Partner Coaching: Why is it beneficial?

I coached a managing partner recently – let’s call him Chad – who was standing on a proverbial burning platform when I met him. Chad had lots of clients who loved his firm, but was short staffed at the lower levels and partner level. He had a succession problem that needed to be handled now. He was savvy enough to know there was a better way to run his business and had even collected some good ideas in his quiet moments, but he hadn’t stood still long enough to put together a cohesive plan, much less act on one.

Sound familiar?

Between the staffing crisis, chargeable hours flowing uphill to partners, more client demands than you have time to serve, partners disagreeing on key business issues and any whiff of stress in your personal life… being a partner has been hard lately.

Complex topics require a different approach: When to use coaching

If you’re in a situation like Chad’s, reading a book, doing CPE or even having a well-intentioned mentor telling you the “right thing to do” isn’t going to help much. That’s because it’s like trying to pound in a nail with a screwdriver. You need a different tool.

Researchers have identified two types of change that leaders need to make:

1. A technical change is a problem whose definition, solution and implementation is clear.
   • Example: How to select, buy and implement a better time entry system is in this bucket.
2. An adaptive change is a problem whose definition is unclear, solution is unknown and implementation needs to be iteratively discovered by a group of people.
   • Example: How to engage your staff falls in this bucket.

When you are facing complex, multi-faceted challenges like Chad was dealing with, you need an approach that works for adaptive changes. Coaching is ideal for helping create adaptive changes because of its inclusive and learning-focused nature.

CPA Firm Management & Governance is a must-read for partners who want to run their firm like a real business.  The book addresses ►Best Practices for managing and structuring the leadership group ►how decisions get made ►voting ►how the Board functions ►the role and expectation of a partner ►the Managing Partner ►organization structures for various firm sizes ►job descriptions of key management positions ►partner accountability and other issues.  

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What is partner coaching?

Coaching is when a consultant uses a variety of behavioral techniques and methods to help a client achieve a set of goals to improve their professional performance and personal satisfaction and, consequently, improve the effectiveness of their organization.

There are five core elements of partner coaching:

1. Deepen Insight
   • What does the partner want to accomplish (for themselves and their firm)?
   • Create self-awareness about where/what they need to develop to get there.
2. Surface Motivation
   • Highlight or create internal motivation to make the changes needed to reach their goals.
3. Create Capabilities
   • Create a roadmap for the partner to know where and how to build the needed capabilities (both for themselves and for their firm.
4. Practice to Build Mastery
   • Provide many opportunities for the partner to practice new skills in a safe environment to build mastery and confidence.
5. Ongoing Accountability and Momentum
   • Create helpful ongoing accountability for reaching set goals and capabilities.
   • Highlight and celebrate the partner’s success along the way!

Benefits our coaching clients have seen include moving…

• FROM: Being too distracted because of working lots of hours in the business
• TO: Working “on the business” and getting better results while putting in fewer hours

• FROM: Avoiding partner conflict
• TO: Confidently creating partner cohesion

• FROM: Hustling for not enough money and being too stressed
• TO: Making more money and experiencing greater personal well-being

• FROM: Clients calling the shots as the default
• TO: Profitable pricing and a high-integrity policy for client acceptance

• FROM: Feeling unconfident
• TO: Having strong executive presence

How does partner coaching work?

A typical coaching engagement kicks off with defining clear goals for success, debriefing a personality or strengths assessment and building a plan for our work together. Once the goals and path have been defined, regular sessions (often once or twice per month) commence, where we work through your learning and change agenda.

As indicated above, these sessions are a mix of creating more personal awareness, highlighting and building your motivation, identifying what resources you need and practicing new skills so that you can create the personal and business shifts needed to reach your goals. Periodically (quarterly or annually), we’ll pop our heads up to review progress, celebrate your big wins and establish where you want to go next. A typical engagement can last anywhere from 6 months to multiple years, depending on the topics and the degree of support you want.

Next steps

If you are a managing partner or partner with complex challenges, you may be able to benefit from a strong coaching relationship. Our coaches bring deep CPA firm expertise, helpful accountability and lots of empathy for the fact that your job is not an easy one! Setting up an intro call to make sure you have a good fit is a great first step on the coaching journey. Good luck!