beBetter 

This blog is the first in the series, The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business—My Very Own Jerry Maguire Blog

The term “trusted advisor” is so overused and embellished in public accounting—to the extent that this term now breeds complacency. Our profession has taken for granted the level of client service and experience, the relevant insights and the courage necessary to proactively collaborate in fulfillment of those powerful words. We continuously label ourselves and our firms with this term meant to convey the highest level of client experience and equity relationship while our professional services are increasingly being viewed and purchased as low-value commodities. We are quickly sliding down the value slope even with many of our trusted advisor relationships.    

Last week, I published the tenth blunder in the blog series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

As leaders, I think that it’s important that we acknowledge our mistakes. We need to own them, learn from them and not be afraid to laugh at ourselves. This creates a positive and light mood for your team, and enables them to break free from the fear of making mistakes. Some of my most rewarding moments as a leader have come after I owned my mistakes. 

This blog is the tenth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. 

As I have shared my top blunders over the past few weeks, you may have noticed a common thread which turned everything around for me: FEEDBACK!  I finally realized that the only feedback I received was during my annual performance evaluation. And I came to dread this awful annual experience with the mountain of feedback and all of the surprises!  

This blog is the eighth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. 

This blog is the seventh in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

This blog is the sixth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

This blog is the fifth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

On a recent trip to Sage Valley, in Graniteville, SC, I learned a lesson in what it really means to have a meaningful life of service to others and how we are living our dash every day, which determines our legacy. 

This blog is the third in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them

For a long time, I had a terrible habit of communicating my expectations with very little clarity. 

For example, let’s take a look at this totally made up scenario:

This blog is the second in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them

My wife, Cathy, and I have routinely discussed how hectic and busy Mondays can be each week.  In fact, Monday night is her night to cook as I usually get home the latest on those nights. One busy Monday morning around 10 a.m., I noticed my cell phone ringing and that it was Cathy calling.  I knew this must be an emergency so I answered my phone, “What’s going on?” Cathy replied, “The dishwasher broke, I can’t even get it to turn on.” I quickly replied, “What the hell do you want me to do about it from the office?”

This blog is the first in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

As I reflect on my career, I must admit it did not take me long to note many more than 10 blunders. For my sanity, I have decided to share only what might be the top 10 in this blog series. I wouldn’t say this first blunder was the biggest but it certainly felt like the right place to start. It certainly ranks in the top five.    

“Be quick, but don’t hurry.” Those are words from the legendary leader and basketball coach John Wooden. Andrew Hill, author and former Wooden player, also recounts, “Life, like basketball, must be played fast–but never out of control.” Those words ring so true for us today. You see, hurrying tends to cause mistakes. I certainly learned that the hard way on a recent day off…

Growing up, my brother, Mike, and I had a lot of interesting adventures. One summer, we secretly started building a log fort tucked way back in the woods behind our neighborhood. I’m still not sure who owned the land that we were squatting on, but we teamed up with a few neighborhood kids and soon our fort plans started coming to life. We spent several days sawing, chopping and building our fort, and after about two weeks, we had four walls standing.