Your Team Is Looking at Its Future

People coming up in public accounting look at their leaders and ask whether that is a future they want. If you’re a partner, owner or firm leader, you are already a role model to someone. The question is what they see.

I have a lot of role models. The Duffer brothers created Stranger Things. The Dude Perfect crew found a way to play sports with their buddies for a living. Steve Kamb built Nerd Fitness around helping people who love video games and Star Wars live healthier lives. There are also clients who inspire me and whose example I learn from.

My parents belong on that list. My mom taught me how to give to the community, to kids and to families. My dad showed me the importance of having a life alongside work. When he left a big firm and started his own, he showed me that you could fish, hunt and be involved in your kids’ lives while building a career.

What I remember is the example. I could see what mattered to them because of how they lived.

You Don’t Have to Volunteer for the Role

It’s fun to think about who your role models are. But here’s the question I want you to consider: what kind of role model are you being?

If you lead a team, people are watching. They look at how you experience your present and use it to imagine their future. You may not have asked for that responsibility, but it comes with being in a position others aspire to reach.

Ask yourself what they see. Do they see integrity and honesty? Empathy and compassion? Humility? Do they see someone who is hopeful, resilient and still growing? Do they see someone whose life has room for the things that make them who they are?

When the View From Below Isn’t Appealing

In public accounting, we talk a lot about bringing people into the profession and keeping them once they arrive. One question worth asking is whether they look up and see someone they want to become.

They might see someone who works too much, keeps bringing in work when the team lacks the resources to do it, or puts the client relationship ahead of the people serving the client. They might see someone who no longer skis because it has been too long, whose weekends have no room for a paddleboard, or who rarely gets home for dinner.

What would that tell them about the life available at the next level? You can describe the opportunity, but the example you provide is part of the evidence they use to judge it.

Bring More of Yourself Back

I would reckon there are parts of your life missing some things that are authentically you. If you want to be a better role model, consider bringing more of those things back.

Show the people coming up behind you that this career can have room for a life. Take your vacation. Be present for dinner. Go to the recital or the tee-ball game. Make time for the interests and relationships you care about, and let people see that you can be yourself while doing meaningful work.

You don’t have to present a perfect life. You can give people a more complete picture of what leadership can look like.

Does your team want the future they see you living?

Lead in a Way You Want Others to Follow

What parts of your life have you put aside along the way? Executive coaching can help you examine how you lead, what you want your career to make possible, and how to bring more of yourself into the life you’re modeling. If you’re a CPA firm partner, owner or leader, bring the question you’re working through, and we can explore what you want to change.

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Related Perspectives

Continue exploring with CPA Firm Leaders: Your Team Is Watching What You Do, CPA Firm Culture: Your Values Only Matter If People Experience Them, and What Matters.

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