Graeme Gordon, CEO of Praxity Global Alliance

Graeme Gordon is a chartered accountant and prior to joining Praxity was Managing Director and Senior Tutor of Emile Woolf Group, the international training and development firm. He was also previously Group Finance Director of a technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Graeme has extensive international experience including in Europe, Russia, North America, the Far East, the Indian Sub-Continent and the Middle East. He is a member of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and formerly twice President of the Thames Valley Chartered Accountants. Shownotes: From the Navy, a double glazing franchise and the NFL to CEO of Praxity – the journey of Graeme Gordon in 60 seconds Why the Praxity Accounting Alliance is a very unique animal and just behind BDO and Grant Thornton in size and reach The lure of variety and the ability to make a difference in creating a job that you love doing – applicable to all jobs but particularly to accounting professionals The key differences between an accounting alliance and an accounting network – useful to know if you’re in one or thinking of joining one Questions an accounting firm might ask themselves in considering whether to join an accounting alliance Three stand-out benefits of joining an established and global accounting alliance like Praxity Why it’s vital that specialists in accounting firms know their opposite numbers in different countries The importance of collaboration within firms and within member firms of a network or alliance Speed dating for managing partners of large accounting firms why it works for networking and collaboration Culture and values must fit if firms are going to merge well and fit well into an alliance like Praxity Ways to ascertain the values and culture of an accounting firm with ‘due diligence’ The number one quality that’s present in the very best accounting professionals, especially the ones that have to win work What makes a good managing partner in an accounting firm of any size What is ‘co-opetition’ and how does it help accounting firms to collaborate optimally across countries and cultures? One of the biggest advantages of being able to tap into an alliance like Praxity is the shared intelligence of plans, problems and strategies Thoughts on legacy and reputation in your accounting role – what will people say about you after you’re gone? The critical way in which running a global accounting alliance is different to running a Navy mission! The accounting audit in 10 years will be very different from the audit from just a few short years ago, and how AI will affect that… Before becoming a chartered accountant Graeme served as an officer in the Royal Navy. Praxity is the largest Alliance of Independent Accounting, Tax and Consulting Firms in the world. As at January 2018, 64 Firms in over 100 countries with 700+ offices, 3,500+ partners and 37,500+ other professionals and a combined turnover of US$5.25bn. Find out more at http://www.praxity.com (www.praxity.com) or to contact Graeme directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graeme-gordon-993b4617/ (Graeme on LinkedIn)

Om Podcasten

What's it like leading a large or progressive accounting firm? Whether you head up a specific function (like BD, marketing, IT, HR etc), a location (office, city, region), a department (team, project) or the whole organisation, you know what it's like to be in charge. The Accounting Leaders Podcast features Insightful interviews with leaders in large accountancy or CPA firms. Topics of discussion include vision, strategy, value, leadership, succession, growth, success, legacy, culture, positioning, branding, differentiation, mindset, technology, recruitment, trends, disrupters, opportunities. engagement, influence and reputation. Questions include ✓ What makes a top performer or promotable accountant in a large firm? ✓ How are the leading accounting firms winning work, doing BD and achieving growth? ✓ What are the trends, stats and critical issues shaping large accounting firms? Firm-wide leaders, managing partners, CEOs, heads of functions and similar don't always have a voice outside their firms. Very few people know or ask them about their journey, their philosophies, their influences and their goals. This is an opportunity for them to share their story, who has influenced them, what they've learned from both successes and failures, and what keeps them going. Show host Rob Brown is founder of the Business Development Academy, which trains accountants to be more confident, effective and strategic work winners. More at https://bdacademy.pro He is the creator the 90 Day Accounting BD Accelerator™ which transforms experienced, new & prospective partners in accounting firms to win more business using Choice Based Business Development™ - an unusual but extremely effective BD coaching method for accountants. He is the bestselling author of Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and his TED talk ‘The Personal Brand of You' has been viewed over 200K times on Youtube. Rob is also host of another accountancy show - the popular Accounting Influencers podcast. With over 100 episodes recorded, this show interviews top accounting global influencers about particular areas of expertise that are relevant to accountants in practice. Some guests are experts serving accounting firms (commentators, authors, coaches, trainers and consultants). Others are suppliers, vendors or strategic partners to accounting. To learn more about these podcasts, go to https://bdacademy.pro/podcasts/ Personally, Rob is based in Nottingham UK, home of Robin Hood. he lives with his wife Amanda and two daughters Georgia and Madison. He a committed Christian, a black belt in kickboxing, enjoys backgammon, loves chocolate orange and is allergic to grapefruit. To talk about being a guest on the Accounting Leaders podcast or explore how the BD Academy might help your firm, reach out to Rob Brown on LinkedIn or Twitter @therobbrown.