The Marketplace Fairness Act has made some headlines recently. If passed into law, the proposed federal solution is a game changer for U.S. retailers who sell across state lines, but not many understand the Act’s implications. In this blog, we’ll share our understanding of the Act and how it might affect you and/or your clients. ...

We all want to measure social media’s return on investment (ROI); but, because it is rarely the last marketing touch point before a conversion (sale), it may be hard to accurately track its direct impact on your marketing efforts. In measuring your firm’s social media marketing ROI, assumptions may be made because there is often ...

“Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without in himself.” – Henry Ward Beecher We all want to be known as being selfless and generous to a fault. No one, including me, wants to admit to having a selfish interest in their relationships with others. But ...

Bob Gaby, CPA, has over 30 years of technology consulting and public accounting experience. He is a founding principal of Arxis Technology, Inc. (ATI), a management and technology consulting firm located in Simi Valley, California and a partner in Arxis Financial, Inc., a full service accounting firm affiliated with ATI. ATI sells, implements, and supports ...

Through life experience in various settings – whether in business, at church, or at home – I have observed that the most difficult challenge we face is change.  Whether it involves changing attitudes or behaviors, most of us don’t like it.  As shown below in Geoffrey Moore’s diagram on change management, over 80% of people ...

Monday night in yoga during a pose, my instructor said that sometimes the most difficult part of yoga is not knowing how long the pose is going to last. I agree!  He encouraged us to practice “open-ended effort” and use our breathing to work through the discomfort, the challenge of the pose and the unknown ...

In recent months, we have seen many changes, such as weather patterns on the planet creating changes in our environment unlike any we’ve seen in recent years, foreign and domestic threats and acts of terrorism, and family changes due to high unemployment rates and more expensive educational programs.  Human beings have an uncanny ability to ...

Conflicting priorities. New initiatives or opportunities. Emergencies or unexpected problems. The list goes on and all are things that can cause you to feel overwhelmed and like you’re going to drop the ball (or several balls). It doesn’t have to be that way, though, if we say a word many of us simply don’t use ...

“One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country. We need a spiritual revival in America.” -Billy Graham With the spring tax filing season successfully behind us, we have an opportunity to start fresh and focus our energies on renewing our body, mind, and spirit for the important tasks that ...

Leadership Spotlight: Mary Rapp MacBain, CPA.CITP, CGMA This month we are proud to feature Mary Rapp MacBain in our Leadership spotlight.  Mary is the President and CEO of the Kansas Society of CPAs. She describes her role implementing the strategic plan of the KSCPA and leading the KSCPA team as a “dream come true.”  She ...

If You Can’t See It, Should You Believe It? My oldest daughter wrote an essay recently on the Holocaust book Night by Elie Wiesel.  Even though the book illustrates the hopelessness of this unspeakable event, in true form to her wonderful personality, my daughter chose the subject of faith as the basis for her essay.  ...

Treat Yourself to Some “Brain Candy” One of the best ways to stay informed and to grow as a leader is to make time to read personal development books that offer new ideas, inspiration and insight. During the course of our coaching and training sessions, we frequently suggest books to our clients to support the ...

Take Time to Be Grateful As you work toward the end of your busy season, which is now in sight, make sure you’re doing the appropriate level of “internal marketing” by taking the time to acknowledge those in your firm who have helped you make it all happen. Perhaps it is your firm administrator who ...

Leadership Spotlight: George Forsythe, Wells Coleman & Company, LLP George Forsythe is the Managing Partner of Wells, Coleman & Company in Richmond, VA.  George brings great energy and enthusiasm as he drives change and growth within his firm and his clients.  As one of the new, young leaders in the profession, George is leading his ...

Having It All Isn’t Just a Women’s Initiative I have the privilege of speaking at women’s conferences and working with firms whose leadership teams are committed to further the opportunities for women in the profession. Being a woman, I appreciate the ideas, programs and empathy for women professionals as we balance fulfilling on both personal ...

Let’s Stop Paying Lip Service to People Development Yesterday, I had three conversations with leaders of firms in completely different geographies and of a variety of sizes  about slightly different yet completely related topics:  a lack of traction in a mentoring program, an inability to get engagement reviews completed by both staff and managers and ...

Embrace Yourself As A Leader Lately, I have been contemplating how leaders are identified as I think of our recently elected political leaders and my own friends and family who I see in leadership roles.  Webster’s Dictionary defines a leader as “a guiding or directing head.”  I have noticed that when we come together in ...

Leadership Spotlight: Kurt Siemers, CEO, Kennedy & Coe We feel really fortunate to feature Kurt Siemers in this month’s Leadership Spotlight.  Kurt is a genuine leader and friend of ConvergenceCoaching.  As the President and CEO of Top 100 Kennedy and Coe, LLC he has driven incredible growth and change in his firm.  One of the ...

Make Prioritization Easy with WTD Lists! If you are like me, you’re always looking for ways to be more efficient and organized in getting your increasing list of tasks completed.  At ConvergenceCoaching, we employ an organizational technique that allows each of us to have an “at-a-glance” view of our own “work-to-do” (“WTD”) lists for the ...

Start Using Twitter To Develop Thought Leadership Twitter is often a misunderstood social media platform – especially in business.  However, Twitter has unbelievable power and reachthat can build credibility and thought leadership for your firm in your targeted niches, industries and specialty services.  My partner Jennifer Wilson shared five of the important Twitter benefits in ...