Although the payoff of a merger can be great, it can also be high risk, not just in a financial sense. To make the merger successful, both firms need to do a great deal of planning around integrating company culture.

Firms spend a significant amount of time and money creating a company culture that helps employees feel supported and drives results. In recent years, forward-thinking firms have focused on creating growth cultures rather than performance-based cultures.

Technology is commoditizing traditional accounting firm services, decreasing billable hours and motivating firms to build their advisory and consulting service offerings. But making this leap requires a different set of tools than those used for ...

In a tax or audit engagement, the scope of services is well defined and documented. But consulting has almost unlimited possibilities. How do you train people to recognize all of those possibilities and meet client needs?

You may have heard it before, or you may have actually uttered these words, “Why did we wait so long to let an underperforming employee go?" In some firms today it may actually be called the underperforming epidemic or the underperformer drag, but no matter what words you are using to describe the problem, the results are the same - our firm suffers when the leaders do not take action.

Most firms are in the process of reflecting on their progress during this time of year. Often, that reflection leads to negative feelings of what did not happen, goals that were not met, numbers that were not obtained and people who left. A more effective process is one called Appreciative Inquiry.

The privilege of teaching leadership skills to firm leaders allows me the opportunity to identify various issues that are frustrating and sometimes difficult to negotiate. One of the issues that have risen to the top of the list recently is the age old issue of “Interruptions.”

As an avid reader and educator on talent development within our profession, I have long been an advocate of mentoring in order to develop future talent in our firms. The ideal is for firms to develop a program that pairs current leaders with future leaders to transfer knowledge and wisdom from one person to another.

Having a social media policy, and training employees to follow it, are critical practices for every firm. Even if your firm is not using social media, you still need a policy because your staff are using it in their private lives and they need guidelines to protect your interests and your firms’ reputation.

Read everything you can get your hands on about companies allowing their team to work from home. Read with an open mind and ask yourself “how can this work for my firm”. Then, talk to your team and find out why working remotely is exciting to them. Talk to them about your concerns and ask for their help in solving the challenges. Think collaboratively.

In recent conversations about leadership training the words “best and brightest” slip off the tongue of firm leaders like a battle cry. We want to teach and motivate our best people to the highest level in the firm and we do not want to lose them to other firms or companies.

The new collaborative workforce has turned the rules of leadership upside down and shaken them vigorously for good measure. Where there was once a fairly defined hierarchy—Boss A tells Worker B what to do and B does it—there’s now a flat landscape where everyone is expected to take the reins as needed. That means if B has an idea—a way to make a process more efficient or a new way to get client feedback—he or she is allowed, even expected, to make it happen.

8 steps to motivate team members to exhibit superstar qualities.

We are in the final 4 months of 2012. Here's a challenge to everyone out there to strengthen your firm’s culture by implementing the following 5 strategies in your firm.

Tips on how to motivate your team to provide new ideas.

Leadership is not a title, or a part of a job description, it is the actions that professionals can take every day when they walk through the doors at their firm.

In a recent exchange with a partner group, we were discussing how to hold ourselves accountable for goals that were being set by each individual - outside of their compensation model. The word that leapt into my mind was commitment.

It is time for your firm to look at how they can create greater balance between work and personal lives of the number one asset in your firm – its people.

Firm leaders can support and improve their overall diversity efforts with just a few creative initiatives in 2012.

Tips for making your team sparkle!

The accounting professionals in your firm are in the heart of one of their busy seasons and the “C” suite professionals are also busy – planning for their busy season in a few weeks.