Welcome to the Show Congrats, Wardo!

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"Why does our top performer get the worst reviews?" the boss asked. I was reviewing their annual performance data. "Show me," I said. She pulled up the ratings. Diana: 2.8 out of 5. Below average on "collaboration." Low marks for "team player." "What's her actual performance?" I asked. "Exceeded every target. Landed our biggest client. Trained three new hires." "So why the low scores?" "Her peer reviews are dragging her down." I scanned the comments. "Too direct." "Challenges ideas too much." "Not supportive enough." "Let me talk to Diana," I said. "I used to give honest feedback," Diana told me. "Said our pricing model was broken. Got dinged for 'negativity.'" "What happened with the pricing?" "They finally fixed it six months later. After we lost two major accounts." "What else?" "I questioned why we needed eleven approvals for a simple contract change. Manager said I wasn't being collaborative." "Are you still giving feedback?" "No. I learned my lesson. Now I smile. Nod. Say everything's great. My reviews are improving." "But nothing's actually improving?" "We're making the same mistakes. Just with better vibes." She chuckled. I went back to the boss. "Your review system doesn't measure performance," I said. "It measures compliance." "That's not true." "When was the last time someone got promoted for challenging bad ideas?" Silence. "When did someone get rewarded for preventing a mistake?" More silence. "You've trained your best people to stay quiet. And your mediocre people to stay nice." A few months later, they redesigned the system. Added a category: "Constructive Challenge." Points for identifying problems early. Rewards for preventing costly mistakes. Diana got promoted. "What changed?" I asked the boss. "We stopped confusing agreement with alignment. Stopped mistaking silence for harmony." "And?" "Turns out our 'difficult' people were our most valuable. They actually cared enough to speak up." Here's the truth about performance reviews: Most companies don't reward performance. They reward performance theater. The person who says the meeting was great beats the person who says it wasted an hour. The person who agrees with bad ideas beats the person who prevents disasters. You think you're measuring contribution. You're measuring conformity. And your best people? They've already figured out the game. They're just deciding whether to play it or find somewhere that values truth over comfort.

MICKEY MONIAK GOING FULL KEANU REEVES MY GOODNESS

Dustin Verity spoke at #AICPAEngage on how tech is revolutionizing audit. From Inflo to AI workflows, Verity CPAs is leading smarter, faster, high-quality engagements. Want to elevate your audits? Let’s connect. 📩 info@verity.cpa | 808.546.5026 #FutureOfAudit #CPA

Awesomesauce!!

And just like that, first 2 interviews for folks impacted by the PwC layoffs are being scheduled 🫡 We move fast around here Shoutout to @MikeMax32CPA and the whole Aprio alliance for rallying behind this

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 oh my goodness 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 Thank you so much to everyone here for the inordinately kind words, and to the amazing @MLB social squad for making this happen !! 🫶 Baseball is the best because its people are the best 💕

FIRE. ME. UP. This @MLB 2025 season promo video might be the sickest thing you’ll watch all year 🔥🔥🔥

Hi hello it is officially Opening Day!!!! BASEBALL IS THE BEST !!!!!!!!

Please share if those in your network have been impacted by workforce reductions. And if your organization is looking for potential job candidates, let us know. See link below for more information.

Troll level 💯

Spring Training with my Dad to watch @tigers and @Twins And to my delight, a fellow @_BryantBaseball alumnus, @_Mick_the_Kid_ in the starting lineup at 2B

Karinchak from @_BryantBaseball gets it right 43 second mark

Reposting to assuage the fear so many have of losing a large client. There is more work than people. You'll be fine Way to go Steven!!

Accounting friends & #taxtwitter @AprioAdvisors and the Alliance are hosting a joint leadership event at @WaltDisneyWorld! Learning highlight: @DisneyInstitute teaching us Disney-level Customer Experience! Plus some one in a lifetime evening experiences linkedin.com/posts/apriofirm…

Let’s go, James!

An incredibly class move from the Pirates organization… 💛