“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Pierce
If you’re a rising star in your firm, you’ve most likely been asked, “Do you aspire to reach the partner level?” The answer could be “absolutely,” “never” or “I have no idea.” The challenge is that most of the time, the answer has a second part: “Not the way current partners are today.”
So, how do you design a career that includes going to the ownership level in a way that feels authentic to you? It IS possible. Here’s the roadmap.
Acquire the skills needed to be a leader in your firm
What are the attributes of current leaders in your firm? What are the attributes required of partners in the future? Many of the necessary qualities and characteristics of firm leaders are changing, but some are timeless. The graphic below illustrates the overlap.
Practice the Four Cs
In our years of working with leaders and visionaries in the accounting profession, we’ve observed four steps that lead to breakthrough results. We call them the Four Cs:
Commitment. First, you must take a leap of faith and commit to what you want to achieve – commit before you have every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. That is scary.
Courage. Most people admire courage in others but have trouble building it themselves. In fact, it sometimes feels awful to commit yourself to something without proof that it will pay off.
Capability. The combination of making a commitment and gathering the courage to work through obstacles is what creates both new capabilities and confidence.
Confidence. After a breakthrough, you experience a new level of confidence that allows you to commit to an even bigger breakthrough and a greater sense of confidence. The process repeats itself.
Wouldn’t it be great to start with the confidence that we’re on the right track? Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. The Four Cs happen in this order for a reason. Without courage, there are no breakthroughs.
Every successful entrepreneur—one who continually multiplies their growth—has mastered this four-step process. Yet, each time they commit, they still go through that dreaded period of courage.
While they may look back and agree that every breakthrough followed the Four C’s process, they still try to design a future filled with breakthroughs where courage isn’t part of the equation. That’s just not going to happen. It doesn’t matter how successful you are. The only way to develop new capabilities and experience breakthroughs is to commit to new goals without the promise of success.
Anyone committed to exponential 10X growth—either in business or in their career—must be willing to go through multiple periods of courage. That acceptance makes all the difference.
Continually learn and unlearn
Very few jobs remain the same over time, so the demands of leaders and managers are continually evolving. The great ones continually learn, driving themselves to improve even though they know full well that they cannot achieve perfection.
Broaden your perspective. Today’s leaders are highly observant and flexible. They can consider multiple angles to create general guidelines that help make sense of what’s happening around them. They’re open to receiving information from conflicting sources and can distill complexity.
Be a problem solver. Kicking butt and taking names is a thing of the past. Leaders today need to consider issues from the perspective of making things better versus assigning blame. They balance vision with getting the right things done.
Develop self-awareness. Outstanding leadership starts internally. Today’s leaders strive to become more aware of their intentions and their impact on others. They admit their mistakes and learn from them. They know that much of what got them into their role won’t be what carries them into continued success.
Improve your communication skills. Be specific, direct and candid with others. Great leaders are transparent with their agendas and listen to what others say rather than simply planning their response.
Think strategically. Leaders must take a broad, long-term perspective in dealing with today’s issues and balance it with the pressure to produce short-term results. Understand and appreciate the current state while recognizing the possibilities.
Think globally. Our world is becoming increasingly smaller. Leaders need to appreciate and leverage diversity and grow more innovative and proactive. Work on anticipating problems and opportunities and identifying new markets and products.
Making partner is ultimately about skills and personality attributes coming together. The list above is a big one, but you don’t have to work on all of them at once. Create a list of actions and commit to them. Have the courage to become someone who can handle the challenges of running a business in a way that feels authentic to you. In the process, you’ll create a career and a future for yourself that will make you aspire to become a partner.
Sandra Wiley, Shareholder, President of Boomer Consulting, Inc., is a leader in the accounting profession with a passion for helping firms grow, adapt and thrive. She is regularly recognized by Accounting Today as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Accounting as a result of her expertise in leadership, management, collaboration, culture building, talent and training.
Sandra’s role at Boomer Consulting, Inc. includes serving as co-director of the Boomer Leadership Academy as well as the Boomer Managing Partner Circle, the Boomer Talent Circle and the Boomer Learning & Development Circle. Her years of experience and influence as a management and strategic planning consultant make her a sought-after resource among the best and brightest firms in the country.