In the latest episode of MOVE Like This, host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk talks with Leah Yoneda, founder and CEO of Golden Ginkgo Group, about why business development remains one of the hardest transitions in public accounting, and why the problem is rarely personality. Firms often wait until professionals are near partnership to introduce it, then expect them to master an entirely new skill set overnight. Leah argues that’s backwards: real relationship building takes years, not a single training session.
Much of the conversation challenges what firms assume about who’s suited for business development in the first place. Leah pushes back on the idea that introversion is a barrier, noting it describes how people recharge, not whether they can build relationships. Rather than asking professionals to copy someone else’s networking style, she encourages them to build relationships that fit their own strengths. “You’re not following someone else’s script,” she says. “You’re doing your job.”
Bonnie and Leah also dig into how firms measure growth, noting that women often drive it through retention, referrals, and deepening client trust, contributions that tend to get valued less than landing a brand new client. Leah’s challenge to firms: reward those contributions the same way they reward new business. She closes with a case for relationship intelligence, the ability to build genuine, intentional relationships, as one of the most valuable long-term investments in a career.
Key Takeaways:
- Develop Business Development Skills Early, Not Just Before Partner: Firms that wait until professionals are near partnership to introduce business development set them up to learn an entirely new skill set with little runway or support.
- Introversion Isn’t a Barrier: Introversion and extroversion describe how people recharge, not whether they can build relationships. Firms should help people find an approach that fits their own strengths instead of expecting one networking style to work for everyone.
- Redefine What Growth Looks Like: Client retention, referrals, and relationship expansion drive long-term growth just as much as new client acquisition, and firms should measure and reward them accordingly.
- Psychological Safety Fuels Better Ideas: Diverse perspectives and a willingness to question assumptions make firms more innovative and better equipped to solve complex problems.
- Relationship Intelligence Is a Career Investment: Building genuine, intentional relationships with clients, colleagues, and mentors pays off more, and lasts longer, than any sales script.
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