“There seems to be a natural
cohesion, and the groups are
working well together.”
—Christiansen
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Towill says her optimism is rooted in the fact
that the prospect of unification compelled
everyone to focus on best practices: “It is
such a rare thing to have an opportunity to
pull best practices from three great organizations and build something new.”
Managing change
Even when the right leadership team is in
place to make a merger work and there is a
compelling case that the merger will have
synergistic benefits, mergers can be complicated. They involve people and processes, both
of which can easily become entrenched into an
organization’s cultural and operational DNA.
Nevertheless, the process in BC has gone
exceptionally well, and it’s a testament to
efforts of the entire leadership team.
“A significant amount of due diligence had
to be done quickly, and it goes to show the
commitment to making it work this time,”
Nancke says. Adds Christiansen: “There seems
to be a natural cohesion, and the groups are
working well together.”
It helps that all three women have a natural,
collaborative leadership style. They understand that a good decision is made with
valued input from all constituents.
“I would never think that I have the only
answer in the room,” Towill says. “I’m a big
believer that there is something to be had
from the discussion and buy-in of everyone
involved.”
They also point out that the three bodies
have worked hard to achieve not only strategic
fit, but cultural fit as well.
“We all have brand loyalty—there’s absolutely no question about that—but it’s also
about recognizing the greater good of the
bigger brand,” says Christiansen. Adds Towill:
“For people to be excited enough and positive
enough about something new to let go of
that much pride really speaks to the work
done by the leadership to get people to this
point.”
The next milestone
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
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CPABC in Focus • Sept/Oct 2013
All three leaders agree on what they would like
to see during the next 12 to 18 months: legislation.
“It’s the last piece of the equation,” says
Christiansen.
As professional accountants, she and her
colleagues understand the value this would
bring.