Learning needs to be continuous, yet I know a lot of accountants who aren’t growing. Fortunately, while they are many, they are also a minority of all the accountants I know. Learning is only part of the process. The other part is being able to apply what you know to clients’ situations.
I am always learning and trying to learn new things, and then look to use it to give added value to my clients. Sometimes it is overwhelming because there is too much new stuff, but I’ve developed a method to handle new things. If I tried to do everything, it wouldn’t work, and I know it can’t be done, so what I do is try to pick one new thing a month I could use and apply. I attend many webinars, listen to podcasts, read many of the thoughtful practice management articles in Accounting Today and elsewhere, and all sorts of books. My goal is to try to take away one idea from each thing I read or attend and then match them against my “collection” of ideas and pick one a month. There is a great temptation to do more, but I know from experience that if I try to do more than this, I will get bogged down with the wide array of choices, lose focus and end up not applying anything new. However, that’s just me. You can find your own level of comfort.
My sources of earning include interactions with my partners, staff, clients, friends, family (including my grandchildren — I learn a lot from them by listening to them), colleagues, people attending my programs, my college students and other professors. Some of my best ideas come from teaching and mentoring young staff. They also come from questions clients ask, or new things they share or would like to accomplish, and also by the experience I get working with clients.
Writing articles and preparing for webinars is a great way to learn. No matter how familiar and knowledgeable I am in a particular area, there is always something new to learn. I would never volunteer to write or speak on something I knew nothing about, yet the learning never ends, including with the subject areas I know the most about!
Learning needs a desire, an effort and focus to apply new value-laden techniques to clients. This means you always need to be thinking and aware and look at everything you come across as an opportunity to learn. It takes energy but also provides energy. To me it is exciting.
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