By: Doug Slaybaugh, The CPA Coach, and Jake Weiss, founder of Coachability Consultants
Something has been brewing in public accounting.
The industry is at a crossroads. Partner retirements, a shrinking talent pool, lack of succession, private equity investment and rapid advancements in AI are reshaping the traditional firm model. The well-established pyramid—built on a steady influx of junior staff climbing to partnership—has started to collapse under the weight of these pressures. Firms are forced to rethink not just their operational strategy, but their entire leadership philosophy.
These disruptions have exposed a deeper need: adaptability at the leadership level. One competency is quietly emerging as a strategic differentiator: coachability.
What Is Coachability—and Why Now?
Coachability is defined as the willingness and ability to proactively seek, receive and apply constructive feedback and coaching. It’s a trait, yes—but also a skill that can be taught, elevated, modeled and embedded into firm culture.
The research is compelling: highly coachable individuals perform 10% better than their peers, are 30% more promotable and demonstrate 28% greater adaptability. Those are big numbers. In one case study from the biopharma industry, teams that received coachability training outperformed the control group by 27% month-over-month. These aren’t just productivity stats, they’re leadership outcomes and bottom-line results.
It’s like the kale salad of skills: what the industry needs but just hasn’t ordered yet.
The Accountability Gap at the Top
Most accounting firms offer structured coaching to staff and managers. But for partners, growth often stops at promotion. Many spend a decade or more developing a growth mindset to reach partnership, only to shift into a fixed mindset once they arrive.
There’s a pattern of passive coaching in the profession. It’s meetings, check-ins and back to business as usual. No real accountability. No challenge to grow. The problem is especially acute at the top—right where cultural tone is set.
Without coachability, leadership development stagnates. Worse, it signals to the rest of the firm that growth is optional past a certain level. In a time when firms are trying to build succession plans, retain top talent and adopt new technologies, this kind of cultural inertia is a liability.
We don’t need to overhaul the whole partner model. We need to build into it the idea that growth doesn’t stop at promotion.
Coachability as Culture and Strategy
Coachability offers a different path. When embraced from the top, it becomes more than a development tool—it becomes a culture driver. Leaders who model coachable behaviors (asking for feedback, acting on it, sharing their growth goals) send a powerful message: growth doesn’t stop at the top.
According to Jake Weiss, founder of Coachability Consultants, this behavior can cascade through a firm: “Start with leadership, then build structured training for managers and seniors. Coachability isn’t just about being open, it’s about knowing how to ask for feedback, discern what matters and implement change.”
Beyond internal growth, coachability is attractive to external stakeholders. According to emerging research in the investment space, private equity firms are more likely to back leaders who are open to feedback and capable of scaling performance. Independently held firms benefit, too—by developing talent from within and reducing dependency on expensive lateral hires.
And coachability enhances a firm’s readiness for disruption. Whether adapting to AI, navigating partner succession or rethinking client service delivery, firms with coachable cultures move faster and with less resistance.
“You still need people who not only can change, but who are willing to adapt, learn and lead others through change,” Weiss said. “Coachability is at the center of that.”
Competitive Advantage
With coachability now framed as a strategic asset, one that affects performance, promotability, and agility – it needs its place alongside traditional leadership development programs.
“It’s not just a nice-to-have,” said Weiss. “It’s a competitive advantage.”
This could be a paradigm shift. Coachability is what separates the firms that adapt to the disruption from the ones that don’t and are left behind.
A Practical Path Forward
Firms ready to prioritize coachability should start by defining what it looks like. This might include curiosity, accountability, responsiveness to feedback and a willingness to adjust behavior. From there, they can build processes to assess and train during hiring, performance reviews and leadership development.
So, where would a firm start to implement coachability?
Fortunately, there is one firm – Coachability Consultants, Inc. (“CCI”) – solidly leading the coachability charge. Founded by Jake Weiss, CCI partners with forward-thinking firms to hire for, develop and embed coachability into the DNA of a firm’s culture. From Fortune 500 Biopharma and Biotech companies to the NBA and NCAA to the Federal Reserve, CCI is the go-to organization for firms looking to establish a competitive advantage through coachability.
This isn’t about overhauling the firm overnight. It’s about small, intentional changes. Making growth visible again. Rewarding it. Talking about it in real terms.
Coachability is not a buzzword. It’s a leadership advantage. And in a profession facing as much transition as public accounting, it might be the most important capability firms haven’t formally developed. And their greatest opportunity.
Coachability may not be in your KPIs (yet), but if you want to thrive in this new era, it should be. It’s a strategic imperative.
Sidebar: Why Coachability Matters in Public Accounting
Top 5 Reasons Coachability Should Be on Every Firm’s Radar:
- Performance Boosts That Actually Scale
- Better Leadership Pipelines
- Talent Development Becomes a Retention Strategy
- Futureproofing for Disruption from AI and Technology
- Strategic and Competitive Advantage for BOTH PE-Backed and Independent Firms
To learn more about Doug Slaybaugh, The CPA Coach, you can find him on LinkedIn or at www.coach.cpa.
To learn more about Jake Weiss, founder of Coachability Consultants, Inc., you can find him on LinkedIn or at www.coachabilityconsultants.com.
