What Really Drives The 2020 Most Powerful Women in Accounting?

Do their personalities make them more powerful? Or do their work responsibilities shape their personalities?

Recently, AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor honored 25 leaders in the accounting profession with the 2020 Most Powerful Women in Accounting Award.

The most powerful women in accounting - 2020

Karen. Abramson, Lara Abrash, Tommye E. Barie, CPA, Arianna Campbell, Lynne Doughtie, Sarah Elliott, CPA, PCC, Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor, Janet Foutty, Tasha Fox, Tracey Golden, Kelly Grier, Phyllis Ingram, Scharrell Jackson, Alexandra Kessler, Shannon King Nash, Tamera Loerzel, Carla McCall, CPA, CGMA, Elizabeth Pittelkow Kittner, CPA, CITP, CGMA, DTM, Kelly Richmond Pope, CPA, Lindsay Stevenson, CPA, CGMA, Amy Vetter, Tracey Walker, Tifphani White-King, Sandra Wiley, Jennifer Wilson.

AICPA states that these women best embodied the following characteristics:

• Being a driving force for innovation and excellence
• Demonstrably contributing to the success of their own organization and the accounting profession as a whole
• Providing guidance and leadership to contribute to the growth of the profession
• Effectively representing the accounting profession through civic and community outreach

Why do people do what they do? 

This question has kept me curious about people ever since I first figured, years and years ago, that my friends in school, twins, behaved so differently. That puzzled me to no end. My keen interest in human behavior sciences was born from that instance. 

My own personality, I believe, has been fundamentally shaped by my childhood upbringing by my parents. In a couple of posts, I shared some of the building blocks that make me - Three Magical Management Lessons From Mom! and Three Priceless Gifts from Dad's Eerily Accurate Wisdom. I have also noticed a gradual change in my own personality, beliefs and thoughts as life progressed.

For years, I have been interacting with accounting firm owners and partners day in, day out from firms of all sizes, all over the country, and catering to a wide variety of industries and professions. I have been researching what makes them successful, or comparatively not. Recently, I shared some key insights through a post: Top 4 Personality Traits of Successful Accountants.

When I saw the announcement about the Most Powerful Women in Accounting 2020, I just could not resist to find out if there is something common in the personalities of the most powerful women in accounting.

I decided to use a DiSC tool to analyze their personalities. DiSC? is a personal assessment tool used by more than one million people every year to help improve teamwork, communication, and productivity in the workplace. 

From the results I obtained, I worked out the commonest personality types. Here is how it turned out to be.

The top four types constitute about 76% of the women on this list. According to CrystalKnows.com, the key traits of the top four types of personalities are:

The Captains:

People with the D (Captain) personality type tend to be assertive, intense, and ambitious. They are usually pragmatic, results-oriented executors who work quickly and make decisions with firmness and objectivity. Captains have a strong emphasis on shaping the environment and overcoming opposition to accomplish results. 

The Initiators:

People with the DI (Initiator) personality type tend to approach people and situations in an energetic, lively manner. They are likely to enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over with strong social skills and a knack for being persuasive.

The Influencers:

People with the Id (Influencer) personality type tend to be energetic and adventurous, communicating with casual language, bold statements, and focusing on the big picture. They are likely to have an easy, relaxed, casual manner when speaking or interacting with others and enjoy the challenge of meeting new people.

The Drivers:

People with the Di (Driver) personality type are typically assertive, capable of putting themselves forward boldly, and resistant to influence from others. Convincing others to work toward their goals, they may be seen as decisive, forceful, and persuasive when convincing others to work toward their goals.

Do their personalities make them more powerful?

Do these top four types of personalities make these 76% of women more powerful, or is it the work they do that shapes their personalities to be more powerful over the years? 

Human behavior can be very complex to understand. Behavior and personality types, traits, theories, and patterns, even those backed by years of research and empirical evidence, can be highly debatable. However, history has been witness to large-scale, centuries-long efforts by people to find out the "success secrets" of others and emulate those, somehow.

New York Times best-selling author and corporate coach Chester Elton’s book “What Motivates Me?” sheds some light on this aspect. According to Chester’s research, individual “motivators” keep changing over time and can depend on several factors, especially life and work experiences. If you are keen to dive in deeper, you can take an online "Motivators Assessment." I guess as your personality changes, your motivations change. On the other hand, psychologists have studied that power can magnify personalities. Could that mean those who do not do well in leadership positions have personalities that were not suited for such positions? Just because someone is entrusted with a powerful/leadership position, will that person's inherent personality somewhat/totally change? In my opinion, it is likely that one's personality may be a factor to make one reach more powerful positions. In a survey I conducted for CPA Trendlines, decisiveness was rated the top trait for success in the Accounting business. The next two traits may indicate the "personality factor" in success and power. Once an investor told me that she invests in the "confidence" of the startup founder if all other things are more or less equal among other pitches. Experienced investors who invest in startups almost have a sixth sense to call out fake confidence. In other words, it may be the personality traits that might be an important factor to decide on. I know this is highly debatable but empirical evidence may point towards the link between personality and power.

What about other types of personalities?

Information about other personality types mentioned in the graph above can be found on crystalknows.com.

I analyzed a bit more and tried to correlate with the work each of these women do. In my opinion, the “power” to impact others and their outcomes/results do not necessarily come only from the relatively more dominant/influential types of personalities. Apparently, in a more informal or non-hierarchical setup of the work sphere, it is possible for a person to be powerful to influence/catalyze better performance from those they interact with. E.g., in the education profession, having and sharing insights that others do not easily see can give you powerful, influential capabilities. 

Can you change your personality?

In the interesting research findings published by American Psychologist, a group of international researchers states that personality traits are powerful indicators of work outcomes as well as other things important for life. The researchers present a case that personality traits can serve both as predictors of success and actionable targets. In other words, evidence suggests it is possible to change people's personalities. In yet other words, if one says, "S/he is different. I am who I am", it is a belief, and may not be a statement of truth.

What I am trying to express here is that if someone does not have the most common traits of powerful/successful people, it is possible for that person to learn and acquire those personality traits. How? It is a matter of in-depth work to identify such insights and not something that can be addressed in this short post.

What does all this mean for accounting firms (and other industries / professions)?

Let me share some thoughts to help you look at these findings in ways that may benefit your firm. I feel (though with no scientific study done to express this) all of this can mean a significant opportunity for accounting firms (and other industries/professions) to identify and nurture future leaders and value creators. It can also mean a way to identify suitable people for different functions at the firm e.g. people with certain personality traits may be chosen for "customer success" but not for "audit". Intriguingly, within a function, your firm may pick someone who has a balance of personality traits that are useful for both audit and customer success. Such a person can lead audit project related interactions with the client.

Do you agree or disagree with these findings?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have different experiences/opinions, please send me a message. I'd love to discuss it with you.

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