Jon Lokhorst
Developing tomorrow’s leaders
December 20, 2024
Not all heroes wear capes.
Though maybe not quite a superhero gracing the silver screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jon Lokhorst — now in phase three of his career — has certainly played a role in positively affecting people’s lives.
You likely know this longtime MNCPA member and instructor from various speaking engagements over the years; for the past decade, he’s built a niche within the leadership space, launching and hosting the regular
MNCPA Leadership Academy, developing the accounting leaders of today and tomorrow.
And, like any good superhero with the ability of flight, a quick look at Jon’s LinkedIn page shows you his travels across the United States spreading the good word of leadership development. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina are just a handful of locales Jon visited in recent months to conduct his mission.
But this tale didn’t necessarily come easy, even for someone with the power of persuasion.
"At times, it felt like I was pulling teeth to get firms to talk about leadership development," Jon said. “[But it’s been rewarding] seeing firms come to a much better understanding of the importance of investing in their leaders and developing their leaders at all levels.”
It took his own hero’s journey to arrive at that point in 2016 when Jon made the career transition full time to help others develop their leadership skills.
Like many of you reading this, Jon graduated with an accounting degree and earned his CPA. He went to work for his college professor, who owned a public accounting firm, and eventually became a partner. That early section of Jon’s career exposed him to diverse experiences within practice management and interacting with clients, employees and leadership alike. Jon, at the encouragement of his professor turned partner, joined the MNCPA, “having a chance to rub shoulders with other leaders in the profession.”
After 18 years in public accounting, Jon moved to the nonprofit sector, serving that space for 15 years. With encouragement from well-known educator Andy Biebl, Jon got involved with teaching CPE in the late 1980s.
Over the years, Jon just couldn’t shake where he saw more need for the benefit of CPAs.
“It always comes back to leadership,” he said. "All the way through my public side and nonprofit career, I've had interest in leadership development, team effectiveness and organizational health.”
Jon recently took his decades of experience, knowledge and teaching and wrote a book, “
Mission-Critical Leadership: How Smart Managers Lead Well in All Directions.”
While leadership is an inherently broad topic, Jon said there is one area in which every CPA can benefit from growing.
"When you develop public speaking skills, not only does it do a lot for you in confidence and how you present yourself and communicate, but there’s also an incredible spillover from those skills into other areas," he said. "It's worth overcoming your fears and reservations.”
Topics: Member Profiles
Corey Butler
Corey Butler is the MNCPA communications manager, working to enhance the professional reputations of members through content, media relations and public affairs. He's been with the MNCPA since 2013. Corey keeps busy outside of the MNCPA spending time with his wife and children, serving on his local school board, volunteering in his community and catching up on long-lost hobbies. Corey enjoys the works of John Steinbeck and Rankin/Bass Productions, and Paul Bunyan, Robin Hood and Santa Claus lore. You may reach him at 952-885-5530 or cbutler@mncpa.org.
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