I can’t wait for June 3rd when I will have the opportunity to open the Emerging Partner Training session in Scottsdale, Arizona. The attendees will be a group mostly of recently elected or near-term partners, eager to learn all they can about becoming effective leaders in their firms. The discussion will bring back memories of anxious moments and uncertainty for many of us. It will also give us a chance to reflect on the journey to partnership.

So what does it take to become partner in a CPA firm?

• Competencies required: Client relationships and management; practice development; staff development; leadership; technical skills; ability to positively contribute to the firm and culture; ability to grow and develop as conditions change; communications skills;
• Personal qualities and values of the candidate: Judgment; maturity; ethics; team orientation; initiative; loyalty;
• Contributions necessary to demonstrate that you are prepared as a candidate: practice development; staff development; practice managed; firm contributions; and
• Sufficient economics to support to support a promotion: Define and quantify practice size to be assumed or shared with other partners, practice development results, and other quantifiable objectives.

There is much that can be done to prepare for promotion and I’ll take some time to share my perspectives.

Directors and Non-Equity Partners

Many firms have instituted director roles or non-equity partner options as an alternative to the equity partner opportunity. Here are some questions to ask:

• Are the options to equity partner clearly defined within your firm?
• Are they sufficiently differentiated and their responsibilities and rewards well defined?
• Are the capital requirements clear and potential liability exposure understood?
• Are nontraditional roads to promotion available and defined?

We’ll explore the feelings of anticipation and excitement as our candidacy was being evaluated. What is it like to get the call that you have been elected to Partnership. I still remember every word of the phone call that informed me I had been elected into the partnership at Plante & Moran. I had achieved the goal that I set when I joined the firm! All I could think about at that moment was the achievement.

What I did not understand or reflect upon at the time was the journey I would take after promotion. I did not understand that I was being recognized and rewarded as much for the potential that I represented as for my accomplishments to date.

Promotion to Partner

Promotion to partner also brings the assumption of a leadership role in a professional services firm. What does that mean? How can we transition from a strong client server to an inspiring leader of other members of the firm? How can we grow and evolve our practices and client relationships? There is only one way that I know to meet these new and ever-escalating challenges. We must view our careers as continuous development cycles and we must actively manage our own careers. We must seek help and advice from others and learn from a complement of individuals with diverse strengths. Finally, we must never give up on the development journey — there is always more we can learn.

In Summary

I will share my reflections from a 30-plus year career in public accounting and hear from participants about what they are experiencing within their firms. We will explore the importance of knowing yourself and what drives and excites you. We will talk about the importance of excellence in service to clients, the importance of developing others and putting their interests first, investing in relationships within and outside the firm, learning the entire firm and the business drivers of the profession. We will talk about how important it is to proactively manage your own development and career opportunities, and take calculated risks to grow.

Lastly, we will talk about what may be the biggest challenge of all. We’ll explore how important it is to savor the journey, celebrate the successes along the way and enjoy the journey. As hard charging CPAs, we need to reprogram ourselves a bit and understand that success is in the journey itself. It’s only then that we will be able to realize the joy that comes from the challenge, on-going development and growing influence within our firms.

I am looking forward to the excitement the participants in the Emerging Partner session will bring as we celebrate their accomplishments and look forward to the road that stretches far in front of them.

Leslie A. Murphy is President and CEO of Murphy Consulting, Inc. She is a retired partner and former member of the senior leadership team of Plante & Moran and former chair of the AICPA.