideas of "pull" to your career and your organization. Great leaders identify and develop their successors. The best talent development organizations have a personal development plan for each employee, provide the resources and hold people accountable. Firms that provide this type of environment become known as developers of talent and don't have to worry about recruitment and retaining top talent. Experiences are as important as classroom training and should include business development (leadership and management skills), technology and the core technical skills.

This strategy corrects much of what has been wrong with regulated continuing profession education, which too often focuses only on technical skills and hours. Your first step may be to hire a training/learning coordinator or utilize an outside talent development consultant to get you started. These people have skills and tools typically not present in most CPA firms.

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How do you find the best clients? How do you keep them around? How do you let go of those who are not a fit for your firm? Times change, and so do firms. As a result, some clients may no longer fit with your strategic objectives. Conversely, there are exciting opportunities to create new client relationships at your doorstep. But how do you get these prospects on board?

Bolster your client base with The Guide to Client Filtering.

The Guide to Client Filtering is now available for FREE until 11/30/2012. To receive the free download, use discount code CFGuide100 when checking out.

Take me to the guide!

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This blog post was originally published in the September 2012 Boomer Bulletin 

Goal setting is involved in everything we do. From personal goals to professional goals to dreaded weight loss goals, we are a goal setting culture. We set simple goals, attainable goals and goals that we may never achieve. The truth is many of us don’t know how to set a goal. We don’t know how to set a goal that will lead us down a path to success. We often set goals and are surprised when they are not met. Goals often just disappoint in the end. 

As I have become more comfortable in my Project Management role, I have been reading different articles, blogs and other research that can help me be a better project manager. I have been focusing a lot on goal setting at the beginning of a project and how to create ones that can change the way I view and carryout my projects.  Essentially I have been exploring how to set goals that can allow me to become better at my job. S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting has taught me to develop goals that are tailored for the best possible outcome. Although there are many variations of S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting, the individual letters all stand for the same thing: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

Setting goals at the beginning of your project is your lifeline. From short- term to long-term project goals, they will allow you to start on the path to success throughout your entire project. The challenging part of goal setting is often deciding what those goals should be. How will you know you can achieve them? How will you know they will be in line with the outcome of your project? Whether you are a seasoned project manager or the lead of your first project, following S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting rules can ensure your project stays on track and ultimately ends on track.

SPECIFIC

Your specific goals should always answer the who, what, when, why and how. They are clear, concise and defined points. They outline exactly what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. 

MEASURABLE

Choose goals that you can measure. Goals where you cannot see change, good or bad, or progress are not measurable.

ATTAINABLE

Your goals should be not impossible. Setting attainable goals allows you to know that even if you have to extend yourself or push harder than you ever have to get there, you can and you will.

REALISTIC

Focus on the practicality of realistic goals. Set the bar high, but not too high you will never reach it.

TIMELY

Give yourself timely goals by making sure each of them has a due date or an end point.  No such goals were ever achieved by a never ending possibility.

Where are your project goals at today? Take your current goals and apply the checklist of S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting to see where you stand. Turn your newly focused goals into outcomes that end defined and complete and above all successful.

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Although your firm may not have a separate "Sales & Marketing” department, you probably understand the important role sales & marketing plays in the growth and profitability of your firm. Aligning these efforts can take some effort but will produce powerful results.  Often, sales & marketing is seen as only generating leads and closing deals.  However, sales and marketing is much more than that particularly in ways marketing can support sales.  For this blog post, "sales” is referring to anyone in the role of educating a client on additional services the firm offers.  Most likely, many of your staff are in this role on a regular basis.  This blog post will discuss 3 ways marketing can support the sales efforts in your firm.

#1 – Have marketing sit in on sales calls or client meetings

It’s a good idea for marketing team members to sit in on a client meeting and/or sales calls. This can have many benefits including; understanding client issues, observing how marketing materials are being used and seeing how sales discusses the value of the firm’s services.  Most likely, this will be an eye-opening experience for marketing.  For example, the marketing team might learn that sales doesn’t use the white paper that took 6 months to create or that sales is using a Word document they created to guide the conversation.

#2 – Have marketing lead value proposition creation for each service

There is no doubt that each of the services your firm offers is valuable. How clients perceive the value of a particular service will be a determining factor if they pay you for it.  Have your marketing team members lead the effort of creating a short value proposition for each service. A value proposition is 1-3 sentences stating the value a particular service is offering. The process of creating value propositions for each service is invaluable as most likely you will learn new things about why a particular service is valued by the client. Also, it is crucial that each sales person in your firm is stating a similar message about each service.  To view the value propositions for our services, click here.

#3 – Have sales become more social

Most marketing teams are active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. Making the sales team aware of these avenues and helping them follow these updates will assist the sales team of being aware of the messaging the marketing team is communicating.  Also, LinkedIn is becoming known as "a rolodex on steroids” and is a great way for those in your firm to connect with their clients.  Additional touches through LinkedIn can make a client feel more connected to your firm.

Although there are many numbers of tactics sales and marketing can take in your firm, I feel the 3 listed above can have a direct impact on your firm.  I propose choosing one of the above tactics and begin implementing it in your firm, even if it’s only with a couple people. Remember, consistency with strategies and initiatives is the only way your firm will see long-term results.

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When you mention "soft skills” training, many accountants roll their eyes and discount the importance.  This may appear to be a reasonable reaction, but is it good business?  If you think for a moment; the answer is, "No”.  Your clients assume, and in most cases they are correct, that you have the technical skills required to perform your job duties; but members of your firm must continually prove they have the soft skills necessary to continue the relationships with those same clients.  The major differentiators among your competitors are the soft skills.  Soft skills are very important not only from a marketing/sales perspective, but also from a firm profitability perspective.  They represent dollars of profit you may be missing out on because of employee turnover or lack of the ability to provide additional and higher valued services. 

In today’s economy, leading firms should be focusing on strategies to develop talent.  By focusing on the development of talent, firms are insured they can retain and attract the best.  In other words, retention and attraction strategies are no longer enough. Your best people are at the highest risk of leaving, as they are the ones with the most opportunities.  If you don’t believe this statement, I suggest you go to the PCPS website and checkout their most recent survey of firm employees.

Let’s start by organizing "soft skills” into three primary categories:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Relations Management

Accountants seem to learn from answering questions, so I pose the following questions under each category. You may want to answer them first about the firm and then about each partner and member of your staff.

Leadership

1. Does the person have an executive presence?  (Dress, speech, and relationships)
2. Does the person have a clear and communicable vision?
3. Does the person hold themselves and others accountable?
4. Does the person have "edge”?  (Can they make decisions?)
5. Does the person know their own "unique abilities”?

Communication

1. Does the person have good written and oral communications skills?
2. Does the person know how to take and give instructions?
3. Does the person know how to listen?
4. Does the person know how to professionally utilize presentation tools?
5. Does the person know how to motivate others?

Relationship Management

1. Does the person know how to work in a team environment?
2. Does the person know how to manage conflicts?
3. Does the person have the desire and ability to make contacts?
4. Does the person have good client service skills?
5. Does the person have project management skills?

While this list is not meant to be complete, it does emphasize the importance of soft skills in an accounting firm.  Today, much of the training focus is placed on meeting Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirements and technical skills (especially in the early years of a career) rather than on the requirements of the firm and its personnel.  What are you doing in the way of training for your non-CPA employees?  The above skills are not developed in one class or a daylong seminar.  They are developed over a lifetime.  Therefore a program involving training, learning and positive experiences is necessary in order to develop talent.

By having an outstanding talent development program, firms can hire for attitude and train for aptitude.  This will have a positive impact upon your firm culture.  Talking about such a program at partner meetings or a firm summit is not enough.  This must become part of the firm’s strategic plan (DNA) and a professional educator should administer the program.  

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We are in the final 4 months of 2012. I’m issuing a challenge to everyone out there to strengthen your firm’s culture by implementing the following 5 strategies in your firm. 

Don't criticize the team. It is super easy to walk around and see things that you would like to change and believe that you have all of the answers that will solve the issues within your firm. Stop criticizing and blaming and start looking for ideas and solutions. There are likely things that need to change but if you choose the path of criticism, you will come off as rude and the team will feel compelled to defend themselves.

Ask "Name one thing that we should stop doing immediately to make us more effective?" Your staff does not want more work -- and "give me your ideas!" always seems to result in someone having to do more work. This question will get people talking and the ideas flying. You'll also find out a lot about what individuals are probably saying anyway, you just may not have heard the ideas directly.

Listen. Duh. Of course you're planning to listen. But I mean actually listen. If you're in a staff meeting and someone actually is brave enough to flout cultural norms and give an idea, listen to it. Take notes on it. Ask non-threatening follow-up questions, questions that don't require the person to do extra work or implies in any way that the idea is a bad one. Thank the person profusely. Then actually look into the suggestion. 

Respond to all ideas. The quality of the ideas don’t matter at first -- your staff may be subconsciously testing your resolve anyway -- respond in a positive manner. Thank people for sharing. Implement where possible. You may actually have a better idea, but if you want to train your employees to speak up, you may have to accept less than perfect in order to encourage more ideas.

Hold regular 1:1 and staff meetings. When you want to open the lines of communication, you need to carve out time to talk with them. Your staff will not really trust you if they don't know you. These meetings will give opportunities to share ideas. Keep them short and sweet, though. Nobody wants to spend their life in a meeting.

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There are multiple ways to grow your firm, from expanding service lines to mergers and acquisitions. While these are both viable strategies, it is often easy to overlook opportunities associated with existing services and clients. Tax planning and compliance is a great example and an area that almost all firms currently provide services. However, due to the increasing complexity of ever changing legislation at the Federal and State levels plus the importance of international tax; I believe firms often discount the opportunities. Granted, there is a high degree of complexity and some firms may not have the internal resources or a large enough client base to justify acquiring the capabilities required to offer some of the more sophisticated services related to tax credits (jobs, energy, enterprise zones, etc.) as well as cost segregation.

There is a simple management strategy that is often overlooked when it comes to complexity and many accounting firms get caught in the trap. In order to break through the ceiling of complexity you must first step back and simplify the approach. The purpose of this post is to demonstrate a proven process to simplification and allow CPAs and firms to think differently about matching opportunities with capabilities. By thinking differently, you will probably challenge some of the existing strategies and perhaps even some of the processes that have made you successful. The old saying that what got you to this level of success won’t get you to the next level is often true when dealing with increased complexity.

We are talking about the development or access to the required capabilities necessary to leverage current and future opportunities. If you don’t have those capabilities or access to them, your firm will miss opportunities. If you do have the capabilities, but not the opportunities, you will generally underperform and have trouble retaining and attracting quality talent due to the lack of growth opportunities. Internal discussions often evolve into the chicken or the egg arguments.

Let’s take one step back from what most firms are doing today and assess how to develop talent and capabilities based upon today’s opportunities. Most firm’s think in terms of internal resources, especially larger firms, but this may not make the most sense economically. Think big (10 times) and how you can leverage this opportunity with little or no additional investment in labor or technology!

In our profession, talent provides capabilities and the market provides the opportunities. Talent is developed primarily with three key components:

1. Self-motivation and life-long learning 
2. Access to experts and experience
3. Relationships with peers

This approach may be different than the rugged individual approach many seasoned professionals are accustomed to.  Today, the complexity and breadth of knowledge requires a team approach in order to scale.

Here are some basic questions CPAs and firms should ask when evaluating new or expanded services.

1. Will this service provide value to the client?
2. Who is going to champion this service?
3. Does the champion have the passion, time, team and budget to be successful?
4. Does the firm have the necessary capabilities or should we source with an external expert?
5. Does the firm know how to name, package, brand and price this service?
6. Is there a community of peers we can join in order to accelerate our ability to balance capabilities with opportunities?

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In your firm today, an increasing number of staff members – from the partner level to the administrative staff - are experiencing burnout, low productivity, dissatisfaction and stress related illnesses…due in large part to a lack of balance between their work and personal lives. It is time for your firm to look at how they can create greater balance between work and personal lives of the number one asset in your firm – its people.

This is not an easy issue to address, since what looks like balance to one person may differ for another because individuals have different goals, values and definitions of success. A good place to begin to understand the issue of work and life balance is with a common definition:

• Having a sense that there is enough time in the day to effectively accomplish work-related tasks.
• The ability to get through our daily work and family responsibilities without feeling drained.
• Having the ability to participate in activities we enjoy on a regular basis.

At the heart of successful work-life balance is:

• Accomplishment: getting the stuff we need to get done (and)…
• Enjoyment: having the time for loved ones, fun, rest, exercise and hobbies.

Although the concepts of achieving balance are simple, actually creating a balanced life isn't easy; but it is definitely worthwhile.

Here are some steps to help you on the journey toward life balance. It's a process so don't look for "perfection" and remember to be patient with yourself.

1. Begin your balance journey by figuring out what your values and priorities are. Yeah, I know; it feels like everything is a priority. Yet too often, our time and energy are spent on things that we don't really care about. Once you're clear about your values and priorities you can begin saying "no" to those things that move you further away from your values and priorities, and "yes", on to those things that are in alignment with your values. You can begin to structure your life in a way that supports the personal and professional goals you want to accomplish. Determining the goals you want to accomplish and the quality of life you want to live, will help guide you toward figuring out what balance looks like for you.
2. Identify your balance "blockers". Balance blockers are those things that we either think or do that stands in the way of achieving balance. It's basically a perspective we hold about why we can't pursue balance-related goals. Some examples of blockers are:
• Living for the expectations of others at work and at home
• Consistently putting the needs of others before your own
• Fear of change
• Hung up on appearances
• Perfectionism
3. Balance your mind. The key to balance is all in your head. Begin to think differently! So many accountants feel guilty about focusing on work-life balance or they believe taking time out for themselves - away from work - is an unproductive use of time. I'll tell you what I tell my clients, GET OVER IT! Most times, we treat our cars better than we treat ourselves. What's the first thing we do when we notice our car is low on gas? We fill our tanks! Well, living a more balanced life is about filling your tank. Those initially cynical accountants who reluctantly committed to living a more balanced lifestyle now report that they are more relaxed, have more time for themselves and haven't sacrificed their jobs or their level of professionalism in the process!
   
4. Create "non-negotiable" time blocks in your schedule at least 2 times per week. Non-negotiable time is personal time that you set aside for yourself that you absolutely cannot and will not reschedule, cancel or postpone…it's simply non-negotiable. Devote at least 30 minutes to these time blocks. Write the non-negotiable appointment in your palm or day planner as you would for any other appointment. You can use the time for anything NON work related. This time is set aside so you can focus on you. Go workout, get a massage, take yourself to the park…or do nothing! Just pick something that you'll enjoy. It may feel strange at first but commit to do this for at least 6 weeks…and guess what? You'll get the hang of it.
5. Consider hiring a Professional Coach. When you're trying to achieve a more balanced life and everyone around you is being rewarded for working round the clock, it's tough to stay focused. The truth is making a change that will affect you personally and professionally can be challenging…even when the change will be positive. This is primarily because familiar patterns are hard to break. The bottom line is; we all need someone to talk to. Not a significant other, colleague or friend, but someone whose only job is to help you plan your career, manage your life and set goals to keep you on track. That is the job of a Professional Coach.
6. Create a Vision. Having a vision of what you want to accomplish is a powerful tool to help you achieve any goal. Write down your vision of a more balanced and fulfilling life style. In creating your vision consider: If your life was more balanced than it is today…what would you have time to do? What would you no longer do? How would your career improve? What impact would a more balanced life have on your relationships and your quality of life?

Collaboration and leadership. These two concepts are critical to the success of your firm and when you have both working in tandem you accelerate your firm’s results, profitability and growth. Yes, we need strong leaders at the top of the organization but strong leaders recognize they can’t drive success on their own. They build a strong leadership team around them and leverage members’ unique abilities by collaborating with them every step of the way. Below are four strategies your firm can take to build focused, cross-functional teams to improve collaboration and leadership.

Build Your Synergistic Team

The greatest leaders surround themselves with tremendous talent on their leadership team. The most successful firms include their functional department leads in their management teams. IT, HR, and Training & Learning all have a seat at the management table. This ensures that they know what is going on but, more importantly, it taps into their diverse knowledge and perspectives real-time during the decision-making process. Cross-functional collaboration takes place during the decision-making process rather than after the fact.

Align from the Start

The strategic planning process is critical to setting a roadmap towards achieving your firm’s most vital growth initiatives. A collaborative effort between all functional areas of the firm to develop the plan seems like the obvious process, right? Unfortunately, too many firms don’t choose that path. Instead, they work in siloes and fail to communicate the plan once it is developed. The path to up-front alignment in regards to the strategic plan lies in the involvement of the functional department leads in the process. They can’t be expected to develop a strategy for their respective department that supports the overall firm plan if they haven’t been involved in the process or even seen the firm strategic plan. 

Look Outside Your Organization

The best firms in our profession realize the wealth of information and experience that exists beyond the barriers of their own organization. They typically join one or more peer communities to gain outside ideas and fresh perspectives. They also recognize the importance of peer accountability in that it’s a lot easier to tell yourself and your team you didn’t accomplish something than it is to tell your peer.

Maintain Alignment

As your firm participates in peer communities and attends training or conferences, it’s important to maintain a collaborative mindset. You’ll often get a bigger return on your investment by having cross-functional attendance at these events. This allows for real-time reconciliation of diverse perspectives based on the same information. You don’t get this when each party attends their own event and then tries to resolve their differences back at the office. What you usually end up with is little to no buy-in and no execution.

Conclusion

The pace of change is increasing in our profession, in our country and in our world. No one can be expected to keep up with the changing environment of practice, technology, HR, tax, etc. issues. True leaders recognize this fact and recruit a network of talented individuals both inside and outside their firm so they have the best information possible to make the best business decisions to improve their firm’s performance, profitability and growth. They are truly collaborative leaders.