Ashley Christie

Director, Katz, Sapper & Miller

If I were to choose one word to describe my TLP experience, it would be intentionality. As I have progressed as a leader, I am more intentional about where I serve on committees, my practice development efforts and my client focus. A significant result is the culmination of my TLP project and the launch of KSM’s Tax Academy. This project provided a consistent forum for learning and internal networking for our tax team and increased visibility and deeper relationships across the firm for me. Because of the TLP, I approach opportunities with more genuine self-confidence and strive to work at my highest and best use, elevating my contribution to the firm.

Shannon McCain

Senior Manager, HoganTaylor, LLP

I realized from my leadership assessments at the beginning of the Transformational Leadership Program (TLP) that I wasn’t always the most approachable leader. So, in my TLP journey, I set out to become the kind of leader that people say, “Yay! I get to work on a project with Shannon!” The TLP has helped me enhance my communications and approach to others to move closer to the inspiring leader I aspire to be.

Grace Horvath

Vice President of Services, CPAmerica International

We really appreciate our relationship with ConvergenceCoaching. Our partnership has allowed our CPAmerica member firms to identify and address the most pressing opportunities and challenges facing their practices today and in the future. Their information-sharing, discussion-oriented approach invites collaboration among our firm members. The best practices and tools that Convergence shares are always valuable for firm leaders seeking to drive growth and improvement. We truly value their thought leadership in driving positive change in our profession.

Satpal Nagpal

Partner, Green Hasson Janks

An area of leadership that I wanted to develop was in speaking up and gaining visibility in my firm overall. The TLP provided me with the structure and support I needed to achieve this goal. I have since taken the lead in various initiatives in our firm’s A&A department, using what I learned in the TLP to help in the planning, implementation and communication of each one. My input and leadership make a difference for our firm and I encourage all emerging leaders to identify opportunities to step up into greater leadership, too. I am thankful to the entire ConvergenceCoaching team for helping me move forward towards my dream!

Adam June

Partner, Wipfli

When I signed up for the TLP, I expected to learn about trends and best practices in public accounting. While this was one outcome, the most impactful result of TLP related to discoveries I made about my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. By better understanding myself and how my behavior impacts others, I have worked to modify my approach, shed old habits and try new techniques to keep striving to be a more inspiring people developer and leader. After completing TLP, I was promoted to partner in my firm and was recently given responsibility for leading the tax service line for my region. I believe that my enhanced self-awareness and leadership strategies played a role in my earning these new opportunities.

Don Boezeman

Partner, Katz, Sapper & Miller

Business development was an area that I wanted to strengthen in the TLP. I also wanted to develop more ownership and accountability within our group. During the program, I worked with my coach and in-firm mentor to try a number of different business development strategies and began to see sustained success. I also shared the things I learned during the program with our group members so they could apply the ideas in their careers. After completing the program, I was fortunate to become a partner and I am continually working to apply the ideas I learned in the program to this new leadership role.

Len Nitti

Principal, Wilkin & Guttenplan, PC

The TLP provided me with insights and tools to take a fresh look at my work and leadership style. This enabled me to become more effective when leading different personality types and enabled me to successfully delegate work to my team members. As a result, our people have the opportunity to grow and develop, and in return, now that I have been promoted to partner, I am able to focus more strategically, adding value to my client relationships and through my business development activities.

Brian Sauers

Partner, Davie Kaplan, CPA, P.C.

Participating in the Transformational Leadership Program (TLP) was a very beneficial step on my path to partner. It was made abundantly clear that while technical competence and engagement delivery are important skills, there are equally valuable abilities to possess – team building, employee engagement and business development. I learned more about motivation and engagement with individuals as well as worked to develop my people and business development skills. In acknowledging that everyone has different personal values, I can now appeal to those separate values. Without good people, you cannot have a successful firm. I am now a partner and feel like it’s important that I act as an advocate for focusing on our people and continuously enhancing our culture.

Colleen Murray

Director of Operations, Perkins & Co

We are thrilled to have developed a custom Perkins & Co Management Development Program with ConvergenceCoaching. The program content is clear, practical, and readily actionable for managers. One of the best elements is the goal setting and accountability check-ins that follow each webinar and the in-person workshops. The content focuses on defining the manager’s role and responsibilities so that they consider the staff’s success to be their responsibility. This has engaged our managers to interact with staff in new ways and be attentive to teaching, coaching, and setting clear expectations. The relationships that develop out of effective interaction between managers and staff are key to employee retention. Our managers appreciate the ability to work more effectively with employees and their clients, too. They have also received tools for improving productivity, goal setting, client service, and personal branding. While managers have regular interaction with staff in the normal course of business, the program has given them valuable time with their peers to learn from and support each other. In fact, they have asked for more organized peer socializing opportunities which shows that these relationships are quite important to their job satisfaction.

Diane Hartley

Director

Our firm engaged ConvergenceCoaching to produce a Rainmaker Development Program and we experienced excellent results. Since completing the program, we’ve developed a more strategic and firm-wide focus on business development, especially from the partner perspective. We have a deeper understanding of the necessary tactical drivers like developing referral sources, tracking activities and maintaining and reviewing an accurate pipeline. Our RDP participants are practicing their skills on a daily basis and we’ve seen some big rainmaking victories.

Matthew Coscia

Co-Managing Partner, Montgomery Coscia Greilich LLP

We initially engaged ConvergenceCoaching to facilitate a one-year, in-house leadership development program for our firm’s nineteen partners – the first long-term, structured leadership development initiative that we had formally invested in – and have experienced great results. Through the learning we gained from the leadership assessments, individual coaching, and virtual and in-person training, our partner team is now operating at a higher level. And now we’ve started a new leadership development program for our next tier of employees including senior managers and new partners. Our firm continues to grow and the skills and abilities that our people gain related to communication, people management and business development will enable us to be more unified and collaborative in leading our team and clients toward success. We are committed that leadership development be a valued part of our firm’s culture and believe that our people, our clients, and our firm as a whole benefit tremendously from our focus on always getting better.

Kimberly Hardy

Senior Audit Manager, Matthews, Cutrer & Lindsay, P.A.

The TLP helped me build confidence as a leader and see how I could contribute meaningfully to my firm. Using the skills and tools that I learned, I am better able to face difficult situations from a collaborative stance. Also, as part of the program, I led a number of flexibility initiatives to shift our firm's focus to measuring productivity versus emphasizing face time or charge hours only. We had great success with those initiatives and this led to my becoming our firm's human resources lead. Additionally, I was promoted to senior manager. I am happy to be more involved in the leadership of our firm.

Scott Usher

Principal, Bader Martin, P.S.

I’m thankful for having participated in the Transformational Leadership Program as the insights I gained led to my increasing my internal ownership and responsibility. I am confident that the program aided in my promotion to principal, which was the realization of a long-time goal. During the program, I led a team to build the foundations of our international tax practice and now lead both it and our technology practice group. I am now a coach to our firm’s up-and-coming leaders to aid them in their learning so they can one day see themselves as leaders in our firm. The program allowed me to push my boundaries and adopt a learning philosophy that will also keep me on a path toward personal development.

Tracy O'Neill

Chief Administrative Officer, Kerkering, Barberio & Co.

We retained ConvergenceCoaching to facilitate our shareholder retreat where we focused on succession and the path-to-shareholder. Prior to the retreat, Jennifer Wilson and Tamera Loerzel invested a great deal of time and work in getting to know us – surveys, phone calls, etc. When Jennifer arrived for the retreat, she was so well prepared and versed on who we were. We really appreciated and valued the insight that she had to offer. We then utilized ConvergenceCoaching’s services to conduct leadership and communication training to strengthen unity among the supervisors, managers and shareholders prior to busy season. Jennifer presented the information with a style that is direct and candid but not offensive. Everyone really grasped what she shared. Both engagements improved the teamwork within our leadership group and helped us to think about changes we can make in our strategies, processes and behaviors to grow our firm and ensure success well into the future.

Michael Stroud

Managing Partner, Smith, Koelling, Dykstra & Ohm, P.C.

We engaged ConvergenceCoaching to help us address our succession issues and facilitate our movement to more of a “one firm” model. While it is a work in process, we are inspired by the increased partner unity and the real possibility for a sustainable future in our firm. Based upon the change process we’ve begun, we expect a new level of success for our firm and for each of our partners, team members and clients.