You’re Not Stuck. You’re Isolated: Leadership Growth Through Connection
Connection is the new advantage for tax and accounting professionals.
There's a moment that happens in every senior leader's career. It's quiet. Often unnoticed. But it changes everything.
It's the moment when the problems stop having clear answers, and when the value of leadership connection for tax and accounting professionals becomes undeniable.
When you were building your technical expertise, the path was clear. Study harder. Pass the exams. Master the regulations. Deliver excellent work. The challenges were complex, sure, but they were solvable. There was a right answer, and if you were smart enough and worked hard enough, you could find it.
But then something shifts.
You get promoted. You're managing people now. And suddenly, the questions change:
How do I show up with executive presence when I prefer quiet leadership?
How do I influence up when my role isn't clearly defined?
How do I drive transformation when stakeholders resist change?
How do I become visible to senior leadership without feeling like I'm self-promoting?
These aren't technical problems. They're leadership problems. And leadership problems don't have formulas. They have trade-offs, nuance, and a dozen variables you can't control.
And here's what nobody tells you: You're trying to solve them alone.
The Isolation Trap
If you're a senior manager or above in tax or accounting, chances are you've felt this. You're responsible for outcomes, but you're navigating challenges you've never been trained for. Difficult conversations. Office politics. Managing up and down simultaneously. Building influence without clear authority.
And who do you talk to about it?
Not your team—you're their leader. You need to project confidence.
Not your boss—you don't want to seem like you can't handle it.
Not your peers at your firm—they're competing for the same promotions, or dealing with their own challenges.
Not people outside the profession—they don't understand the unique pressures of busy season, client demands, or the technical precision required in your world.
So you do what high-performers do: you figure it out yourself. You read another leadership book. You tell yourself you should know how to handle this. You push through.
But here's the truth: isolation doesn't make you stronger. It makes you blind.
What You Lose When You Lead Alone
When I talk to senior tax and accounting leaders, I hear the same patterns:
"I feel like I'm my own worst enemy." Without outside perspective, you can't see your patterns. The behaviors that got you promoted might be the same ones holding you back now. But when you're inside your own head, you keep running the same loops.
"I don't know how to manage upwards effectively." Managing up is about influence, timing, and understanding unspoken dynamics. But if you've only experienced one firm culture or one leadership style, you don't have a benchmark for what's normal, what's dysfunctional, or what strategies actually work.
"I'm doing great work, but I'm not visible to the executives who matter." Visibility isn't about bragging. It's about strategic communication and presence. But without peers who've cracked this code, you're guessing. And in our profession, we're trained to let the work speak for itself, which often means staying invisible.
"I want to drive transformation, but I can't get buy-in." Change management is about people, not process. But when you're isolated, you're trying to figure out human dynamics without a sounding board. You don't know if your approach is off, if the resistance is normal, or if you're missing something obvious.
These challenges aren't a sign of weakness. They're a sign you're growing into more complex leadership. But growth requires feedback, perspective, and connection.
You can't see the picture when you're inside the frame.
Why Leadership Connection Matters for Tax and Accounting Professionals
Our profession makes isolation worse:
Confidentiality creates artificial walls. You think, "I can't talk about this with anyone" when what you really need to discuss isn't confidential client information, it's your leadership challenge. How you're navigating a difficult team member. Whether your firm's culture is toxic or if you're being too sensitive. How to position yourself for a promotion. These aren't confidentiality issues. They're leadership issues.
The work is solitary by nature. Heads down. Billable hours. Deadline-driven. The structure of the work doesn't naturally create space for leadership development or peer connection.
We're trained to be the expert. Admitting you don't know how to handle something feels like failure. But leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions. And you need peers to help you ask them.
Firm structures are often thin at senior levels. You might be the only senior manager in your service line. Or one of two directors. There's no built-in peer group, so connection doesn't happen by accident.
The result? Talented leaders plateau. Not because they lack capability, but because they're solving complex problems in isolation.
What Changes When You Stop Leading Alone
I've spent 30 years in corporate tax, from Deloitte to leading global tax functions for US multinationals. I've been the person wrestling with these exact challenges. And here's what I learned:
The breakthroughs don't come from more knowledge. They come from perspective.
When you have peers who understand your world, the technical demands, the firm dynamics, the pressure, you get something you can't get anywhere else:
Pattern recognition. Someone else says, "I tried that approach, and here's what I learned." Suddenly you're not experimenting in the dark.
Reality testing. You share a situation, and someone asks a question that reframes everything. Or they tell you, "That's not normal. You're dealing with a dysfunctional dynamic." Permission to trust your gut.
Resilience. Leadership is heavy. Carrying it alone is exhausting. Carrying it with peers who get it? That changes everything.
This Is Why I Created Meridian Leadership Collective
After my own experience working with an executive coach during a challenging transition, I saw how transformative it was to have someone who could offer perspective when I was too close to see clearly. That experience eventually led me to leave my tax career and become a certified professional coach.
Now, as I work with senior tax and accounting professionals, I keep seeing the same thing: brilliant, capable leaders hitting walls not because they lack skill, but because they lack connection.
They're navigating challenges that don't need to be navigated alone:
How to lead with quiet strength in a culture that rewards loudness
How to influence without authority
How to build executive presence authentically
How to drive change when people resist
Meridian Leadership Collective is a confidential peer forum specifically designed for these challenges. It's not about technical problems, you've got those covered. It's about the messy, human side of leadership that doesn't fit in a textbook.
Here's how it works:
Small groups (6-10 senior tax and accounting professionals)
Monthly 75-minute sessions with a structured format
Coach-supported discussions focused on real challenges members bring
Completely confidential; what's shared stays in the group
Cross-firm and cross-industry perspective (corporate and public accounting)
The first cohort (in-house leaders) launches November 18th. This founding group will help co-create the experience, shaping what a leadership collective for our profession can be. This cohort is complimentary in exchange for your feedback and partnership in building something meaningful.
I'm closing applications on November 7th to keep the group intimate and give us time to build trust before we start.
If This Resonates, You're Not Alone
The challenges I described aren't unique to you. They're what happens when talented people grow into more complex leadership roles. The question isn't whether you're capable of figuring them out—you absolutely are.
The question is: Why would you try to figure them out alone?
If you're a senior manager or above with at least three years of people management experience, and you're ready to invest in your leadership growth with peers who get it, I'd love to have you join us.
Because when you build leadership connection for tax and accounting professionals, you don’t just grow your influence, you rediscover the joy of leading.
Apply for the founding cohort here before November 7th or add your name to the waitlist for the Public Accounting cohort launching in the spring of 2026.
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Related Reading: Leading from a Distance: Why Connection, Not Control, Drives Remote Team Performance in Accounting — explores how connection fuels performance in distributed teams.
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Gregory Crossan, CPA, MBA, ACC, is a certified professional coach and former Global Tax Director with over 30 years of experience in corporate tax. He specializes in helping senior tax and accounting professionals strengthen their leadership, navigate complex workplace dynamics, and perform at their peak with less stress and more fulfillment.