Best Practices in CPA Leadership: Understanding & Enhancing your Firm Culture
There is no doubt that the biggest hurdle faced by CPA partners – seasoned and new partners – remains the challenges around leadership - which are understandably exacerbated by the unique nuances that exist within a shareholder group. Of note is how the accounting profession rewards good performance – CPA professionals are promoted into roles of management for which they have no, or little training – and, in some cases interest. An average firm’s environment consists of a vast array of different types of people with a variety of skillsets, beliefs, opinions, and personalities. Perhaps we wouldn’t normally CHOOSE to spend so much time with each other but for the fact that we are all members of the same team. A successful leader is able to bring together all members on the same path toward a well-formed outcome that serves the greater good for all (the firm, its professionals and clients, too).
Learning Objectives
- Understand and adopt the main objectives of every successful leader
- Explore different approaches of culture; determine which one your firm is currently using; embrace then enhance this already existing culture
- Learn how to build alignment among the team
- Learn the most importance areas of focus and receive specific ideas on how to drastically improve each area
- Gain more confidence than ever before about how you lead!
Presenter and Moderator Bios
Presenter: Lisa Tierney, Certified Life Strategies Coach, Marketing Strategist and President, TIERNEY Coaching & Consulting, Inc.
Lisa Tierney, CLSC is a certified life strategies coach and a marketing strategist who has empowered CPA professionals serving in roles at small and medium-sized regional firms throughout the US and beyond for over twenty years. She is founder and President of TIERNEY Coaching & Consulting, Inc. which offers a unique and highly effective blend of traditional consulting in tandem with professional coaching to address all the nuances of success - including mind, body & spirit. The professionals who work with TIERNEY coaches enjoy increased self-confidence and higher self-esteem, adopt a more relaxed, yet authoritative demeanor, start asking power questions, treat their clients with a more consultative approach – and benefit from a natural growth in their practice or service area. They usually report a significant increase in their overall satisfaction of their professional experience.
Lisa’s commitment to accounting professionals is demonstrated by the organizations she supports – such as the CPA Leadership Institute, the CPA Firm Management Association and the various international associations of CPA firms that she remains affiliated with. She is a sought after speaker and workshop facilitator and has presented at dozens of national conferences and international associations of accounting firms. Lisa is an author and has been featured in numerous publications such Accounting Today, Inside Public Accounting, AAM’s Growth Strategies, The Legal Intelligencer, The Philadelphia Business Journal, and the JD Supra Business Advisor. She is a former in-house marketing director of both a regional and a national CPA firm and served as Chairperson of BKR International’s Marketing Committee, a network of over 135 member CPA firms with more than 300 offices in over 70 countries around the world. Lisa is a graduate of New York University, where she received a scholarship toward her Bachelor’s degree.
She published a book for professional women in 2016, entitled Women Empowerment at Work: Create Your Own Success.
