What's holding you back?
He suggests ranking your firm on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of how well its doing on each issue and then having your colleagues do the same. You may be surprised at how differently you all view your firm!
You have little or no capital to re-invest in the firm.
Your firm is too eager to accept clients.
A low-realization client on Day 1 will rarely convert to a high-realization client, Koltin said.
The wrong mix of client service staff.
Too much autonomy or too little.
Not enough emphasis on practice growth.
Not enough emphasis on profitability.
The focus, he said, should be on building a long-term legacy of profitability for the firm, which can mean foregoing short-term profitability to invest.
Not enough young superstars.
Think in terms of a professional football team, when they show the depth chart by position, Koltin suggested then figure out how deep your firms bench goes.
Autocratic leadership or not enough.
Too many unproductive partners or staff.
He noted that this can vary from staff are partners who simply arent performing up to the level of their position, or who are performing at the right level but are overpaid, or worst of all those who are divisive and a cancer on the firms culture.
The partners arent on the same page.
When partners arent on the same page, there is often a breakdown in trust and respect, he noted. Sadly, sometimes the wounds are too great and cant be healed.