As managers make the transition into advisors and partners, improving their internal and external networks is probably the last thing on their mind. The main problem they face is generally time – how to find the hours to guide their team to achieve production targets and how to find more time to really engage with clients to better understand their needs and goals. On top of this, all the day-to-day issues that arise unexpectedly create a vortex that’s difficult to escape.

In this environment, managers and new partners may feel that networking is a luxury that they simply can’t afford. Or is there another underlying issue at play here. Over the past 15 years of following managers and junior partners as they develop their skills and capabilities, it’s become apparent that networking – creating a group of personal professional contacts who can provide support, feedback, insight and information – is one of the most dreaded challenges that they must address if they aspire to a leadership position.

This challenge is understandable. The process of shifting from an operational focus, where attention is drawn to workflow and productivity, to a more strategic focus where strategic issues for both the firm and the client become more critical, can be a difficult one to implement. Aspiring partners need to shift their mindset from a technical and analytical focus (which is still important, of course) to a focus on relationships and leverage. Without this, they will struggle to develop the relationships that are essential to success in business leadership.

To what extent are you able to build strong working relationships with your team members and your clients? Do you feel comfortable reaching out to make contacts with those people who can refer work to you? Do you go out of your way to create links with people outside your immediate control to better position yourself as a leader?

As accounting firms develop a stronger advisory focus, internal and external networks have never been more important. Clients increasingly require a holistic approach to the management of their financial affairs. If they’re not getting this support from their accountant, they’ll simply look elsewhere. It’s been interesting to see the panic arising within public practice accounting as financial planners start move into the role of holistic advisor. Whilst there’s certainly good reason to be concerned, the real focus should be how to become a true advisor by developing stronger internal and external professional networks that can service clients effectively. It’s all about managing the client relationship rather than simply providing a technical service. Are you up to the challenge?

Some simple tips and hints to develop your skills of power and influence:

  1. Focus on ways to effectively leverage and delegate production associated with compliance work. You need to recognise that as your role changes, so do your responsibilities to clients and the firm. This means making more time for thinking and engaging with the people around you.
  2. Identify the people within your firm who have specialist skills or interests and cultivate the relationship with these people. Share stories with them; invite them into meetings with your clients. Ask them what you can do to help them achieve their objectives (remember the law of reciprocity).
  3. Look for external professional partners that can assist you in adding real value to clients. If you’re unsure where to start, talk with other senior people within your firm and ask for introductions to external professionals that they engage in working with their clients.
  4. Meet with peers to discuss what they’re doing to develop internal and external business relationships. If you can’t find like-minded people within your firm, then look at external groups that will support your goals – perhaps professional groups that draw on a wide audience across different industries.
  5. When you do identify people you want to work with, take the time to meet with them on a regular basis to discuss what you and they are up to at work. Share war stories, discuss challenges and solutions.

Power and influence is less about politics and manipulation and more about working collaboratively with the people around you. In this time of rapid technological change and the explosion of data, it’s never been more important for the future leaders of professional firms to develop their business relationship skills.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use power and influence to develop your professional networks, click here for details of our latest eLearning course ‘Build your fee base – A guide to fee growth for managers and partners.

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