The Accounting Podcast Leading with Empathy: Building Teams That Thrive (from The Earmark Podcast)
Nov 18, 2025
Lisa Gilreath, managing partner at Acuity, and Valerie Heckman, accountant community manager at OnPay, delve into empathetic leadership in the demanding accounting industry. They discuss effective strategies to combat burnout, such as spreading workloads and recognizing when team members struggle. The duo emphasizes the importance of building slack into capacity planning and supports the idea of monitoring PTO usage as an indicator of team health. Listeners gain insights on balancing client expectations while prioritizing employee well-being.
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Build A Healthier Workforce
- Accounting firms must build healthier workforces as long hours and staffing shortages clash with modern expectations.
- Lisa Gilreath argues process, communication, and capacity planning reduce stress without eliminating necessary deadlines.
Spread Workloads Year-Round
- Put processes and year-round client work in place to spread workload and avoid last-week crises.
- Open communication channels so team members can ask for support before issues escalate.
Empathy: Nature And Nurture
- Empathy mixes innate tendencies with learned behaviors and workplace design.
- Valerie Heckman says caring can be natural, but firms can teach and structure empathy through hires and roles.