How Was Your Opportunity Season?

Happy end to opportunity season!  Here in spoiled, sunny California, we experienced an early spring. The flowers have bloomed and we’ve had beautiful days of 70 degree weather. It has made it hard to stay inside the office working.

Several months ago we had the opportunity to go on a family vacation to Disneyland. This was a real treat; because we are beginning a season of having adult children, we hadn’t been on a family trip for several years.  We had the privilege of sharing a momentous occasion—our son proposed to his girlfriend, right in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

As I reflected on this event, a lesson in leadership came to light. Just prior to the engagement, I approached the Disney photographer’s assistant and informed her what was about to happen. She efficiently acknowledged my statement and sprang to action. In those mere seconds, magic happened.  There was not only one photographer capturing the event, there were THREE!  In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he asserts that a leader must set the tone for a focus on results.  That photographer achieved results – the photos are beautiful and the memories were captured.  We got caught up in the moment and then left the location. I realized we never thanked that unsung hero who made such a difference.  Like that Disney employee, I know that all of you are leaders in your firms, quietly focusing on results and likely not receiving lots of thanks.  But, I know you are having a huge impact.

Your board continues to work for results as well.  Work groups, which include members of our Leadership Institute class, are continuing to further the aspects of our strategic plan: growing leaders, solidifying our PAFM certification program, developing content, engaging our members and articulating our value proposition.  You will begin to see these results – involvement from our Leadership Institute members in strategic efforts, more active social media posting, videos developed, additional certified members due to a targeted reach program, stronger relationships built with CPAFMA partners, and more available MAPCast learning opportunities, to name a few.

I hope you have all registered for the 2018 CPAFMA National Practice Management Conference partnered with ENGAGE – June 11-14 in Las Vegas.  We are excited to be partnering with the AICPA.  The program is robust and there will be plenty of opportunities to connect with your CPAFMA colleagues, including our welcome walk and awards/recognition ceremony.  You can visit the education page of our website to register (www.cpafma.org/events).

Hoping you all realized much success and productivity over these past few busy months.