My oldest daughter graduated from high school this past weekend. A genuine Millennial, she chose a non-traditional path and graduated from an online high school, Minnesota Virtual High School (MVHS). Yes, I was skeptical when she first presented the idea to us, but I have to say I’ve gained a lot of insight into learning ...
Jun
19th
2013
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 ...
Mar
20th
2013
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 ...
Mar
13th
2013
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 ...
Mar
6th
2013
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 ...
Feb
27th
2013
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 ...
Feb
20th
2013
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 ...
Feb
13th
2013
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 ...
Feb
6th
2013
Leadership Spotlight: Alan Hawrylak, CPA, Managing Partner, Hartman Leito & Bolt In this month’s Leadership Spotlight, we would like to introduce you to Alan Hawrylak. Alan has been a friend of ConvergenceCoaching for many years, and in that time we have had the opportunity to witness him step into the role of Managing Partner and ...
Dec
12th
2012
To Live Better: Die a Little In past blogs, I’ve written on challenging topics such as goal setting, people development, and succession planning, along with resolving conflict, starting an exercise program, and most recently being vulnerable. In each case, I’ve tried to explain “why” these topics matter in our lives, and have offered ideas on ...
Nov
7th
2012
In With the New (Not Out With the Old) There’s something eerie about the sound of wind high in the trees, shaking the last crackling leaves to the ground, mingled with the remaining bird calls, cricket chirps, and wind chimes of summer. I am struck with the dichotomy of this relationship: the departure of one ...
Oct
24th
2012
Leadership Spotlight: Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA In our continued effort to bring you ideas, techniques and strategies to strengthen your leadership abilities, we have initiated a monthly “Leadership Spotlight” blog post. You can look forward to hearing about the experiences and insights of CPA profession leaders each month. And, if you know a powerful leader ...
Oct
17th
2012
Courageous Leadership “To look at something as though we had never seen it before requires great courage.” — Henri Matisse I often find myself reflecting on how inspiring the leaders I coach are. Whether it’s our Transformational Leadership Program participants, Managing Partners, Executive Committees, staff in our training workshops or other individuals whom I ...
Oct
10th
2012
Drive Change In BOTH Mechanics AND Behavior “The very best practice mechanics you devise – new plans, programs, and processes – will only succeed when you pay careful attention to the human behavior around those mechanics.” Me to Our Clients, Everyday! I am a change agent. I make my living helping individuals, teams and organizations ...
Sep
19th
2012
I am writing this blog to firm leaders. I don’t know how many times I have had Managing Partners or Executive Committee members share a story of a poor performing and/or poor behaving partner that they have let go. Inevitably in the conversation, they will say, “We had all of these reasons why we couldn’t ...
Sep
7th
2012
It’s Urgent… How many times have we heard those two words? In our 24/7 world, response times have contracted, and things that used to be just “important” have now become “urgent” thanks to our constant smart phone availability, and the expectations of our customers, clients and colleagues. In a sense, it’s a trap we set ...
Aug
29th
2012
3 Tips to Improve Internal Communication Communication. It’s something we all need more of, but we don’t devote much time to think about it or improve it. I recently had the opportunity to sit with a group of young partners to find out what they felt they need to grow their practice. During the meeting, ...
Aug
21st
2012
Reluctant Leadership? Partners often tell me that one of their number one succession concerns is wondering who will ascend to partner. The perception is that “there is no one interested in becoming a partner these days.” Yet, when I talk to managers and senior managers (and even staff!), they are interested, but they don’t really ...
Aug
8th
2012
HELPING PEOPLE GET THEIR WORK DONE How many interruptions do you get each day? Some CPA firm leaders tell me that there is often a line of people outside their door awaiting an audience. Or, more likely, they want you to put out a fire. More importantly, how many times do your team members – ...
Jul
18th
2012
IMPLEMENTATION: THE TRUE TALENT Implementation and/or execution – a couple of my favorite topics. You (a CPA firm leader), often go to a conference to gather new ideas and learn about current trends in the CPA profession. While at the conference, you begin to actually get excited about some of the ideas and begin to ...
Jun
19th
2012
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