Proactive vs. Reactive

Years ago during a high school football game, one of the defensive backs on our team inexplicably let an opposing receiver get behind him late in the game and snare a long touchdown pass that ultimately turned out to be the game winner.

On the bus ride home which more resembled a wake than anything else, the head coach sided up to the devastated player and calmly explained the difference to a sobbing 16-year old between being proactive as opposed to reactive.

He pointed out that several times during the game, the running backs on the other team always went in motion prior to their quarterback dropping back to pass and that should have served as a warning that a pass was coming. Instead, the player reacted instead of anticipated.

His lecture apparently paid dividends because the next week, the same defender who was victimized the week before intercepted three passes and returned one 70 yards for a touchdown.

I bring up this pigskin vignette of proactive vs. reactive because too often I see CPA firms react rather than anticipate. Take the area of recruiting for one – how many times have CPA firms waited until their respective staffing situation was dire before hanging out the “help wanted” sign?

I always tell firms it’s always better to overstaff than understaff. It’s easier to shed redundancies than to start from scratch.

Or plan for succession.

I can’t tell you the number of times someone has called our office wanting to speak to one of us with marching orders that they need to find a succession solution by the end of the year.

In truth, that call should have been made at least five years earlier.

Or to fire a C-list client.

Face it; some clients are just not worth it. The risk vs. reward is not there. I know of a firm that kept a legacy client who each time she came to the office, cursed out every employee and accused them of overcharging her. If I were the managing partner she would have been long ago escorted to the door by a beefy security guard. Someone far smarter than me once advised, “Hire slowly but fire quickly.”

That I’m sure applies to both clients and employees.

That said with busy season encroaching, it’s time to get proactive with regard to staff, strategies and goals in 2016.

Because perhaps the three saddest words in any profession are “shoulda”, “woulda” and “coulda.”

That’s a bumper sticker of lament, not a strategy for the 

future.