Leading and Mentoring Your CPA Firm to Success

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Leading and Mentoring Your CPA Firm to Success

• By Rex Gatto, Ph.D.
• Gatto Associates, LLC
• 412-344-2277
• rexgatto.com

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Overview

• Review Four Sections in the Mentoring Process for
  CPAs Book
• Why CPA Firms need a Mentoring Process
• Leading a Mentoring Process at your firm
• Skills needed to be a Mentor
• Outcomes from Mentoring
• Benefits of this presentation, you will have
  methods to coach and mentor people moving your
  firm toward success

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SECTION ONE

• INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF MENTORING

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Reflective thought

• Ive seen what a difference good mentors can
  make, both in the lives of individual CPAs and
  the firms where they work. The mentoring
  relationship is dependent on a two-way street of
  trust, with payback to both the mentor and the
  mentored. President of an Association

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Greek Mythology (p. 7)

• Odysseus, while away from home during the
  Trojan War, had his servant, Mentor, educate and
  guide his son.

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Mentoring Definition (p. 8)

• A deliberate pairing of a
  more skilled or experienced person
  (mentor) with a lesser skilled or experienced
  person (mentee), Mentor teaches you to be a
  better business person.

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What is Coaching

• Coaching is situational and focused on a skill
  set to achieve success client presentation,
  audit/ tax. )
• The coach is on the field and teaches you to be a
  better position player

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Mentoring Manual (p. 10)Four Sections in the book

• Background information and philosophy of
  mentoring
• Skills for mentors
• Tools to aid for beginning, supporting and
  closing the process
• Succession planning as part of mentoring

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Leadership

• Establishing the future goals of the firm
• Aligning people to make the goals a reality
• Inspiring people in your firm to want to work
  together
• Succession planning creates leaders

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Employee Retention (p. 11)

• Challenging work
• Work-life balance
• Professional development
• Career development
• Personal growth
• Communication flow
• Competitive salary and benefits

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Environment that Retains (p. 12)

• Firm Mission Statement
• Firm Structure/ Culture
• Orientation
• Leadership Followership
• Communication
• Career Path

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Questions

• How does mentoring differ from Performance
  Appraisal?
• Do YOU approach mentoring as Billable time or
  Investment time?
• What are the benefits of regular meetings with
  your mentee?

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Perceptions about the Firm (p. 15)

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Mentor Actions (p. 16)

• Vested interest in success
• Coach
• Professional relationship
• Sponsor
• Role model
• Create safe environment
• Support - not evaluate
• Influence guide in positive direction
• Guide professionally and personally

• Observe discuss interactions and skills
• Provide adequate appropriate feedback
• Encourage personal vision
• Discuss career business objectives
• Discuss strengths character qualities
• Discuss changes and future expectations

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Mentee Development (p. 18)

• Personal
• Positive self-regard
• Motivation
• Controlled stress level
• Conflict resolution
• Empathy ability to build rapport
• Appropriate priority setting
• Work/life balance

• Professional
• Goal setting
• Career development
• Communication
• Problem solving
• Leadership and followership
• Decision making
• Feedback/feed forward

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Benefits (p. 19)

• Mentor Benefits
• Mentee Benefits
• Firm Benefits

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Questions

• Benefit from leadership 360 Reports
• Discuss the FIRM with the Mentee?

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Points of Discussion 1Mentor Action Planner

• Firms history and cultural development
• Review operating (partnership/bylaws, etc.)
  agreement
• Organization chart
• Functions of management and committees
• What were the results of this discussion?

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Points of Discussion 2

• Firms vision, mission and long-range goal
• Practice philosophy
• Service goals
• Practice development goals
• Community service goals
• What were the results of the discussion?

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SECTION TWO
DEVELOPING MENTORING SKILLS
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Mentor Response Assessment (p. 21)

• Statement I Responses
• Choose one of the following responses.
• 1 ? You feel you are a very ambitious man, is
  that right?
• 2 ? Why do you think you have such a strong
  need for success?
• 3 ? Thats good. You should soon get to the
  top with that attitude. Let me know if I can
  help you in any way.
• 4. ? It seems to me that your need for success
  is so strong that it outweighs your need to be
  popular.
• 5. ? It will make you very unpopular here if
  you maintain that attitude thats not how we do
  things here at all.

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Scoring Grid (p. 26)

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Setting Mentoring Tone (p. 28)

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Four Mentoring Types (p. 30)

• Mean Mentor
• Meandering Mentor
• Mindless Mentor
• Marvelous Mentor

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Effective Listening (p. 33)

• Listen without rebuttal
• Make eye contact
• Nod acceptance
• Smile
• Focus
• Paraphrase

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HEAR

• Honestly listen without rebuttal
• Empathize by remembering
• Acknowledge and paraphrase
• Respectfully respond

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Why People Do Listen

• Build a connection
• Identify and understand
• Identify level of understanding
• Identify actions to be taken
• Learn
• Are interested
• It is worthwhile

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How to Address Questions

• Listen to terms - general or specific
• How are questions asked?
• Address questions in same manner
• No answer - pause, ask questions in response

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Four Stages of Feedback (p. 35)

• Astonished - You cant mean me!
• Anger - You do mean me!
• Abandon - You cant be serious!
• Acceptance - You are serious!

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Focus (p. 36)

• Focus on key issues
• Offer opportunities for development
• Create care and empathy
• Understand - have acceptance
• Support strengths

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Mentee Roles During Feedback (p. 36)

• Analyzer
• Whiner
• Rejecter
• Victim
• Controller

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Establish the Mentoring Environment (p37)

• Climate
• Input
• Support
• Feedback
• Create an environment that develops leaders

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Motivation (p. 40)

• Opportunity for development
• Ask what will motivate
• Desire
• Support abilities
• Strengthen skills
• Listen
• Be realistic
• Build Esteem
• Performance Ability X Effort
• (Competence) (Motivation)

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Guide to Mentoring (p. 42)

• Establish a safe working relationship
• Build good rapport
• Establish an open, supportive environment
• Give feedback
• Ask mentees to write goal report
• Ask mentees how you can help
• Inquire how mentees are achieving goals

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Mentoring Skills (p. 43)

• Listen without judging
• Help to problem solve
• Advise - dont dictate
• Encourage - draw out
• Guide - dont direct
• Be safe have
• Ask questions
• Pull out - dont push in

• Take notes
• Use wisdom with care and compassion
• Build future of mentee
• Be a role model

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Phases - Mentoring Process (p. 44)
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Mentor Outline Mentor Action Planner

• Phase One Initiation Pages 51-55 (Work paper
  72-74)
• Phase Two Cultivation (Assessments, pages 77-92)
• Phase Three Separation
• Phase Four Autonomy (succession planning
• pages 99-102)

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SECTION THREE
TOOLS FOR THE MENTORING PROCESS
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Topics

• Choosing a Mentor (p. 50)
• Goals Report (p. 52)
• Supplemental Material
• Mentor Mentee Action Planners

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Mentor Preparation Meeting

• Mentor script (p. 53)
• Questions (p. 54)
• Follow-up
• mentoring meetings (p. 55)

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Mentee Assessment (pps. 56-67)
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Work Papers (pps. 68-85)

• Mentee and Mentor Work Papers
• Pre- and Post-Engagement Meeting Agendas

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Tools

• Anatomy of the CPA Leader (p. 86)
• Build Your Mentees Profile (p. 89)
• Mentors Survey
• Section A - Assessment (p. 93)
• Section B - Self-assessment (p. 94)

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SECTION FOUR
THE SUCCESSION PLANNING PROCESS

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Succession Planning Process (p. 99)

• Planning
• Identifying new leaders
• Retiring partners create opportunity
• Career plan
• Transitioning partners
• Focus on the future

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Conditions of Excellence (p. 103)

• Client orientation
• Participation
• Leadership
• Development
• Motivation
• Products services
• Processes procedures
• Information

• Commitment
• Culture
• Planning
• Communication
• Accountability
• Professionalism
• Teamwork

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RAIBO (p.106)

• Responsibilities
• Value and organizational impact
• Action Indicators
• Accountability and performance measures
• Business Objectives
• Business Objectives

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Topics

• Pay for Performance, Impact and Value (p. 133)
• Conditions for Reward Process (p.136
• Methods for Distributing Bonus (p137))
• Bonus and Base Salary (p.139)
• Upward Evaluation (p. 146)

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Summary

• The Mentoring Process helps CPA Firms
• Develop positive and mutually beneficial
  relationships with mentee
• Have a successful mentoring process