Preface
During my 20 years consulting with accounting firms, there is a key ingredient among those firms that seem to rise above the rest: great leadership. The same was true in the other businesses in which I served prior to founding FiveStar3, LLC. Although there are many books on the subject of managing an accounting firm, no titles are related to the power of leadership and its impact on an accounting business.
Over 30 years ago, I was privileged to be in an audience in which the famous UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was the keynote speaker. That day, he spoke on the pyramid of success that he used in coaching his teams to unparalleled success. I was particularly intrigued by the strength and durability of the pyramid structure. In Wooden’s remarks, he said something like, “I don’t have a copyright on the pyramid, so if you find it useful in your business or your writings, please use it with my blessings.”
This book has 17 chapters segmented into 5 critical sections utilizing the pyramid’s structure as a visual. In the base of the pyramid are 5 foundation chapters related to leading self. The next tier contains 4 chapters related to leading staff (others), and tier 3 holds 3 chapters related to strategy. Common management subjects are covered in 2 chapters related to systems, and the pinnacle section relates to creating synergy among the various tiers of building blocks of leadership.
In writing this book, I have interviewed nearly 100 leaders in the accounting profession, including over 40 interviews with CEOs of well-led firms of all sizes and types. In addition, leaders from the AICPA and various accounting alliances and several industry consultants add their points of view. In order to identify some great leaders, I interviewed many of my fellow consultants in the industry, accounting association leaders, industry publications publishers, and many others. Many of the leaders that I interviewed have led their businesses from startup to being in the top 100 largest accounting firms in the United States within their lifetime. That is an amazing feat, considering there are nearly 50,000 accounting firms in the United States alone. Many of the leaders are present or former CEOs of notable firms who’ve been named as best of the best by the INSIDE Public Accounting newsletter, or their firms have been named as the best place to work by Fortune magazine.
Although these are great leaders, I’ve missed interviewing other great leaders of accounting firms. My selection process was exhaustive but not scientific. I simply asked people who I respected who they thought were great leaders, and I cataloged their names over a several year period. Those names that came up several times or the ones that had a compelling story were the ones that I ultimately selected.
In order to save on detailed introductions throughout the book, I would like to introduce you to the leaders in our industry, in alphabetical order, whom I interviewed for this book:
Chris Allegretti, Hill, Barth & King LLC (HBK), a regional firm in Boardman, OH
Richard Anderson, Moss Adams LLP, a megaregional firm in Seattle, WA
Anthony “Tony” Argiz, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC, a megaregional firm in Miami, FL
Larry Autry, Whitley Penn LLP, a top-100 firm in Ft. Worth, TX
Kenneth Baggett, CohnReznick LLP, a national firm in Atlanta, GA
Robert L. Bunting, Moss Adams LLP, a megaregional firm in Seattle, WA
Michael Cain, Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC (LBMC), a top-50 firm in Nashville, TN
Richard Caturano, McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, a national firm in Boston, MA
Lisa Cines, Dixon Hughes Goodman, a megaregional firm in Rockville, Maryland
Sam Coulter, Coulter & Justus, P.C., a local firm in Knoxville, TN
David Deeter, Frazier & Deeter, LLC, a top-100 firm in Atlanta, GA
Scott Dietzen, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, a national firm in Spokane, WA
James DeMartini (James G.B. DeMartini, III), Seiler LLP, a top-100 firm in Redwood City, CA
Richard Dreher, Wipfli LLP, a megaregional firm in Green Bay, WI
Marc Elman, PSB Boisjoli, a local firm in Montreal, Canada
Keith Farlinger, BDO Canada LLP, a national firm in Toronto, Canada
Carl George, Clifton Gunderson LLP (now CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), a national firm in Peoria, IL
William Haller, CapinCrouse LLP, a national firm in Indianapolis, IN
William Hermann, Plante & Moran, PLLC, a megaregional firm in Southfield, MI
Philip Holthouse, Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt LLP, a top-100 multioffice firm in Los Angeles, CA
Robert Hottman, Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman PC (EKS&H), a top-100 firm in Denver, CO
William Hubly, Corbett, Duncan & Hubly, P.C., a local firm in Itasca, IL
Gordon Krater, Plante & Moran, PLLC, a megaregional firm in Southfield, MI
Deborah Lambert, Johnson Lambert & Co. LLP, a top-100 multioffice firm in Raleigh, NC
Thomas Luken, Kolb+Co., a local firm in Milwaukee, WI
Ted Mason, LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand, a top-100 firm in New Orleans, LA
Steve Mayer, Burr, Pilger & Mayer LLP (BPM), a regional firm in San Francisco, CA
Kristine McMasters, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, a national firm in Milwaukee, WI
Tony Morgan, Gollob Morgan Peddy & Co., P.C., a local firm in Tyler, TX
James Metler, vice president of Small Firm Interests, AICPA
Hugh Parker, Horne LLP, a regional firm in Jackson, MS
Frank Ross, Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Daniel Schreiber, JGD & Associates LLP, a local firm in San Diego, CA
Gary Shamis, SS&G Financial Services, Inc., a top-100 multioffice firm in Cleveland, OH
David Sibits, CBIZ Financial Services, a national firm in Cleveland, OH
Terry Snyder, president, PKF North America, an accounting firm alliance in Lawrence, GA
Neal Spencer, BKD, LLP, a megaregional firm in Springfield, MO
Ray Strothman, Strothman & Company, PSC, a local firm in Louisville, KY
Charly Weinstein, EisnerAmper LLP, a megaregional firm in New York City, NY
John Wright, Padgett Stratemann & Co., a top-100 firm in San Antonio, TX
Leading an Accounting Firm: The Pyramid of Success
