Your whole career, all your education has been pointing you in the direction of this moment. You’re thrilled, and you’re also unsure about what comes next. You’ve got a lot of unanswered questions and concerns.
We know that this first year of partnership can be challenging and overwhelming, and we’ve identified seven major challenges we help new Partners navigate to feel more confident, supported, and successful.
In this new role, you are now the leader – the person to whom everyone is looking for guidance. You’re the voice of the firm, and you may feel like you’re supposed to know what you’re doing all the time. Yet, everything is new for you…and it feels heavy.
The first year of partnership is often one of the most challenging years in an accountant’s career. Sarah has experienced it firsthand, and we’ve both coached many others through this complex transition. We’ve helped them cultivate a more supportive mindset, effect positive change within their firms, become the leaders they want to be – conscious, kind, present – and model authenticity and confidence for the people they lead.
We’re excited to share what we’ve discovered over the years to support you on your own journey to Partner.
- You’re navigating imposter syndrome.
Up to this point, there’s always been another Partner to guide you – someone who makes the tough decisions, mentors you, applauds your achievements, and offers guidance. Now, you are the mentor, encourager, guide and tough decision maker for others.
Due to this significant shift, many first-year partners experience feelings of confusion, inexperience, and inadequacy.
Seemingly overnight, you’ve gone from feeling like you’re at the top of your game (that’s what got you here, after all!) to feeling like you’re starting over again as the newest partner. The confidence you’ve built through your accomplishments may feel long lost, as you feel inexperienced in your work for the first time in years.
- You’re exploring your influence and ability to effect change.
Your teammates are now looking to you for answers and solutions. As a Partner, you may feel like you should be able to effect change at a high level, but you may also feel like you have very little influence as one of the newest partners.
You see things you want to change and get excited about making change, but you’re uncertain about how to exert influence in your new role. You may have questions like:
- Do I even have any real influence? If I do, how do I use it?
- How do I influence change with senior leaders who seem to hold most of the power?
- How do I use my voice to effect change?
- Who can I go to to help me be more influential?
Navigating the influencing arena, the politics of your firm, and the politics of being a Partner can feel overwhelming. You may feel unclear on what you’re responsible for and what decisions you can make on your own (versus when you need to gain approval from other partners).
- You’ve made Partner, and now you’re getting paid…less?
Figuring out your new financial position can also feel challenging. You just got one of the biggest promotions of your career, yet you’re unclear how things will impact you financially, and your overall income levels might not be what you expected (especially when your tax return becomes exponentially more complicated!).
It can feel disappointing to realize there’s a financial trade-off as you buy in. You may feel like you’re taking home less money, even though you’re working harder and carrying more responsibility and risk.
You must shift your thinking to the long-term and consider the investments you’re willing to make today to achieve the returns you’re seeking in the future.
- You must think like an owner, instead of an employee.
What got you promoted to Partner won’t necessarily make you a successful Partner. It’s easy to feel lost as a first-year Partner because you’re accustomed to the evaluation and compensation process that supported you as an employee. Up to this point, as you grew with the firm, you were (hopefully!) consistently developed and received encouragement and constructive feedback from the partners you worked for.
Once you make Partner, you may no longer receive as much feedback, support and development. Now, you are the one who is expected to mentor, challenge, cheerlead, and develop your team. In addition to developing your team, you’re also expected to think more strategically about what parts of your business you want to grow, which relationships you need to invest in, and consider what’s best for the business (even if it doesn’t feel like it’s best for you personally).
In this new reality where feedback, encouragement, and mentoring may feel lacking, you could be left wondering if you’re doing okay in your new role. You must learn to look within for the support you need – to set your own measures of success, seek out your own development, and encourage yourself along the way.
- You must reimagine your daily routine.
Your days used to be filled with consistent to-dos and you knew exactly what others’ expectations were of you. You had concrete goals, a mentor, and a path forward.
Now, as you shift from employee to owner, you are the one responsible for setting the expectations (for yourself and your team). You are now in sole control of how you spend your time, and your responsibilities are shifting from managing projects to managing a business. You may feel a bit lost and uncertain about how to structure your days in a more strategic way.
We often hear these questions and concerns from our clients:
- I no longer know how to structure my days and weeks.
- What are my priorities now? How do I make sure I’m taking care of everything that’s needed?
- How do I allocate my time, focus, and energy more strategically?
- I know I should be developing people and business rather than managing projects directly, but how do I let go?
- With all these additional responsibilities, how can I make sure I still have time to take care of myself and spend time with the people who matter most to me?
- You feel conflicted about your new role.
You finally got what you worked your entire career for, but it may feel different from what you envisioned. Or perhaps you feel like you finally made it to the top, and you’re not sure where to go from here. This may leave you feeling lost, wondering if this is what you really wanted after all.
Before you get too far down the path of disenchantment, we recommend hitting pause and seeking support to get you back on track. This is an opportunity to reconnect with your purpose and create a new vision for success.. Allowing yourself space to explore these tough questions (rather than avoid them) will help you gain clarity and confidence and stay true to yourself:
- Who am I in this role? How can I lean into my leadership and still honor my authentic self?
- What is my Why?
- What are my values?
- What is my vision of success as a leader at the firm?
- What impact do I want to have on others and the firm?
- How would I like to model leadership for others?
- Don’t go it alone: Avoid the trap of not asking for help.
Asking for help is an underrated but critical skill for any leader.
Since you’re still new to the partnership, this can feel like one of the hardest times to ask for help. You feel like you’re supposed to have it all together. You may even feel a need to prove that no one made a mistake when they promoted you to Partner!
As scary as it may feel to make yourself vulnerable in year one, it’s one of the best times to flex this muscle and ask for help. Asking for help humanizes you to your team, helps you navigate the politics of your firm, and shows your strength and confidence as a leader. It gives others permission to ask for help, too (and don’t you want your people to do the same when they need it?).
Asking for help can also be something you do behind the scenes. Seeking the support of a coach during your first year as Partner is a powerful move. It gives you the space to be mindful during this transition, allows you to talk through all of the challenges you’re facing confidentially, and gives you an advocate to help you hold healthy boundaries and care for yourself.
Focus on you in your first year.
Being a Partner may not always feel as satisfying as you thought it might be. The ways you used to find fulfillment have shifted. In the blink of an eye. You’ve gone from feeling at the top of your game, a rising star, to feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, even like you’re starting over in some ways. You’ve been accustomed to finding validation outside of yourself, from completing projects and receiving praise, and now must seek it within yourself.
While it might feel counterintuitive, the one thing to remember as you navigate all of these transitions is to focus on you.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the demands of your new role and forget who you are, why you’re here, and what you’re trying to achieve.
Here are some of the ways we help our clients navigate the challenges in this first year:
- Discover what success means to you now, and learn how to celebrate your wins.
- Decide who you want to be as a Partner, and how to bring the best of your authentic self to your work.
- Cultivate an open and curious mindset. Just because you’re a Partner doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers or do everything perfectly (no one does!).
- Remember you still have a whole career ahead of you. You don’t have to figure it all out in the first 12 months!
- Release the sense of urgency to make massive change right now. Allow yourself time to transition into your new role and focus on planting seeds of change for the future.
Focusing on your self-care and personal development is paramount in this first year. Although the changes and pressure may feel intense at times, trust that you have everything you need within you already to navigate this year with confidence and grace. Soon, you may just find yourself doing some of the most fulfilling work of your career.
If we can support you in making a successful transition to Partner, please reach out. We’d love to help you make it as powerful, successful, and enjoyable as possible! Let’s connect.
See you in the DoP,
