Accounting and Consulting
Thinking ahead
How Jim Carulas eased into his new role at Meaden & Moore LLP by always keeping an eye on the future
By Mark Scott
Smart Business Cleveland | September 2007
While it has been only one year since
Jim Carulas took over as president
and CEO of Meaden & Moore LLP, he is already looking ahead to the day when
he steps down from the position.
“We view ourselves as stewards of this
company,” Carulas says. “We’re here to govern and to run this company in our generation, and then to allow the opportunity for
the next generation to run it and mold it as
they see fit. The only way we’re able to really do that is by thinking long term and thinking about succession throughout the organization.”
Successful companies are organizations
that are always thinking about succession
planning.
“It’s the need to look into the future, look
at the kind of characteristics, the kind of
people, the kind of skill sets you’re going to
need, and plan for that. The future holds
lots of opportunities and challenges. You
can only plan so much, but if you don’t plan
at all, you’re always open to a surprise.”
Carulas replaced Lawrence J. Holland,
who had served as CEO since 1995.
Meaden & Moore, which has about 180
employees, spent 12 months planning the
change in leadership and another 12
months making the transition from Holland
to Carulas.
“If you plan for the change and you give
enough time for the change, the change can
be less disruptive and actually very positive,” Carulas says.
Time provides an opportunity for people
to express opinions and hash out concerns
before the actual change in leadership is
made. This includes talking to employees,
clients and other stakeholders of the company to gather input.
This planning becomes even more crucial
when a company goes outside its own
walls to find a new leader.
“Making rash decisions where you go to
the outside for a solution sometimes can
backfire,” Carulas says. “While it’s great
you bring in a different skill set, if that skill
set coming in can’t get comfortable with
the culture, you’ll have multiple problems.”
Once the new leader takes over, the dialogue needs to continue.
“It’s hearing and listening to other ideas,”
Carulas says. “People will start divulging a
little bit differently when you are taking
over a position because it is an opportunity for change. If you have an open mind and
ask the questions and you just listen, I think
you’ll hear a lot of solutions and a lot of
opportunities from the people that work in
the organization.”
As you listen to ideas from the employees, you’re likely to have some ideas of
your own about changes that would benefit the company. And Carulas says that as
long as these changes are carefully considered and not too numerous, it’s OK to
implement them.
“An executive needs to have in their mind
what changes they want to make,” Carulas
says. “When you’re going to run an organization, you pick that which is the most
important and maybe some that aren’t as
important but signify that things are different. You begin to put those in place immediately.”
The key is to be open and communicative
with your employees.
“If you remain silent, I don’t know that
that’s in anybody’s best interest,” Carulas
says.
“Having me spend a lot of time in a lot of
the different offices has helped me a great
deal. (It) has helped everybody understand
better who I am and what the expectations
are of me and what my expectations are of
them.”
HOW TO REACH: Meaden & Moore LLP, (216) 241-3272 or
www.meadenmoore.com
Making the transition
One of the best ways for a new CEO to
ensure a smooth leadership transition is
to maintain a healthy relationship with
the outgoing CEO.
“Change is effective and it’s smooth,
and it can be exciting for the organization when you have the full support and
buy-in of the prior CEO,” says Jim
Carulas. “As much dialogue and whatever there is about the person taking over,
it’s as important that the person who is
stepping aside be as supportive and as
cooperative as possible.”
About a year ago, Carulas replaced
Larry Holland as president and CEO of
Meaden & Moore LLP. Today, Holland
remains active in the management of the
firm as an executive vice president.
Holland says that an outgoing CEO
should stay busy to make the transition
go more smoothly.
“One day you’re making the decisions,
the next day you can’t,” Holland says.
“You need to have a plan of action for
yourself before you just give up those
responsibilities.”
As for leading the company, Holland
tries not to interfere and says he prefers
to let Carulas approach him if questions
arise.
“My primary role to Jim is just to be
available as a sounding board and to
support Jim when he needs it,” Holland
says. “The other thing I need to do is
stay out of his way. ... It’s more important for him to come to me when he has
questions or is seeking support or wondering about how we did things rather
than me checking with him.”
HOW TO REACH: Meaden & Moore LLP, (216)
241-3272 or www.meadenmoore.com
