The CPA Ontario Centre for Sustainability Reporting and Performance Management (CSPM) at the University of Waterloo held a two-hour virtual conference on followership & leadership in the accounting profession on Tuesday, February 24th for over 900 attendees. The conference was designed to benefit accountants (CPAs) and human resources professionals who work with accountants.
The event began with a presentation by Marc Hurwitz, PhD, MBA, MSc, MSc, CMC, Associate Director, Conrad School of Entrepreneurship & Business, University of Waterloo, on the key findings from his recent research. Dr. Marc Hurwitz noticed that although there was a considerable growth over the past 2 decades in the discipline of followership, the complement to leadership; however, no research was being conducted into followership from an accounting perspective. In his study, interviews were conducted with 40 senior-level CPAs representing many of the largest accounting firms and departments across Ontario. A leadership-followership survey was also completed by an additional 275 accounting professionals. Academic and practitioner literature were also reviewed. Dr. Marc Hurwitz discussed the outcomes from all three sources (interviews, survey, literature review).
The second portion of the event consisted of an interactive panel discussion about followership and leadership with prominent members of the accounting community:
- Trish Barbato, FCPA, President & CEO, Arthritis Society
- Raj Kumar, CPA CMA, FCMA(UK) CGMA, Assistant Vice President Finance, Canada Protection Plan, Foresters Financial
- Silvia Montefiore, FCPA, Canadian Managing Partner, Business Enablement and Operations, KPMG Canada
- Stephen R. Shea, FCPA MBA, Managing Partner, Talent, EY Canada
The panel discussion was moderated by Samantha Hurwitz, CPA.
CPA attendees were eligible to receive 2 CPD hours for attending the conference.