By Arianna Campbell.
Busy season has a funny way of exposing a firm’s strengths and opportunities. Maybe you noticed where the bottlenecks were, or where you didn’t have enough leadership support, or perhaps you saw some of your best people burning out. The good news? You can use what you learned to shape a stronger, more adaptable firm—not just for next year but for whatever the future throws your way.
So, let’s stop running in place and start building competencies that will actually move your firm forward. Here are 12 practical areas every firm leader should focus on, broken into four key categories. Don’t think of this as another big “change initiative”—these foundational skills and strategies will set you up for sustainable growth.
Lay the groundwork: Build a strong foundation
Here’s where to start strengthening the core of your firm’s strategy and positioning.
1. Continuous strategic planning
Forget the days of setting a five-year plan and letting it gather dust. Strategic planning needs to be a living, breathing process. Check in quarterly, tweak as necessary and involve leaders at every level. The firms thriving today are nimble because they don’t treat strategy as a one-and-done event.
Block time after every busy season to review what worked and what didn’t. Adjust your plan now while it’s fresh.
2. Sharpen your value proposition
Clients have more options than ever. Why should they choose you? Clearly define your differentiators—specialized expertise, client experience or innovative services—and ensure everyone in your firm knows how to articulate them.
Run a workshop with your team. Ask: “What do we do differently that clients couldn’t get anywhere else?”
3. Embrace a data-driven advantage
Data isn’t just for reporting; it’s a competitive tool. Clean up your client and firm data, establish governance and use it to make better decisions faster. Firms with solid data strategies deliver more tailored client insights and run leaner operations.
Start by conducting a simple data audit. Identify inaccuracies, duplications, or silos. Addressing these is your quickest win.
Adapt and evolve: Keep pace with change
These strategies will help you stay agile and lead confidently through constant shifts.
4. Lead change; don’t react to it
Change fatigue is real. But firms that succeed are led by people who model a change-ready mindset. Don’t just tell your team to “embrace change.” Show them how. Leadership buy-in is the difference-maker.
Check in after implementing new tech or processes. Are people adopting it? Do they understand why it matters? Silence may indicate agreement, but it doesn’t always signal true buy-in. Proactively seek feedback and confirmation to ensure genuine support.
5. Build accountability metrics
If no one’s measuring progress, it’s easy for initiatives to stall. Establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) and key behavioral indicators (KBIs) for processes and for how well people adapt and perform.
Keep metrics visible and discuss them regularly in leadership meetings, not just year-end reviews.
6. Integrate Core Frameworks Around Change Management
Project management (PMI), process improvement (Lean Six Sigma), and operational management (accountability) must be fully aligned, with change management (Prosci) at the core. Leadership, project management, and change management must work closely together—neglect one area, and the entire initiative is at risk.
Clearly assign responsibilities: Who’s driving the project and managing timelines? Who’s improving processes for greater efficiency? Who’s ensuring accountability to sustain performance? And who’s guiding people through the change to ensure it sticks? Addressing each of these roles is crucial for successful, lasting results.
Drive growth: Expand your opportunities
Focus on these areas to unlock new growth, improve client relationships and spur innovation.
7. Develop leaders at every level
Leadership isn’t just for partners. Build leadership development into career paths early. Empower team members to take ownership, run projects and lead teams.
Create leadership roles on internal projects—think process improvements or innovation teams—so emerging leaders can flex those muscles.
8. Enhance the client experience
Client service isn’t enough. Think about the entire client journey, from onboarding to advisory services. What experience do you deliver?
Map out the client experience. Where are the gaps or pain points? Engage your team to brainstorm ways to improve them.
9. Make innovation a habit, not an event
Innovation doesn’t happen by accident. Have a clear process for collecting, vetting and implementing ideas like new service offerings, process improvements or technologies.
Create an innovation idea form and reward submissions, even small tweaks.
9½. Put AI and automation to work
We’re calling this 9½ because, while we aren’t going to go into detail here, AI is obviously an important part of the overall picture. The main thing to mention is that AI and automation fit into the larger puzzle as powerful tools. Don’t fall into the “shiny object” trap: AI and automation aren’t magic solutions but can strategically free up capacity, reduce manual effort, and allow your teams to focus on high-value tasks.
Start small—pick one recurring task to automate this quarter, and measure the time saved.
Empower your talent: Build skills that stick
Develop your people intentionally to ensure they’re equipped for what’s next.
10. Upskill fast and often
Technical skills, advisory skills and tech fluency need constant attention. The faster your team learns, the more agile your firm becomes.
Make learning part of the workflow. Short, on-demand sessions often work better than day-long trainings.
11. Assess skills and align them with strategy
Your firm’s strategy should guide the skills you prioritize. Want to grow advisory services? Ensure your team has the consultative, data analysis and communication skills to match.
Conduct a skills assessment. Where’s the gap between where you are now and where you want to be?
12. Involve your team in learning design
Don’t assume you know what skills your team wants or needs to learn. Engage them in shaping learning paths. They’re more likely to buy in if they helped build it.
Set up small focus groups to ask: What skills would make your job easier or your career path clearer?
Turn Busy Season into Opportunity Season
Busy season isn’t just a challenge—it’s your best opportunity to make meaningful improvements and see significant gains from targeted adjustments. It highlights and amplifies what’s effective and what’s holding your firm back, providing clarity on areas that need attention.
Where are you consistently noticing leadership gaps, process inefficiencies, or talent shortages? Those aren’t just pain points—they’re opportunities for ongoing growth. Choose one or two key areas to address, involve your leadership team, and use busy season to accelerate continuous improvement. Remember: perfection isn’t the immediate goal; continuous improvement is.
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Arianna Campbell is a shareholder and chief operating officer at Boomer Consulting, Inc.
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Tags: Firm Management
