Consider an After-Action Review to Assess Your Progress This Year
By Jon Lokhorst, CPA, CSP, PCC The 2023 year-end has arrived, and now is the time to create a framework through which you can assess your progress over the past year. To achieve this, consider using an after-action review (AAR). This structured approach has been a tool of the U.S. Army in evaluating performance in battlefield
5 Tips for Creating an Impactful Off-Site Team Retreat
When was the last time you pulled your team away from the daily grind to work on the team, not just as a team? The best leaders recognize the need to get off the hamster wheel of never-ending operational tasks to focus on building a cohesive, high-performing team. An off-site retreat is one of the
How Assessments Can Help You Lead Well in All Directions
By Jon Lokhorst, CPA, PCC Is it possible for you to be a good boss and, at the same time, underperform or even fail as a leader in your organization? That was the opening question during Mission-Critical Leadership: How Smart Managers Lead Well in All Directions, a full-day training experience offered during PICPA’s 125th Annual Meeting and
How Savvy Leaders can Surf the Turnover Tsunami
Consistent and meaningful one-on-one check-ins are one key to keeping your—and your organization’s—head above water. The great resignation that swept many organizations up in a turnover tsunami doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. According to Fidelity’s Financial Resolutions Study, 39 percent of workers plan to look for a new job in 2022, and that number
Three Ways to Add Depth to Virtual Communications
Videoconferencing, emails, and chat messages fall flat by their very nature. Leaders must take intentional steps to replicate the important connections and informal interactions of the in-person office in a remote workplace. Last fall at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the group, “Video meetings are more transactional.” Nadella would know—Microsoft
Want a Better Team? Work on the Team – Not Just as a Team
As a CPA, you’ve probably heard the saying, “you need to work on the business, not just in the business.” Perhaps you’ve given that challenge to a client or colleague at one time or another. I suggest a similar mantra when it comes to building better, stronger teams: You need to work on the team, not
Recognize Individual Differences in Your Team
“Change is in the air.” I chuckled at the headline in an airline magazine as I planned this article. That’s a constant as we repeatedly hear that the pace of change will never be slower than it is today. Still, most people struggle with the reality of yet more change on the horizon. The best change
To Lead Better, Shift Your Understanding of Motivation
What if your understanding of motivation is faulty? What if that misunderstanding has caused you to frustrate, rather than encourage and inspire, your employees? Or even your kids? What if traditional carrot and stick methods are only temporarily effective at best, and perhaps counterproductive in the long run? Those are Susan Fowler’s conclusions in her newly
