We know you feel the pressure of being a new Partner, of being seen differently almost overnight–by your more senior Partners and members of your team.
It feels like you need to have it all figured out and have all of your clients, projects, and team in a good place to meet a new standard of performance and participation. Right now.
At the same time, you don’t yet feel you’re at the same place as the Partners you’ve been looking up to for all these years.
That’s because you’re not them, and you’re not supposed to be!
That’s your strength right now as a new Partner. You were promoted because leadership knows you’re good enough to help run the firm. You don’t need to prove that to them anymore.
What you do need to prove is your ability to adapt to your new role, leverage the people around you, ask for help, and decide who you want to be and how you want to expand into your new leadership role.
Being promoted to Partner is not the end, it’s just the beginning.
Imposter syndrome: it’s okay to feel this way.
And there’s something you can do about it.
What you’re feeling is normal–it’s part of the transition. You are not suddenly a different person the day after you make Partner, and just because your title changed doesn’t mean you have to catch up in one day.
This transition is about giving yourself space and grace to grow into the role.
One of the biggest challenges you have this year is shifting your mindset away from imposter syndrome and feeling like you need to be perfect, to inviting in this new experience, what it can teach you about yourself and your team, and how you can be the leader you want to be.
This pivotal moment in your career is the time to embrace the idea that you can’t do this alone – you need to rely on more people, more often. It’s time to sharpen your influence skills, expand your ability to ask for help, and utilize coaching as a leadership style to empower others.
And that takes time. It’s a process, and you’ll gain confidence with practice. The more you’re practicing and leaning into the role, the more you’ll learn as you go, and the more you’ll model for others how and when to ask for help.
When you genuinely come from a place of humility, people want to help you. Instead of spending your energy trying to look better and stronger for others, invite people in. Leverage the senior Partners and teammates you’ve been working with all these years; remember you’re a beginner at being a Partner and you don’t have all the answers; show you’re ready to learn and want to bring other people along on this journey with you.
Being a new Partner is just the next phase in your career plan. Phase one was getting here, phase two is being here and creating a foundation for lasting success for you and the firm.
Asking for help: the purpose of Partnership is not having to go it alone.
Cultivating the next generation of Partners.
In this profession, we hear a lot of people not wanting to try for Partner because they can’t see themselves there. They look at Partners and think, “That’s not me, I don’t have it together like they do,” or, “I don’t want to work like they do.” Part of your job now as a Partner is to cultivate the next generation of Partners in the firm.
When you model a different way to be a Partner, such as:
- asking for help,
- showing vulnerability,
- being real with where you are in your journey,
- coming from a place of working on yourself and developing as a leader,
You enroll others in your success. When you employ coaching as a leadership style, guiding your team and empowering them to shoulder more responsibility and autonomy, you take the pressure off yourself and realize it’s not all on you to do all the things.
You’re leading a team, and it’s your job to get the big thing done–and you do that through others. As you invite the next generation to see that Partnership can look many different ways, you show them they don’t have to be perfect, or fit into a predetermined mold.
Enroll other new Partners.
Reaching out to your colleagues and peers going through their first year at the same time as you can be a lifeline. We often work with groups of new Partners, and we’ve seen that when they reach out and connect with one another around their challenges, they feel more confident, comfortable, and less alone – faster.
Leveraging this peer network expands your area of influence as well, and that amplified influence can help you affect the changes you’d like to see at your firm.
Ask for support from your more senior Partners.
Leverage your senior Partners instead of trying to show them they didn’t make a mistake when they promoted you by doing it all on your own. They already know you deserve the promotion (that’s why they gave it to you!). What they don’t know yet is what kind of Partner you’ll be, how you’ll show up for them and your team under pressure. This is the time to show them the kind of Partner you’ll be by setting a strong foundation.
Just because you no longer have a formal mentor doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help.
It may feel counterintuitive, when everything seems to say you should have it all figured out now that you’re in the top ranks of leadership, but this is the time to be more open, more vulnerable, more humble in all directions–with peers, your team, and the senior Partners at your firm.
We see so often that senior Partners are willing and happy to support their newer Partners. They know you don’t know everything about the job yet (they were there, too, not so long ago). They want you to be successful – after all, they are the ones who sponsored you, mentored you, were with you through the interview process, and then made you Partner.
Release the idea that you still need to prove yourself, now is the time to be expansive.
Inward connection for outward expansion.
You’ve spent years on the Partner track, you’ve made it and now you’re wondering, “Who am I as a Partner?”
This first year is an opportunity for inward connection and outward expansion. It’s a time to reconnect with who you are at your core, not just as a CPA or Partner. This is where you set the foundation and get intentional about who you want to be in this new leadership role.
The first step is creating a vision of success for yourself. Take some time, more than once, to sit down and answer these questions:
When you begin to uncover the answers to these questions, you’ll get clearer about what support you need from others, and how you can best support yourself.
Get back to the basics of what nourishes you.
The first year of Partnership can be the most demanding of your career.
You may feel pulled in too many directions, working more hours, and have new demands on your resources.
This is a chance to take a step back and ask yourself:
- What do I need for myself in order to function at a healthy, sustainable level?
- What foundational self care practices will help me be my best for others?
- What boundaries will I set for myself? How will I protect what’s most important to me outside of work?
- How much will I work, and when will I stop? (Because you can seldom ever get it all done.)
Enroll your community – your family, friends, and colleagues – to help you. Be intentional with them about what you need as a new Partner and how they can help you achieve success–and balance within that success. Your people want to see you become the leader you’ve always wanted to be and create success on your own terms!
We understand the complexities, stressors, and rewards of this significant career achievement and transition. Please reach out to us if you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to start.
We’d love to help.
See you in the DoP,
Calling all new Partners!!
Were you promoted to Partner or shareholder at your public accounting firm anytime since January 1, 2023 or later? If so, we want to listen and learn from you!
We’ve created the Intend2Lead New Partner Experience Survey to gather data about the top leadership challenges, surprises, hurdles, and changes you’re taking on during this critical transition. Click here to learn more and find the survey link.
We’d be grateful if you could invest 10-20 minutes to complete this survey no later than November 22. (Please feel free to share with others!)
