The Finance Leader Podcast

This upcoming week is New Year’s Day. The New Year gives us a great opportunity to start over, to start fresh. To begin anew. The New Year provides us the chance to address our goals, but never New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions are fleeting thoughts of impossibilities because they are not rooted in a plan or reality. A goal has a plan. A goal is measurable, its specific, it has a completion date...

Hope has always been my most significant way of moving forward, dealing with adversity, and becoming more resilient. Hope is what keeps me going. I know that tomorrow and next week will be better. No matter what happens to me today….tomorrow is better. Today is already here….tomorrow will give me relief. Tomorrow is where I reside and see the great possibilities. You can download the Leadership Gr...

Episode # 35: A spreadsheet can be an amazing tool to analyze data or create a report, when planned out and organized properly. Our spreadsheet files should be simple and easy to use by all members of our team. Leaders should set expectations on how analyst tools should be created and maintained by their teams. Let’s create analyst tools that deliver what we need, but also easy to use, easy to und...

Episode #34: Strategy is often a set of tough choices of what to do and what not to do with the limited resources you have. Your strategy includes your target market, your product and service offerings, the business structure, how resources are allocated, and how you will transform the business. As finance and accounting professionals, we need to do our best in supporting and help to develop the b...

Bonus episode #14: Adapting to a People Focused Leadership style will create a dynamic environment where you develop and empower your team instead of only trying to complete items off your to-do list.  There are three significant reasons to change your leadership style from being Task Focused to Becoming People Focused: 1) You can not do the work alone - you need a well developed team, 2) Producti...

Episode # 33: Why do teams fail? Often, leaders don't realize their teams or organizations are failing due to complacency. It's not usually the product or service line that has caused the failure, but actually ineffective communication or a lack of trust. It takes great leadership to turn around failing teams. Episode outline: It starts with us, Determine what the real problem is, Creati...

We should be building sustainable businesses that can outlast an economic downturn with no or minimal employee layoffs. Long-term sustainability can be achieved by getting more creative in generating new lines of revenue. The year 2020 taught us that you must never get complacent with the business model. Keep looking at new ways to bring in revenue. Episode outline: We can never be complacent with...

Episode # 31: Financial Analysts help grow the business by digging in to the how and the why to financial transactions to find patterns and insights. These patterns can help find a way to leverage your offers to increase sales. Additionally, costs can be saved by finding efficiencies within the expenses. Episode outline: Figure out the why and how regarding data around financial transactions, Help...

Purpose gives us the reason for what we do, and why we show up every day. It's our job as leaders to communicate purpose to our team members so they better understand how they contribute to the organization and can get excited about the brand. When we know our purpose, we can better support the customer. Purpose is what we do, and vision is where we are going. You can download the Leadership...

Examining Sports through a Leadership lens can aid us in better overcoming adversity. In the episode introduction, I am discussing using how the sports leagues re-started their seasons in 2020 through very difficult adversity. To accomplish your goals, we often have to overcome obstacles and adversity.   This week I am sharing an encore episode from Season 2 on Becoming Your Best Self.  Becoming Y...

Earning a Certification adds great value to your professional foundation and can boost your earnings and career potential. Please enjoy this encore episode from Season 2 about Earning a Professional Certification. Season 4 will debut on November 10, 2020. Thank you for the great support! You can download the Leadership Growth Blueprint for Finance and Accounting Managers here. You can use this gui...

Finance and Accounting professionals have a great opportunity to be so much more than the expert who does analysis or prepares financial statements. We can help shape the business so it achieves its full potential. Please enjoy this encore episode from Season 2 on Building Resiliency. Season 4 will debut on November 10, 2020. Thank you for the great support! You can download the Leadership Growth...

We need to transition to a Trusted Business Advisor so we help leaders from around the company to grow and develop the business. As Finance and Accounting professionals, we have insights that others often do not have. In the episode, I have three recommendations: Tell a story with the numbers, Work with your IT team to make reporting better, and, Partner with leaders at all levels around the compa...

Leaders make decisions every day. You must become comfortable making decisions. There are many types of decisions, and it's critical that as leaders, we make timely decisions so we can move forward. We should not dwell on "what-ifs" or have regret. Make the decision and move on. In the episode, I discuss the following steps to overcoming indecisiveness: Change your mindset, Know wha...

Episode #28: We must continue to improve the monthly close process so we add value and help our senior leaders do their jobs better with valuable insights about the business. Monthly close isn't only to close the books, but to really figure out what happened so we can determine if the business met expectations and we can make necessary adjustments. Monthly close requires leadership to improve...

Understanding Emotional Intelligence is our ability to be self-aware of our own words, actions, and attitude and how it affects others. We need to know ourselves so we can become a better leader who can inspire and create a positive environment where our team can thrive.  I discuss the topic using the following points: Our actions and words affect others so we must become self-aware Understanding...

Collaboration done right can help solve problems by using the expertise and knowledge around the organization. When you collaborate with others, you get the benefit of the insights that you may have missed when working alone. In the episode, I discuss the following: How collaboration can solve a problem You need to build trust and set clear expectations Getting the right people involved Communicat...

Episode #25: Growing your influence is a key step in your journey in becoming a senior leader. You have a unique role, because you have the opportunity to speak with many leaders across the organization. This provides a chance to talk about how to best support the strategy and to share ideas where the organization should be going in the future. Episode outline: 1) Our ability to influence others b...

We are obligated to speak up about a decision if it's not in the best interest of the organization. In this episode, I discuss four steps to professionally disagree with your supervisor about a pending decision, Be in the proper mindset, Our approach and method, Bring data, analysis, and options to discuss, If your recommendation and concerns are dismissed, then we fully support the decision....

Episode # 23: Your habits often define who you are, and what you can accomplish. In the episode, I recommend five habits that you can incorporate into your day, Improve your morning and evening routines, How can you reduce your mid-day stress, Better time management, Written goals, and, Team communication. Here is the blog post on scheduling time on your calendar for thinking . Please connect with...

You need a well-trained team behind you, because you can't get all the work done alone. To go to a higher level, you need an empowered and trained team ready to take on challenges. In Finance and Accounting, we deal with a hectic list of tasks, reports, additional analysis, and monthly close. We need a team ready to help us get all the requirements done. In the episode, I discuss, You need to...

Episode # 21: You must set yourself apart from your peers so you get recognized by senior leaders and advance your career. Just doing your job every day will not get you promoted. Only completing tasks that have been assigned to you won’t help you advance. Episode outline: Grow your leadership skills and abilities, Make sure you make your boss's priorities your priorities, Get things done wit...

You can have a great Impact as a Leader in your organization. In this episode, I talk about why I love to lead, and the positive impacts we get to make in our organization.  While we perform our Finance and Accounting duties, we can get overwhelmed while delivering financial projections, completing our journal entries, and conducting monthly close procedures, but we also have a great responsibilit...

Organizations have a greater chance of success when Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Accounting, Operations, and the Executive Senior Leadership are more strategically aligned. Developing Finance Leaders capable of growing partnerships across the organization and leading positive change are the goals for this podcast. The host is Stephen McLain, a U.S. Army-Retired Finance Officer. Afte...

Writing down your goals gives you a significantly greater chance of success according to numerous studies going back decades. When goal setting, you must be specific, have a defined date of completion, review them often, and update regularly. In the episode, I highlight my goal setting process which includes: having the right mindset,  ensuring you have a supportive inner circle,  develop a strate...