Helping accountants get to their first $1M and beyond

My story begins years ago when I had an advisory firm but was struggling to increase margins.

I was a one person firm 100% remote.

I was trying to be everything to everyone.

I did not have a niche.

I did not have an ideal client.

I took any business that would hire me.

I did not stand out among the thousands of other consulting firms.

I competed mostly on low price. 

My friends and family would always see a stressed-out, black circles under eyes, 80+ hours/wk working person would have zero personal life.

I took a hard look at my business and found a lot of waste.

Too many services and too many different kinds of clients.

I decided that I needed to focus.

I began to focus on how I could productize my services.

With a business partner I helped develop an automated payment and Google reviews platform (BizPayO) that helps accountants get paid faster, without the expensive fees and which snagged a Google Review after every successful payment.

Through the payment app I found that most accountants were not charging enough.

That inspired me to launch a second SaaS company, a pricing application (Taxplow) that shows accountants what they should be charging based on the services they offer, their location, the client’s situation, and a couple dozen other key data points.

But the problem is bigger than this.

Accountants needs help differentiating themselves and coming up with a unique offering.

One that would help create a moat around their business.

So they would not become just another H&R Block or low-cost accounting firm that would position them as just a commodity.

I'm now sharing everything I learned over the years at my newsletter firmlever.com

My latest venture is still under wraps but aiming to be the Crunchbase for accounting fIrms.

All aboard. 🚆

Marc Howard

General Manager | Strategic Leadership, Operations, Team Development | I Help Companies Drive 15%+ Growth & Build Elite Teams.

I’m an Amazon Operations Leader (L6) with experience across logistics, fulfillment, distribution, and warehouse operations.

I drive results in the metrics that matter most:
Safety | Cost | Quality | Throughput

My leadership approach is simple:
Build scalable mechanisms. Develop leaders. Deliver repeatable performance.

Business Impact:
• Reduced VCPP by $0.044/package — ~$193K/month and ~$2.3M annualized savings (4.4M packages/month)
• Reduced labor expense 23% and exceeded Labor-to-Revenue targets by 25% through stronger planning + productivity execution
• Increased gross profit margin 35% through Lean Six Sigma improvements + waste elimination
• Owned $9.02M P&L, consistently delivering financial + operational targets
• Delivered 99.98% service performance and sustained 100% customer retention through strong execution + QBR leadership
• Generated $1.48M YTD savings through facility redesign + continuous improvement initiatives

What you can expect from my leadership:
• Leader of Leaders — I build managers who own standards and deliver results

• Mechanism Builder — I reduce variation and stabilize performance through operating cadence

• Execution Excellence — I turn plans into performance across shifts and teams

• P&L Mindset — I lead like an owner, balancing cost, service, and people development

MBA | Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

📌 Target: L7 Senior Operations Management opportunities (Amazon) + GM/Director-level roles externally.

Carlos Cody

In leadership the hardest part is not the work itself. 

The hardest part is learning how to deal with the people side of the business.

Before you enter leadership, most problems are technical:
How do I do this better?
How do I fix this?
How do I get better results?

After leadership, the problems change:
How do I create clarity?
How do I coach someone who is struggling?
How do I hold the standard and still care for people well while delivering results? 

That’s the shift.

Leadership is not mainly about authority.
It’s about responsibility.

You are no longer just responsible for doing the work.
You are responsible for helping the work work through others.

That means your focus needs to shift to: 
Gaining clarity
Learning how to coach.
Learning what standards to uphold. 
Learning how to create an environment where others can succeed in.
Learning how to develop other leaders. 

A lot of people want the title.

But many are not ready for the weight that comes with carrying people, culture, and results at the same time.

The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can grow into real leadership.

#Leadership #PeopleLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment

Carlos Cody, MBA

Proud to have presented in my first Amazon Monthly Business Review (MBR).

This month, I had the opportunity to represent the S3 region and outline how we will improve performance to not only meet, but exceed, our cost goals. Serving as the regional cost owner for NSNC TPH across six sites is a responsibility I carry with a great deal of ownership and focus.

What stands out to me is the level of impact this work can have. Improving cost performance at regional scale requires more than reporting results. It requires building the right mechanisms, identifying the true business levers, aligning leaders across sites, and executing with discipline week after week.

I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute at this level and energized by the actions now in place to help drive meaningful change across the region.

A big thank you to Mića McLeish  Sumner Brewington  for their partnership and to my site leader Cyril Senu for teaching, coaching, and guidance along the way. Growth at this level is never done alone, and I am grateful to be surrounded by leaders who challenge, support, and develop others well.

I am excited about what is ahead and even more excited about the opportunity to help raise the bar across our region through strong mechanisms, ownership, and execution.

#Leadership #OperationalExcellence #Amazon #ATL6

You can work 60 hours a week and still stay stuck.

I’ve seen it over and over in leadership.

Because hard work alone isn’t leverage.

Leverage is what makes your effort turn into:
✅ real opportunity
✅ more income
✅ bigger impact

Here’s what leverage actually is:

1. Trust
When leaders trust you, they don’t just give you more work.
They give you bigger problems to own.

2. Visibility
If the right people don’t know what you’re delivering, you’ll stay “reliable”… and overlooked.

3. Results
Effort is everywhere.
Clear wins are rare.
Wins are what move your career.

4. Relationships
Not politics. Not kissing up.
Real relationships with people who will vouch for you when you’re not in the room.

If you’re a hungry frontline or early-career leader, this is the shift:

❌Stop asking, “How do I do more?”
✅Start asking, “How do I build leverage?”

Comment 1, 2, 3, or 4 — which is your biggest gap right now?
1 Trust
2 Visibility
3 Results
4 Relationships

#LeadershipDevelopment
#CareerGrowth #Leadership

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I walked out of a review this week and something hit me:

The numbers weren’t the biggest problem.

The room felt flat.

So I started doing skip-levels and quick check-ins. Same message over and over:

“Nothing is ever good enough.”
“We’re always chasing.”
“I don’t even know what a win is anymore.”

That’s when I realized what was happening:

When every conversation is misses, reds, and gaps…
you don’t just manage metrics.

You drain meaning.

And when meaning shrinks, commitment shrinks right behind it:
Less ownership. Less ideas. Less urgency. More “just tell me what to do.”

So I told my team the new standard:

We’re keeping the bar high. But we’re changing how we lead it.

What we’re doing differently:
	•	Separate results from learning (every review can’t feel like court)
	•	Start with what improved (progress counts)
	•	Coach inputs, not just judge outcomes (control what we can control)
	•	Pressure on the process. Support with the people

Question:
Have you ever watched motivation drop even while people were still working hard?

What brought the belief back?

#Leadership
#Management
#CareerDevelopment

Wanting more responsibility means nothing if you are still unclear on the role you already have.

But leadership does not begin with getting more.

It begins with stewarding your role well.

Stewardship is how you manage what has already been placed in your hands.

And when it comes to your role, that means knowing what you are responsible for, understanding the results you are expected to produce, and making sure you are executing at the level the role requires.

A lot of people want the next role,
but have not fully owned the one they already have.

They like the title,
but do not fully understand the assignment.

They want more influence,
but have not yet shown full ownership.

They want greater opportunity,
but are still unclear on what success looks like in their current seat.

That is why good leaders stop and ask:

Do I know my role?
Do I know the outcomes my role is supposed to drive?
Do I know what is expected of me?
Do I know how to measure whether I am doing it well?

Because if you cannot measure your execution, you cannot steward your role well.

So what do you do?

Get clear on your responsibilities.
Know what belongs to you.

Get clear on the results.
Know what your role exists to produce.

Measure your execution.
Use feedback, metrics, and outcomes.

Take ownership.
Do not wait to be managed. Lead your role.

The leaders who grow are the ones who handle well what has already been entrusted to them.

Before asking for more, make sure you are being faithful with what is already in front of you.

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment 
#CareerGrowth

If you feel like you have to babysit your team…
you’re not leading.
You’re controlling.

And control creates the exact team you fear: quiet, passive, and checked out.

I wrote an article on leadership vs management, the 3 signs you’re stuck in task management, and one shift to make this week.

Link attached. 👇🏾 

#LeadershipDevelopment #Leadership #Management

View newsletter: Leadership Operating System

The Promotion Problem Most people get promoted into management and never get taught leadership. And a lot of what people call leadership is really jus

Open article: Most People Were Promoted Into Management… But Never Taught Leadership by Carlos Cody, MBA • 3 min read

Most People Were Promoted Into Management… But Never Taught Leadership

I was talking to my executive coach this week and I told him:

“Man… I feel overwhelmed. Everything is a priority. Everyone just wants wants more. And it feels like everyone keeps adding to my plate like my time is unlimited.”

He paused and said:

“Some of this keeps landing on you because you’re reliable.”

I said ,“Okay… but what does that have to do with them assigning me as the owner?”

He said:

“Because you’ve proven you’ll carry it. They’re not assigning it to you because it’s right. They’re assigning it to you because it’s safe.”

Then he hit me with the line I won’t forget:

“High performers get punished with more work unless they redesign the system.”

And I hate how true that is.

Because right now, it feels like:
	•	Other teams send requests like it’s automatically my job
	•	People assign tasks without even asking
	•	“Can you help?” quietly turns into “Here, you take it”
	•	And then you get an empty “thank you”… while the work that actually has your name attached to it gets pushed back

So I told him:

“Yeah, but if I don’t handle it… it won’t get done.”

He hit me with the truth:

“Carlos, when someone dumps work on you without asking, that’s not delegation. That’s disrespect.”

I said, “Disrespect?”

He said:

“Yeah. Because it assumes their priorities matter more than yours. Their time is more valuable than yours. And you’ll just absorb it and figure it out. That’s not teamwork. That’s entitlement.”

That part stung… because he was right.

Then I asked him:

“Okay, so what do I do? Because working more hours isn’t the answer.”

He said:

“Good. Stop trying to fit everything in. Start forcing clarity.”

And he gave me three moves I’m implementing immediately:

	1.	No new work without a tradeoff
I’m asking, ‘If I take this on, what moves down?’
Because if everything stays “high priority,” I’m just signing up to drown.

	2.	Ownership is mandatory — identify the DRI
He told me to start asking: “Who’s the DRI?” 

DRI means Directly Responsible Individual — the one person who owns the result.
Not “everyone.” Not “the team.” One name. 

If nobody is the DRI, what that really means is:
“It’s not owned. It’s just being thrown at you.”

	3.	Separate what I OWN vs what I SUPPORT
If my name is on it, I drive it.
If it’s support, I advise and unblock — I don’t execute.

Then he looked at me and said:

“Some people are going to get uncomfortable when you change this.”

And honestly… good.

Because the version of me that was endlessly available was convenient for everyone… except me and the results I’m responsible for.

So here’s the lesson I’m learning in real time:

You don’t need more hours.
You need more boundaries.

Reliability is the baseline.
Respect is the standard.

#Leadership #CareerGrowth
#OperationsManagement

Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack effort.

They struggle because they were never taught what to focus on once they start leading.

So they:
	•	work harder
	•	carry more
	•	stay busy all day

But still feel:
	•	overwhelmed
	•	overlooked
	•	unsure how to move up

Especially leaders who stepped into leadership by being good at the work… not because someone trained them to lead people.

That’s not a character issue.
It’s a clarity issue.

More on this tomorrow.

#Leadership
#LeadershipDevelopment
#CareerGrowt

Hard truth:

Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack effort.
They struggle because no one ever taught them how leadership actually works.

You can work harder, stay busy, and still feel stuck after getting promoted.
That doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means you were never trained.

I wrote an article on why this happens and what leaders actually need instead.

#Leadership
#LeadershipDevelopment
#Management

Why Hardworking Leaders Feel Stuck (And It’s Not Their Fault) Most leaders don’t step into leadership because they planned a career in it. I didn’t. I

Open article: You’re Not Bad at Leadership—You Were Never Trained for It by Carlos Cody, MBA • 4 min read

You’re Not Bad at Leadership—You Were Never Trained for It

It’s not that people don’t want to work.

It’s that people are afraid of being taken advantage of.

High performers are not afraid of effort.They are not afraid of pressure. They are not afraid of responsibility.

Most of them actually want more of it.

But what people are becoming exhausted by is something else.

An endless cycle of “prove yourself.”

All wrapped in the same promise:

“This is the next thing you need to do to get promoted.”

But sometimes that promotion never comes.

And over time something dangerous starts happening inside a high performer.

They begin to lose hope.

I’ve started thinking about this as ghost growth.

It’s when someone is already doing the next level role…

without the title.
without the compensation.
without a clear timeline.
without clarity on what actually moves the needle.

They’re growing in responsibility…

but not growing in position or pay.

And eventually the emotional cycle looks like this:

Hope.
“I’ll prove myself.”

Effort.
“I’ll take on more.”

Pressure.
“The expectations keep increasing.”

Confusion.
“What exactly do I need to do?”

Resentment.
“Nothing changes.”

Withdrawal.
“I’ll just do my job.”

And just like that…an incredible high performer begins to quietly pull back.

Not because they became lazy.

Because they became disillusioned.

There is nothing more draining than effort without direction.

And there is nothing more dangerous for an organization than losing great people simply because they lost hope.

As leaders, we have to be careful here.

High performers don’t need more pressure.

They need intentional leadership.

They need:

Clarity.
Recognition.
Honest feedback.
Visibility.
A real development path.

Because when people know where they are going…

they will run through walls to get there.

But when the path is unclear…

even the most motivated people start protecting themselves.

So today this is just a reminder for those of us who lead others.

Check on your high performers.

Not just their output.

Their hope.

Because if we lose great leaders and great performers…

it should never be because they felt unseen, unappreciated, or stuck in an endless cycle of proving themselves.

That is a leadership failure.

And it’s one we can prevent.

#Leadership #CareerGrowth #EmployeeEngagement

Your time isn’t public property.

But a lot of leaders treat it like it is.

Someone brings you a problem.
Someone drops a task in your lap.
Someone “loops you in” on something they should be owning.

And before you know it, your day is full of things that were never yours to carry.

That’s not leadership.

That’s dumping.

When people know you’ll always pick it up, they stop owning it themselves.

So here’s the shift many leaders need to make:

Support people.

Don’t carry them.

Your role is to develop ownership, not absorb responsibility.

And sometimes the most helpful thing you can say is:

“That sounds like something you should own.”

Because your time isn’t public property.

Real selfcare looks like disappointing people who were comfortable using you.

#Leadership
#Management
#LeadershipDevelopment

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Leadership development is a never ending journey of self mastery.

You can win in one situation
and still need work in another.

That is leadership.

This morning, my mentor Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership® , reminded me of a simple leadership truth:

“Between stimulus and response, I have the freedom to choose my response.”

That choice matters.

Because leadership is not just tested by results.
It is tested by response.

When pressure rises, do you react?
Or do you respond?

When people miss the mark, do you blame?
Or do you help?

Here is the difference:
❌ If you see people as objects, you blame.
✅ If you see people as people, you help.

Yes, leadership is about results.

But your response will determine:

1. How high you climb
2. How many people trust your leadership
3. How long your results last

Your response is shaping your leadership.
Your response is building your future.

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #SelfLeadership

“I’ll just do it myself” is expensive.

That sentence is where leadership quietly turns into a nightmare.

You’re busy all day.
But nothing really moves forward.

You’re needed constantly.
But you feel trapped.

You’re exhausted because  you’ve become the system without realizing it. 

The good news is 
You are not overwhelmed, you are just under leveraged.

When you don’t develop leaders, everything comes to you:
	•	problems
	•	fires
	•	decisions
	•	approvals

That’s how you become the bottleneck.

The highest ROI use of your time isn’t doing more work.

It’s building leaders who:
	1.	carry the culture
	2.	produce results
	3.	reproduce themselves

Design leadership around the outcome you want.

Because whatever you don’t build into people…
you’ll end carrying it yourself. 

What’s one thing that still runs through you that shouldn’t?

Drop it in the comments as I want to hear your opinion. 

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #management

Most leaders don’t have a people problem.

They have a cadence problem.

They show up when things are on fire…
and disappear when things are stable.

That’s how chaos becomes the culture.

Growth doesn’t compound through urgency.
It compounds through rhythm:
	•	Train weekly
	•	Coach daily
	•	Run the same SOP the same way
	•	Give reps until it’s standard

Train, don’t tell.
Because telling creates awareness.
Training creates performance.

People build the business.
Leaders build the people.

Where do you need more cadence right now  training, coaching, or unblocking?

#Leadership
#LeadershipDevelopment
#Management

Leadership invites. It doesn’t control.

Real leadership starts with:
Come with me. Let’s move this forward together.

A lot of leaders know how to assign work.
Far fewer know how to carry responsibility with people.

Leadership development rarely happens in classrooms.

It happens through:
• proximity
• modeling
• shared experience

People become what they repeatedly observe.

Do this long enough and the people you develop will begin developing others.

That is when leadership multiplies.

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadByExample

If you’re doing everything right but nothing seems to be moving, this is for you.

You may feel like you’re doing the right things, showing up every day, giving your best—but nothing seems to be changing. Progress feels slow. Doors feel closed. And the season feels dry.

Here’s the encouragement: the desert is not where your dream ends. It’s where your strength is being built. What feels like delay is God preparing you for what’s next.

I wrote a faith-based leadership devotional for leaders who need hope in a season that feels quiet and uncertain.

If this is you, this message is for you.

Read the article below.

#LeadershipDevelopment #FaithAtWork #LeadershipGrowth

To the Leader in Delay: Your Desert Season Isn’t Wasted Leading Scripture “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of 

Open article: Faith x Business Series: To the Leader in Delay: Your Desert Season Isn’t Wasted by Carlos Cody, MBA • 5 min read

Faith x Business Series: To the Leader in Delay: Your Desert Season Isn’t Wasted

I’m responsible for people… but I don’t have time for people.

A lot of leaders feel this way right now.

Not because they do not care.
Not because they are weak.
Not because they cannot lead.

It is because their role quietly changed, but nobody showed them how to adjust.

Now it looks like this:

• 20–30+ direct reports
• Constant firefighting
• Tasks flowing down from the top
• Slack blowing up
• Meetings stacked
• Numbers to hit

And somehow they are still expected to coach, develop, and lead.

So they start saying:

“I’m drowning.”
“There’s not enough time in the day.”
“I’m doing everything myself.”
“I can’t keep up.”

The real problem is not the first task.

It is the 20th task they added without letting anything go.

A lot of leaders feel responsible for everything, so they try to do everything.

That is the trap.

Poor delegation and weak prioritization create overload.

Instead of delegating, they step in.
Instead of prioritizing, they react.

Most leaders treat every task like a glass ball.

But not everything is equal.

Some things break if dropped.
Some things bounce.

Leaders must learn the new role, not just repeat the old one.

Too many leaders keep doing what got them promoted instead of learning what will help them perform now.

Leadership development is simpler than most people think:

Watch me.
Do it with me.
Do it yourself.
Teach someone else.

When leaders learn to delegate, prioritize, and focus on what only they should be doing, they stop living in firefighting mode.

They lead better.
They develop people better.
They handle bigger scope better.

And they stop doing higher-level work with lower-level positioning.

If you never release lower-level work, bigger scope will burn you out.

That is why I built my 8-Step System to Reach Six Figures in Your Career.

It is built to help leaders understand their scope, own the right responsibilities, and communicate their value the right way.

Because if you are going to carry the responsibility, you should be paid for it.

Comment SYSTEM and I’ll send it over.

#LeadershipDevelopment #PeopleLeadership #CareerGrowth

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Leadership feels different when you stop striving and start stewarding.

You still plan.
You still prepare.
You still pursue excellence.

But you stop carrying pressure that was never yours to hold.
If you’re a leader who wants clarity, peace, and confidence—not just results—I wrote this for you.

#Leadership #FaithAndWork #ChristianLeadership

One of the most grounding truths in the Bible is this: Leadership is stewardship. It’s managing what belongs to God, for the benefit of others, with f

Open article: Stewardship Over Striving: Leadership Through a Kingdom Lens by Carlos Cody, MBA • 4 min read

Stewardship Over Striving: Leadership Through a Kingdom Lens

Do you want your life to mean something?

I know you desire more money, more time, a more fulfilling life, and greater peace.

But understand this principle:

The world around you rarely changes until you change first.

Everything begins and ends with personal growth.
It is the starting point of all transformation.

Everything you desire begins here.

Deep down, you already know you are capable of more.

And many times, the stress and anxiety you feel come from not seeing progress and not feeling like you are moving forward.

Why?

Because growth has not been made intentional, and you have not built a system for it.

If you want to live life the way you truly want to live it—doing what you enjoy most, surrounded by people you like and respect—then you need a system for daily growth.

This is why my life mission is simple:

I want to help leaders and aspiring leaders reach their potential.

Because when leaders grow, they impact families, teams, organizations, and communities.

So if you want to change your world, start by growing yourself.

And if you are serious about becoming the leader you are capable of becoming, don’t try to do it alone.

I am building a community for leaders who want to grow on purpose, lead better, and reach their potential.

If that sounds like something you want to be part of, send me a DM with the word COMMUNITY.

And in the comments, tell me this:

What is the one thing you most want from a leadership community?

#LeadershipDevelopment
#PersonalGrowth
#SelfLeadership

Most leaders ask, How do I build a high-performing team?

And the first answer everybody jumps to is: talent.

I did too.

But the research keeps pointing to a different top trait:

psychological safety.

Meaning: people feel safe enough to tell the truth early.

Because when psychological safety is low, this is what you get:

You hear about problems late.
Nobody pushes back.
Meetings are quiet.
Then the plan falls apart in real life.

That’s not a capability problem.
That’s a speak up problem.

Google studied what makes teams effective and psychological safety was the #1 dynamic they found.

And Amy Edmondson’s research explains why: teams learn faster and perform better when it’s safe to take interpersonal risks (admit mistakes, ask for help, challenge ideas).

Here’s the practical part (mechanism > motivation):

In your next meeting, ask:
What’s the risk we’re not saying out loud?

Then do the hardest part…
don’t defend. don’t explain. just listen.

And when someone finally says the real thing just thank them immediately.

That moment trains your culture.

Psychological safety is how elite teams tell the truth faster… and win.

#Leadership #Management #PsychologicalSafety

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Carlos Cody

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