Productivity in Practice: Business Sherpa

To say that John McQuaig has conquered mountains is not just reusing a tired metaphor. When the CPA and certified management consultant (CMC) from Wenatchee, Washington, steps out of his office onto a deck over the Columbia River, the Cascade Mountains and colors of autumn beckon him. So when he is not advising his business clients on their finances, taxes and business strategies, you’re more likely to find him bicycling with his wife and children, or perhaps in any corner of the world literally climbing a mountain. And we’re talking about the big ones.

He has scaled Africa’s Kilimanjaro (19,336 ft.) and Kala Pattar in Nepal (18,200 ft.), from which you can see Mount Everest. A little closer to home, he has frequently climbed Washington’s Rainier and Baker, two mountains that as a youth helped instill in him a love of nature and a drive to conquer goals.

This personal drive has been obvious to those around him throughout his life: from when he helped thin apple orchards as a youth to running a successful painting business as a teenager to working for a “Big 8” firm in Alaska after college to finally starting a CPA and business consulting practice, McQuaig and Welk, PLLC (www.mcqw.com). The six-person firm is primarily focused on business services for midsize and larger clients, offering business planning, write-up and tax services to a selected client base of businesses with revenues that range from $1 million to more than $200 million. His firm relies heavily upon innovative technologies to help them service their clients, including multi-screen monitors on all workstations, secure client portals on their web site and wireless capabilities. The firm earned an exceptional score of 430 on The CPA Technology Advisor’s Productivity Survey, a free technology utilization assessment tool located at www.cpatechadvisor.com/productivity.

A major key to his success in business has been applying the goal-setting skills he learned through mountaineering to his professional ambitions and helping his clients utilize the same practices. “Preparing for a mountain climb and preparing a business for success are similar,” according to John. “Both require tackling the peaks, chasms, glaciers and slippery slopes of figurative and literal mountaintops.”

But he says the first step that many businesses fail to perform is setting achievable and measurable goals. “When climbing mountains, the goals are very clear and everyone on the team can easily understand the mission of reaching the summit. It is concrete and tangible, and anything short of reaching that point is a major disappointment.”

Unfortunately, business goals or “summits” are not usually as clear and, he says, the lack of clarity often sends the business’ stakeholders off in many different directions working toward what they assume to be the business’ summit. “If business leaders can learn how to set a clear vision, they are more apt to take their business where they want it to go.”

The concept of teamwork is another key factor that can benefit from a mountaineering perspective. “When undertaking a major climb, every person on the team knows that every other person has a specific role to fill. The failure of any one of the team members on the rope with you jeopardizes not only the success of the mission but can also be a life-or-death matter.” While entrepreneurs do not usually face life-or-death consequences, the effect on the success of a business can be just as significant.