34 accounting today | September 2012 technology accountingtoday.

conn

boomersblueprint J L BY L GARY BOOMER

Leadership, management
and administration:
What's the difference?
M
any view leadership, management pie to grow into Levels III, IV and y they must if you are only looking at accounting majors. 8. Technology is the accelerator. Cet digi -
and administration as synony- be developed and resources committed. Increase the scope of your search to include tal ASAP. The needs of your most important
mous, but there are primary dif- People leavefirmsbecause of bad manag- business administration, finance, informa- clients cannot be met without the technology
ferences. It is not unusual forfirmsto expect ers, not because of thefirm.One of the keys tion systems, computer science andfinearts tools. You must improve client service and do
individuals to possess the skills required for to retention is quality managers and another majors. Yes, right brain skills are important. more with fewer people in the future. The IT
each. However, an individual's unique abili- is a training/learning culture where people 2. Build the management and adminis- platform and business model are critical.
ties will determine whether they enjoy the grow. It is most disturbing to hear partners trative teams around the leader(s). Just like 9. Successfulfirmshave successful busi-
responsibilities and are successful. say, "They canfigureit out; I had to." In fact, in sports, you must have synergy. The leader- ness models. From recent surveys, many at
Let's startfirstwith the dififerentiators. many of those same partners have not ad- ship of the firm must have their players on the the administrative and management levels do
y Leadership: vision and planning; vanced to Level III as competent managers. management and administrative teams. not understand the limitations of the current
^ Management: execution and value cre- Managers are expected to create value 3. Use the Kolbe Index and Synergy Re- economic model and they have not devel-
ation; and, and are meastired upon their ability to attain port. The Kolbe Index is a measuring tool that oped strategies for the future. The account-
^ Administration: process and tasks. goals. One of their goals should be to become measures drive, insfinct, mental energy and ing profession has built its business model
All are important, and in smallerfirmsone a competent manager and effective leader. talents. Kolbe takes talent and turns it into on the effort-based economy. Firms must
person may be expected to do everything, move to the results- and experience-based
with input (or meddling) from the owners.
Most largerfirmshavefiguredout the impor- The lack of management and economies. This will require taking pricing
and billing out of the hands of many and
tance of governance and tend to keep the ma-
jority of partners out offirmmanagement. leadership talent is the No. 1 making it the responsibility of a few. Parmer
compensation may also need to change in
To further explain these statements, I refer order to focus on priorities and thefirm'svi-
to Jim Collins'fivelevels of leadership from
his book Good to Great:
challenge I hear about. sion. The right economic model won't matter
if you have the wrong clients. Defining target
• Level I: Capable individual. This requires time and a program if firms value. It does notfindweaknesses in people, clients andfilteringclients who do not meet
• Level II: Contributing team member. want to improve upon their success ratio and but defines weaknesses in organizations. yotirfilteringcriteria are extremely important
y Level III: Competent manager. develop a training/learning culture. Train- 4. Utilize non-accountants in many posi- in a growth-focusedfirm.What got you to this
^ Level rV: Effective leader. ing and learning are a two-way street where tions. The C-level (chief executive, chief oper- level may not get you to the next level.
y Level V: Executive. everyone in the firm should be expected to ating, chieffinancial,chief informafion, chief 10. Employee recognition is as impor-
I contend that the majority of people in ac- develop others and learn. value, chief technology, chief markedng and tant as planning and accountability. An
counting operate at Levels I and II. Why? Be- Administrafive personnel are often expect- other "chief" officers) require professional annual review doesn't cut it with today's
cause that is what they have been trained to ed to have all the skills, especially in smaller training that is often not part of accountants' employee. They want to know expectations
do and that is what is expected in their early firms where you often have a part-time man- technical training or experience. up front and have frequent and consistent
years. They are focused upon themselves and aging partner or chief executive. This is a 5. Team members need personal devel- communications. One of the best ways to ac-
the chargeable hours expected of them. How monumental task and often people are set up opment programs. The firm should have complish this is through accountability and
can they get to a higher level? Some figure to fail in the role offirmadministrator. People learning ladders and each person must have employee recognition. Personal 90-day game
out how to become a manager on their own in these positions require professional devel- a personalized development program that plans, accountability reviews, and talent de-
or enter into a formal training program. The opment, peer networks and management re- can be integrated with their performance velopment ensure alignment with the firm's
gravitafional pull is often greater from Levels sources in order to succeed. The biggest risk evaluation and compensation. This includes strategic game plan. Recognition programs
I and II than it isfromhigher levels. is that they are viewed by many accountants, partners. Grow or go! must catch and reward individuals for doing
The lack of management and leadership including some partners, as overhead, rather 6. Develop managers. Talent leaves bad therightthings based uponfirmveilues, goals
talent is the No. 1 challenge I hear about fi-om than a strategic asset. managers, not firms. Competent managers and initiafives.
firms around the world. The largerfirmshave There are strategies thatfirms(of all sizes) must be developed. Excellent managers de- This list is not all-inclusive, but outlines the
developed leadership programs, but most can implement in order to ensure visionary liver consistent results. They also assign top structure thatfirmsshould foUow in order to
have not provided training for managers. The leadership, quality management and effi- talent to the projects with the most opportu- leverage their leadership, and provide com-
primary reason they give is that they don't cient administration. It requires planning, nity. They are evaluated on individual and petent management along vdth efficient and
have time. This is much like a chainsaw op- people and processes. We refer to this as Per- team results. effective administration.
erator saying he doesn't have time to sharpen formance3, with technology being the accel- 7. Spend time to think, plan and grow. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, stated,
the chain. In order for large numbers of peo- erator. The follow 10 strategies will help your Leadership, management and administrative "I didn't invent the hamburger; I just took it
firm overcome the obstacles and improve. personnel must take the time to think and more seriously than anyone else." The best
Gary Boomer, CPA, is the president of 1. Hire people with integrity, intelligence plan. They should also share their plans with firms take leadership, management and ad-
Boomer Consulting, in Manhattan, Kan. and energy. In today's market, this is difficult the entirefirmand clients. ministration seriously. Does yours? AT
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