“Heart”
| Therapeutic Accounting ® | |
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By Harvey Bookstein, CPA |
| Publication Date: Fall 2007 | |
One of many things that make RBZ a unique accounting firm is the amount of time the partners spend together critiquing and analyzing our firm’s operations. At first thought, you might think that I am referring only to profitability, niche selection, staffing needs, staff training, marketing etc.; but, in fact, these are only a fraction of what we spend hundreds of hours discussing.
At our last several full-day partner retreats, we covered less definable and measurable areas. Our approach was to look at it from what the partners wanted to achieve other than income and to assure the continuation of the firm after the founding partners retire. We have been spending our time with an outside independent facilitator. At these retreats, we have been working on how the firm and industry is changing and how to get all our partners to stay on the same page. Our belief was that if the partners can “get it right,” it will automatically be pushed from the top-down over time. We’ve spent a great deal of time discussing two key words that we believe are required in order to make a great partner (or, for that matter, an “RBZer”). I do not believe that you will see those words in any other accounting firm’s vision, but we feel it is necessary. Although both words are somewhat “fuzzy” to define, one was easier to understand, whereas the other word was very difficult to comprehend in a group setting. As it turns out, I have always believed in these two words in my personal life and have attempted to live by them throughout my adult life.
The more understandable of the words is “integrity.” This includes how honestly you treat your other partners, clients, staff, business associates, family, society, etc. You might believe that this is a professional characteristic in our industry that is automatic; but, in fact, it has been proven in the press and in court to be far from automatic. The part I am now referring to is our firm, not to our clients. Part of integrity within our firm is that when the partners meet, we all have differences in opinion on many issues, but we need to feel safe to give our true opinions that may differ significantly from everyone else. We need to believe that what we share in the partner meetings will not be shared with others unless it is agreed to do so in advance. We need to accept the finding of the majority without undermining the vote or attempting to “define” it in the future in a way that was not initially discussed. We need to individually function in the future in a positive way even if the vote went against us.
The second word that we discussed at length is “heart.” A lot of our discussion was first spent on trying to define what heart meant. After a great deal of discussion we concluded that we could not define it. We instead came up with examples that made it easier to comprehend. My examples included being excited with our clients’ success; taking a client’s problem home with you to think about; making recommendations to your client even when you have not been asked for an opinion and it may be something that they may not want to hear; becoming your clients’ salesman by trying to get them to become more profitable; making introductions to your clients that you feel will benefit them; being aware of their personal issues when dealing with their business interests; always thinking of other areas our clients may need help with, even if we can’t solve it ourselves. Other partners came up with such suggestions that included not being selfish but looking out for the firm versus yourself; showing it by example not only with words; making the firm part of your life.
What I have learned and continue to learn is that RBZ is consistently updating itself and delivering more and more support to our clients other than just how to make more profits, pay less taxes and save costs. When you examine the attributes that make RBZ a truly great firm, I believe that heart is a key ingredient that we as partners can share with our clients, staff and ourselves. I have always wanted to define that as one of the attributes to be a partner at RBZ. It appears that wish has now become a reality.
