The Managing Partner’s 3 Most Important Responsibilities

Limiting the responsibilities to 3 is difficult enough, but ranking them – wow, that’s tough.

Nevertheless, I’ll take a crack.

Leadership, which Heifetz defines as “identifying challenges and focusing people’s attention on those challenges,”  is first and foremost. Leaders stretch the abilities and imaginations of everyone in the firm.  Real leaders have strong feelings and ideas and are able to get partners and staff to enthusiastically follow.

Herding cats.  The most difficult challenge for a MP is managing a group of smart, self-confident, incredibly successful partners who think that, because they are “partners,” they have the right to do whatever they darn well please.  I’ve always said:  “As the partners go, so goes the firm.”  So, herding the cats (the partners) includes holding partners accountable, coaching them, gaining credibility and getting the partners to live and breathe the firm’s core values, every day.

Attract, retain and develop great people, partners and staff, by making the firm a great place to work.   I debated whether to put this below #4  (growth), but achieving growth is much easier if you have great people

Ensure that the firm focuses on growth.  The MP doesn’t have to be a rainmaker or even a good business-getter.  But he/she must make sure that the firm grows continuously.

Assemble and empower a highly effective management team, thus allowing the MP to stay out of the detail to be the visionary he/she needs to be.

Be the firm’s visionary.  By the nature of the work they do, CPA firms have a strong tendency to focus on client work to the exclusion of virtually everything else, thus failing to see the big picture.  Like the hands of a clock, it’s hard to see the firm falling into this rut.  That’s why the firm needs a visionary MP that is always thinking about  tomorrow, challenging the ways things are done today, even if you are successful, stirring things up, and thinking long term vs. short term.

Hmmm…that’s 6.  Well, I guess that’s why I got out of doing accounting work!