Posts by Tamera Loerzel
To Address Racism at Work: Stop Microaggressions First!
With this month’s trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, reflections about the past year’s events involving George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, and Jacob Blake are stirring new support for racial justice and equality. Organizations and CPA firms have been making public declarations, posting in social media and funding…
Read MoreThe Biggest Barrier to Anytime, Anywhere Work™ – Sludge
But there is a BIG issue lurking that can sabotage your firm’s move to a truly virtual Anytime, Anywhere Work™ firm and it’s called “SLUDGE.” In “real life,” sludge is defined as a muddy substance, dirty oil, sea ice, mire, muck and any number of other unproductive substances that slow or bog things down. We first heard of sludge…
Read MoreAsking for Transparency – What Does That Really Mean?
When facilitating visioning sessions with both current partners and their NextGen leaders, one element consistently emerges as crucial to their becoming a NextGen firm: transparency. Yes, it’s a request of the NextGen leaders, and it is often contrary to Baby Boomers’ and older Gen Xers’ approach of “Just put your head down, don’t ask any questions and…
Read MoreFeedback Is The Breakfast of Champions…
At least it is according to Ken Blanchard, author, leadership expert and coach. And we agree – as do athletic champions! If you study championship athletes, you’ll find that not only do they appreciate feedback, but they seek it out from their coaches, teammates, other experts in their field and by watching videos of their own performance. They…
Read MoreYou Want to Become Partner? Six Internal Networking Activities Will Pave the Way!
One common objective shared by many of our leadership program participants is to increase their visibility in their firm. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small firm or large firm or what segment you’re in, if you want to be elevated, those who will be advocating for you and ultimately voting on your future need to…
Read MoreStaying Positive
At this time of the year, the various busy season deadlines, spring upon us, and new activities thrown into our schedule require increased time and effort, driving our stress level up. Here are six ideas to help maintain positivity – and even reduce the feeling of stress – that you can practice during these peak…
Read MoreYou Want to Make Partner? Distinguish Yourself
We often get asked from up-and-coming leaders what we think it will take for them to become partner. We believe that there are certain criteria and results an individual is expected to achieve to be considered for partnership. While some current partners in firms may argue that they’ll “know a partner when they see it”…
Read MoreAnytime, Anywhere Work™ Survey Says Measure Differently to Flex Time
In the recent IPA/ConvergenceCoaching Road to Retention survey, an astounding 60% of the over 723 young accounting professionals we surveyed said the element of work they least enjoy is the hours. As firms continue to move towards a flexible work environment, one of the biggest challenges is around this “time” paradigm. For instance, while 97%…
Read MoreReferral Relationship Basics – and a Fresh Idea!
As firms seek to cultivate growth, referral sources continue to rank at the top of the list for developing new client opportunities. Referral relationships take time to mature and develop, and are built on a foundation of trust that we tend to protect like a parent protects their children. Because we hold referral relationships so…
Read MoreFailure is Not Fatal
Although, it feels like it sometimes. Sometimes we have high hopes and expectations and we’re working our plan for our career or organization – then, suddenly it comes to a halt because of a mistake we make or some other unforeseen circumstance occurs. “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss…
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