VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity and describes the fast-arriving future we are living in. This inspirational session will talk about how leadership, culture, and talent management are changing in these exponential times. Participants thru an exercise to leave with a person action plan. Learning Objective:  Understand emerging trends and issues facing business and CPA Profession. Learn about how leadership is changing to lead change in rapidly changing times. Develop an action plan to take back and apply the principles learned.

1. ARIA Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
Session 52
VUCA – How to Lead and Succeed
in Exponential Times
June 7, 2016; 11:20-12:35pm
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
Practitioners Symposium
AND
TECH+ Conference
@tomhood
@blionline
#PSTech

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8. Download today’s slides at …
www.SlideShare.net/thoodcpa

9. The # 1 Challenge

10. Borrowed from the US Army War College,VUCA was coined byThe Institute for the Future to
describe the rapidly changing and complex business environment since the Great Recession of
2008.

11. VUCA – CPA Style
Lose perspective, ‘Hunker down’

12. #FutureReady!
Is the capacity to be
anticipatory (aware,
predictive and adaptive) of
emerging technology and
trends in business,
demographics, and the
social environment
impacting your organization
and industry.! Source: CPA.COM Insight into the
CPA of the Future Study 2014
92% of CPAs !
Not #futureready!

13. The Overwhelmed Employee

14. The
Faster
you
go,
the
Farther
Ahead
You
Have
to
Look

15. Leading in VUCA Times
1. Context
2. Certainty
3. Capacity
4. Competence
5. Core Purpose
& Beliefs

16. Context

17. “We stand on the brink of a technological
revolution that will fundamentally alter the
way we live, work, and relate to one
another. In its scale, scope, and complexity,
the transformation will be unlike anything
humankind has experienced before.”
- Klaus Schwab - WEF

18. More Uber cars than yellow taxis on the road in NYC

20. Race Against the Machines?
Source: Frey & Osborne –The Future of Employment – Oxford University

22. What does the future hold?
Technology is changing and disintermediating
many trades and professions
• Medical, Legal, Accounting
Patterns and Trends
• Automation replacing routine tasks – higher order (soft skills
and analytics) necessary to survive
• Alternative options to services and knowledge – automated or
otherwise – Tax and Audit implications
• Globalization, specialization and consolidation changing the
landscape.
• Domain expertise matters

23. Innovation Priorities in Firms
1. Developing new offerings that expand the value we
provide to our existing clients
2. Implementing a new offering for a specific market
segment we believe has growth
3. Developing new offerings or approaches to the market
that attract new clients
4. Realizing value to the firm from existing innovation
investments
5. Updating current offerings to be more competitive
6. Deciding and moving forward on what our innovation
priorities should be
7. Implementing a cloud-based accounting system
2015 Innovation in Public Accounting Survey – CPA.COM

24. Certainty

25. HardTrends
Four HardTrends:
1. Government Regulation
2. Technology
3. Demographics
4. Globalization

27. The Shift Change
1. Leadership!
2. Learning!
3. Technology!
4. Generations!
5. Workplace!

29. The challenge &
opportunity is to make the
shift from the first curve to
the second curve at the
right time and with the
right strategy

30. Top Ten Things Next Gen leaders
Want You to Know!
1. Look Beyond the Billable Hour
2. More Focus on Career Development
3. Engage Us in your Vision and Purpose
4. More Coaching and Mentorship
5. More Frequent Feedback
6. More Leadership Development
7. More Transparency
8. Thank You!
9. More Collaboration
10. More Focus on the Future

31. The
New
Big
Six
Source: Gallup

32. Capacity
You must make room for the
future!

33. TheTop 6 Ways to Create Capacity in
your Firm
• Maximize software & tools you have
• Use the latest and most efficient technologies
• Workflow & Process Efficiency
• Focus on your best ‘A’ clients
• Communicate your services (cross-sell)
• Engage your people

34. Competency
Disrup'ons
before
they
disrupt
Problems
before
you
have
them
Customer
Needs
before
they
have
them
New
Opportuni'es
before
the
compe??on
An?cipate
Source:
Daniel
Burrus

35. The Research
The latest research inside and
outside the CPA Profession re-
affirms theTop Competencies and
Skills needed by Accounting and
Finance Professionals

36. Source:The Conference Board Global Leadership Forecast 2014-2015

37. Top Skills Needed for Accounting
and Finance Professionals !
BLI Research in 2015 with over 1,000 responses from all segments of the CPA
Profession identified these top skill needed to be successful in these rapidly changing
times.This confirms and reinforces the research from the Conference Board, AICPA
CPA Horizons 2025 report, Bersin, and Burrus Research..
75%
covered by
theseTop 5
Skills

38. • An?cipa?on
• Strategic
Thinking
• External
Awareness
• Vision
• Con?nuous
Learning
• Innova?on
• Crea?vity
• Problem
Solving
• Priori?za?on
• Business
Acumen
• Decisiveness
• Influencing/
Persuading
• Emo?onal
Intelligence
• Consensus
Building
• Collabora?on
• Inspira?on
• Risk
Management
• Communica?on
http://www.blionline.org/ao

39. ANTICIPATION
Strategic
Thinking
External
Awareness
Vision
Con?nuous
Learning
Innova?on
Crea?vity
Problem
Solving
Priori?za?on
Business
Acumen
Decisiveness
Influencing/Persuading
Emo?onal
Intelligence
Consensus
Building
Collabora?on
Inspira?on
Risk
Management
The competency of “anticipation” actually includes a number of
competencies included in many of the top companies of today and
the CPA Profession as well.
Across these models, you'll see a common theme of "strategic
thinking," "innovation" and "leading change."
Many of these organizations build (and validate) fantastic
competency models and know what they want people to do.
The beauty of the Anticipatory Organization model is that it offers
a clear process that makes highly-abstract leadership competencies
attainable and trainable.
If an organization wants to make "strategic thinking" or "innovation"
a core competency, we can provide clear, trainable activities that
can be targeted to a wide range of learners (from individual
contributors to senior leadership).
We provide the bridge between the competency model and the
desired observable behaviors.
Anticipation –The Critical Competency

40. • Trust
• Integrity
• Objectivity
• Excellence
• Lifelong Learning
Core Purpose &Values
Protect the Core & Stimulate Progress
CPAs…Making sense
of a changing and
complex world.

41. The VUCA Leader
V – Vision & Purpose
U – Understand context
C – Co-create & collaborate
A – Anticipation, introducing and
managing change

42. The ‘new’ Big Four
1. Purpose Driven workplace
2. Great leadership – trust &
transparent
3. Culture of growth
4. Inspiring workplace – flexible
and inclusive

43. The Magnetic Firm
Purpose Driven Great
Leadership
Culture
Of Growth
Inspiring
Workplace
Vision, Purpose
andValues based
Transparent and
Inspirational
Leadership
Learning Culture
- Self and Formal
Development
Flexible and
Open Work
Environment
Focus on
Strengths and
Positivity
Build Consensus
and Commitment
Career & Growth
Orientation –
Career Paths
Work/Life Balance
Inclusive and
Diverse
Leadership
Development at
all levels
Customer
focused
Coaching and
Feedback
High Performance
– Insight to Action
Anticipatory and
Proactive
Collaborative and
Team based
Effective
TechnologyTools
- mobile

44. 5 Steps to be Future Ready &
Lead in VUCA times
1. Context
2. Certainty
3. Capacity
4. Competence
5. Core Beliefs

45. Disruption and RONI
The gap is widening, faster!
Source: Clayton Christensen, “Innovation Killers”
We think this
is trade-off

46. Your turn!

47. “You can’t stop the waves, but
you can learn how to surf.”
– Jon Kabat Zinn
Oceans of Opportunity

48. If there is a conversation about the future
of the profession, you're bound to hear
Hood's name mentioned as one of the
people leading the way.
– Accounting Today
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
CPA Practice Adviser Accounting Hall of Fame
Named the Second Most Influential in Accounting
by Accounting Today Magazine 2013 - 2015
Top 150 Influencer by Linked-In
Top 25 Influencers in Learning HR - HR
Examiner
Top 25 Public Accounting Thought Leaders - CPA
Practice Adviser
Co-founder of the Business Learning Institute
CEO
Maryland Association of CPAs
(MACPA) www.macpa.org
Business Learning Institute
(BLI) www.blionline.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood/