Leadership is the common denominator of the firms that have great technology and the single most important differentiator between the leading firms and the rest of the pack. Digital transformation requires these skills, and the firms and the clients that don’t have them will struggle. Most firms want to stay competitive and enhance the client experience. Firms also need to sustain margins and be future-ready to make the necessary investments in talent and technology.
The 10 skills that will position you and your firm for the future while sustaining the success of the firm and its clients are described below. Let’s briefly review each and understand the meaning and context of the skill as it applies to an accounting firm. By the way, these skills also apply to your clients and provide significant opportunities for advisory and consulting services.
This is where growth is occurring in the profession.
- Vision. What does the firm want to be, do, have, experience and create? What is your personal vision? It is difficult, if not impossible, to succeed without a defined vision, strategic plan, and an IT strategy to support the vision and plan. Visioning and planning are not only the responsibility of the CEO but also of other firm leaders. This reinforces the fact that IT needs a seat at the management table in today’s environment.
- Mindset. Transformation requires skill sets, toolsets and mindsets. Mindsets are the most difficult for most organizations. The gravitational power of the status quo is often greater than the opportunities related to transformation. Some of the most essential mindsets are growth, life-long learning, collaboration, value versus effort, investment versus overhead, and who versus how. At Boomer Consulting, we utilize a “mindset scorecard” to determine where you are today, and where you want to be in six months and one year.
- Communications. Any successful technology leader will tell you communication is one of their biggest challenges for several reasons. Too much communication can be as harmful as little or no communication. Also, people communicate differently. Most IT leaders find email is not the solution. Effective communication requires multiple methods, consistency, and the ability to understand the vision and the plan.
- Simplification. Simplifying communication, the approach, and agile business processes are all important. Use graphics to explain more difficult concepts. Today, technology can automate or replace processes that add little or no value. This has always been the case in accounting. Some of you remember the 13-column worksheet. Most simplification of process starts with the aggregation of data and workflow.
- Governance. Firm leaders often dismiss governance, but it is vital to sustain success, communicate, and remain future-ready. Leadership is paramount, but structuring of the IT task force or committee is also critical. Governance does not have to be overly time-consuming, but does require resources, and internal and external collaboration.
- Convergence. Major breakthroughs and productivity gains come when multiple technologies converge. Great examples from the past are tax return preparation software/digital printers and general ledger software/IDEA. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and networks and sensors are already changing the way firms use applications and integrate data.
- Team building. IT leaders must be able to build collaborative teams with multiple skills and unique abilities. They must also be able to collaborate with external resources like service providers and consultants. Having a clear vision and plan enhances the capability to develop a unique-ability team.
- Peer relationships. The ability to connect with peers in and outside the profession is crucial. Even the best leaders can get high on their own supply if they don’t participate in peer groups and attend relevant conferences where they are exposed to new capabilities and thinking.
- Innovation. Everyone is talking about disruption and innovation. Understanding the innovation process and being able to bring together hindsight, insight and foresight are extremely important in today’s move from transactional/compliance work to high-value advisory and consulting services. IT leaders must be able to assist in the packaging of multiple services.
- Technical. Leadership doesn’t always have to know how to build the watch, but they do need to know how to tell time as well as have access to technical skills when needed. This is generally a given, but often where leaders spend too much of their time.
If you have people in your organization who have these skills, promote and do what you need to do to keep them. The fact that they are not CPAs should not impede their advancement or compensation. They should be important members of your leadership team. Firms that have talent with these skills are the leaders in digital transformation.
