Accounting Leadership in 2021: Looking Dismal, and Time to Fix It
As a leadership skills speaker for accountants, I have learned that while accountants, in general, have a high level of technical expertise, their leadership skills continue to lag. This fact may not be all that bothersome to those of you who are almost never “public facing,” but for the rest of the profession poor leadership skills for accountants can be tragic.
2020 Research Findings
Numerous recent research studies focusing on negotiation skills speaker for accountants indicate that there is a huge gap between perception and reality. Accounting leadership is failing to inspire and motivate accounting firms toward their goals of growth, employee loyalty and appreciation.
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- To that point, let me summarize five key pieces of research as to how accounting leadership skills are viewed:
According to Deloitte, nearly 60 percent of organizations in every phase of business cannot meet their future leadership needs.
- With an almost identical percentage, in a 2020 Forbes survey it was found that 58 percent of managers admitted that they didn’t receive any management training.
- Market research and education firm Infopro Learning found that only 19 percent of organizations say they are any good at nurturing and developing leaders.
- As a result of these, and many other failures in leadership, it has been found that less than a third of employees are “happy with the career advancement opportunities their companies have offered.”
The net results? According to Elucidat, a management development organization, close to 80 percent of business organizations across the board are experiencing a leadership gap.
If, during the pandemic, when accounting organizations have been locked down and virtual there has been a huge gap exposed in accounting leadership skills, what will happen as these firms begin to open up in 2021? As industry experts predict, it could lead to major problems.
Accounting Leadership Skills, Must Be Imparted
If there is a huge gap between what is observed by employees and what is practiced by accounting firm leadership, what is directly affected are those leadership skills seen as being essential. Among the Top 7 business leadership traits are (WikiJob):
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- Inspiring motivation
- Communication
- Positivity
- Delegation
- Creativity
- Responsiveness
- Trustworthiness
Unless leaders inspire and motivate employees, actively listen as well as talk, delegate, be positive, creative and responsive, the gap will continue.
And trust? I save trust for last because it is so important.
In another 2020 business poll it was found that 82 percent of employees admitted that they did not trust their management. Without trust, accounting firms cannot succeed and grow. In fact, I would argue that in one fashion or another, when trust in accounting leadership is lost, firms fail.
This “trust issue” need not be an ethical mistrust, in fact more often than not, it isn’t. To develop leadership skills for accountants within an organization is to inspire, communicate and be responsive to the needs of those who aspire to excellence.
Mike Hourigan, leadership skills speaker for accountants speaks virtually and in-person on developing strong, Effektive and professional leaders. For more information, call Mike today at (704) 875-3030 or by filling out the form below.
