I’m often asked what makes a great leader; it’s one of the foundational elements of my practice. There are a myriad of agreed-upon traits in the business world that we use to define leadership “greatness” – things like vision, decisiveness, persuasion, communication, and charisma. These are doubtless important and relevant attributes, but as I’ve walked alongside several leaders in pursuit of organizational excellence over the years, I have come to believe that the foremost characteristic in any leader’s arsenal is courage.

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Finance leaders have a myriad of skills well suited to develop, implement and execute a great plan. Scott’s lessons will help you improve yours.

A simple truth in business is this: It’s easy to set a goal. It’s hard to break it down into specific action steps, and even harder to execute it to a successful conclusion.

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“So what?” That is my favorite question. When a finance leader tells me something is important to them, my next question is, “So what? Does it actually matter enough to do something about it?”

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Bringing a financial consultant on board can be exciting for your company. It can lead to major payoffs, from acquisitions to new funding sources to increased efficiency to smoother financial processes – all of which can fuel growth. But it’s crucial that you are equally aware of the costs. Don’t be caught off guard when the bill arrives; before hiring a consultant, know how—and how much—they charge for their services.

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This snappy Earnings Pro-Forma for a Professional Services Firm tool quickly calculates the estimated earnings from the combination of billing rates, utilization and cost structure of your professional services firm will help you analyze these critical components of earnings. The Billing Rate Utilization Matrix adds additional insights and allows you to create a sensitivity analysis using parameters of your choice.

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