Change involves the whole firm, but in practice, partners set the ceiling. What you say yes to, what you model and what you tolerate sends a much stronger message than any rollout email or town hall.
I’ve seen firms with solid strategies stall because partners treat change as a side project rather than a leadership responsibility. I’ve also seen firms make real progress on initiatives that seemed incredibly ambitious because partners consistently showed up differently.
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Here are the change leadership behaviors that have to start at the partner level.
Model the mindset before you ask for a behavior
People look to the partner group before buying into a new way of working. If you’re asking people to change but still operating the old way yourself, the message lands flat. Staff need to see effort and intent from their leaders.
When partners are willing to learn a new system, follow a new workflow or admit that something feels awkward at first, it lowers the barrier for everyone else. I’ve seen adoption turn a corner simply because a partner stopped asking for workarounds and started using the same tools as the team. Change feels safer when leaders go first.
Make change visible and talk about it often
One way initiatives lose momentum fast is when partners stop mentioning them. Silence creates uncertainty. People start wondering whether priorities have shifted or thinking it’s just another project or program that’s destined to fade away.
Partners don’t need to manage the details, but they do need to keep change on their radar. When partners consistently reference initiatives in meetings, ask how things are going and tie the work back to firm goals, they send a signal that this matters. Repetition is reinforcement.
Bring clarity to roles and ownership
Many change efforts struggle because no one is quite sure who owns what. Partners often assume someone else is handling it, while teams wait for direction or second-guess decisions.
Your role is to help bring clarity. That means clearly sponsoring initiatives, naming owners, trusting them to lead, decide and act, and resisting the urge to step back in and override decisions when things get uncomfortable. When partners respect the roles they helped define, trust grows. When they don’t, progress slows and frustration builds.
Reinforce adoption, not just completion
Finishing a project isn’t the same thing as changing behavior. A system can be live and a process can be documented, but if people don’t actually use them, the firm won’t see the benefit.
Partners have more influence here than they realize. When you ask how a change is being used, recognize teams that are adapting and address resistance rather than ignoring it, adoption improves. The real return on investment shows up when new ways of working become the default.
Stay consistent when it gets uncomfortable
Every change effort hits a messy middle. Productivity dips, questions pile up and some people push back. This is usually the point where team members look to partners for signals about whether the change is truly sticking.
If leaders retreat, delay decisions or revert to old habits, people learn that waiting it out works. When partners stay visible, support those managing the people side of change and hold steady on agreed decisions, trust builds. Consistency during discomfort separates initiatives that stick from those that stall.
Partners transform firms by modeling the mindset, reinforcing priorities and supporting the roles that turn ideas into action. When that happens, change stops feeling reactive and starts becoming part of how the firm operates every day. That’s when progress sticks.
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Arianna Campbell is a consultant and the Chief Operating Officer at Boomer Consulting, Inc., where she empowers CPA firms to lead transformative change by aligning people, processes and leadership. A dynamic speaker and recognized change leader in the accounting profession, she helps firms navigate the complexities of continuous improvement and talent development.
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