December 26, 2023 • 10 mins
Do you remember why you chose a career in finance and accounting? Rekindle your passion as we revisit Episode 98 and deeply contemplate the reasons that drew us towards this exciting field. This episode is a rallying cry for all finance leaders, urging you to reconnect with the joy of number-crunching, the thrill of forging strategy, and the ambition of leadership. Remember, a true finance leader isn't just technically proficient, they use this mastery to uplift others and guide their organization towards success, using data as the compass.
Please connect with me on:
1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii
For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy: financeleaderacademy.com.
- On the website, you can download the Become a Finance Leader Guide. You can use this guide to build your Finance Leadership skills so you can help senior leaders develop and execute the strategy.
- I also offer a course, Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stephen McLain (00:00):
Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance
Leader Podcast.
This is Bonus Episode number 73.
It's a great day to be afinance leader and I believe
that can be every day.
The finance and accountingfields are exciting and we get
to be involved in some amazingprocesses.
We get to shape and influencestrategy, we get to tell stories
(00:21):
with the data so that anyonecan understand, and we have the
opportunity to be leaders in theorganization.
A finance leader is a confidentexpert of finance and
accounting principles who fusestechnical expertise with
leadership to make others aroundthem better and to positively
transform the organization byusing accurate, relevant and
(00:44):
real-time data to help otherleaders make better decisions to
execute the strategy.
So this week I want to share anencore replay of Episode 98.
Why did I choose a career infinance and accounting?
Why did you choose to work infinance and accounting?
Did you want to work withnumbers?
Did you think you would workmostly alone?
(01:05):
Were you attracted to theleadership opportunities?
Was it something else or acombination of these?
Whatever got you interested, Iam urging you to ask yourself if
you still maintain that passionyou once had.
Do you embrace and look forwardto leading with the numbers
every day.
The finance and accountingfields offer a great opportunity
(01:25):
to career track the CEO of anyorganization.
I love this profession.
I love being a finance leader.
Next week, I will beintroducing how to develop a
finance and accounting systemthat can support the overall
business strategy.
I will be sharing more in thefuture about this and I can't
wait Now.
(01:45):
Please enjoy this encoreepisode, episode 98.
Why did I choose a career infinance and accounting?
Have a great rest of your week.
In a few weeks, we will bediscussing our 2024 goal setting
.
Thank you for choosing theFinance Leader Podcast Until
next time.
Thank you for listening.
Take care.
Why did you choose to work infinance and accounting?
(02:12):
Did you want to work withnumbers?
Did you think you would workmostly alone?
Were you attracted to theleadership opportunities
available?
Was it something else or acombination of these?
Whatever got you interested?
I am urging you to ask yourselfif you still maintain that
passion you once had.
Do you embrace and look forwardto leading with the numbers
(02:35):
every day?
The finance and accountingfields offer a great opportunity
to career track the CEO of anorganization.
There are so many incredibleopportunities to make a positive
difference, and that's why Ilove it.
Please enjoy the episode.
Welcome to the Finance LeaderPodcast, where leadership is
bigger than the numbers.
I am your host, stephen McClain.
(02:57):
This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
and accounting.
Please consider following me onTwitter, facebook, instagram
and LinkedIn my usernames andthe links are in this episode's
show notes and also please jointhe Facebook group I have for
this podcast community.
Thank you, this is episodenumber 98, and I'll be asking
(03:20):
why did you choose a career inthe finance and accounting
fields?
Benjamin Franklin said withoutcontinual growth and progress,
such words as improvement,achievement and success have no
meaning.
This episode's format will be alittle different from what I
usually do, but it's for areason.
I want a deep dive in askingwhy did you choose a career in
(03:43):
finance and accounting?
What drove you to pick a careerthat was so numbers focused?
Both finance and accounting aredifferent in their approach,
but both sides are trying to dothe same thing Help drive the
business to excellence, to growthe business and to make the
overall organization successful.
How many of you believe thatyou would have such a key role
(04:05):
in making a business successful,or did you think you would only
have a side role and mostlywork alone.
The finance and accountingteams in a company help drive
strategy and they bring realityto what is happening.
Because they have the numbers,we drive insights and we ensure
that our resource managementtechniques follow gap and are
(04:27):
consistent.
We drive the business, we helpsenior leaders develop and
execute the strategy and we alsohave the opportunity to get
promoted into senior leadership.
Do you still have the passionfor this field?
Are you still committed toexcellence?
Are you committed to growingthe organization and to apply
your leadership in helping everyway possible?
(04:48):
I want you to ask yourself whatyou want to accomplish.
What is your long-term goal?
Do you want to rise in yourcareer or stay the same?
Do you want to make thedecision to commit to achieving
your long-term goal?
I chose finance and accountingbecause I do love to work with
numbers, I love to solveproblems and I love to lead.
You can do all three in thisprofession.
(05:10):
I especially love to advise andto help senior leaders develop
and execute strategy and to domy part in growing the business.
I have the daily opportunity tobring positive change in
everything I do.
Now, how do we accomplish what Ijust shared as a finance and
accounting leader?
First, we need to learn anddeeply know the key metrics that
(05:31):
drive sales and that drivemargin, so we know how and where
to find insights in the data.
You need to know everythingabout the metrics that drive the
business.
Then we need to partner withsenior leaders to know more
about what they are trying toaccomplish and to help
understand the performance ofmetrics and KPIs they are
monitoring.
(05:51):
We want to share insights withthem about those KPIs and
metrics so they are able to makebetter decisions and
adjustments to grow the business.
We also want to build betterand more realistic projections.
We also need to ensure we haveaccurate financial reporting and
accurate financial statementsby applying our core principles
(06:13):
a solid financial system andgood processes.
Additionally, we need to lookfor efficiencies and
opportunities in the middle ofthe profit and loss statement so
we can save resources, whichthen positively affects net
profit.
These may be special projectsthat can deliver big savings in
the long run.
We should be looking for waysto partner around the company to
(06:35):
help other teams to find usableinsights as well.
We have the opportunity tobridge the gap of communications
between teams around thecompany.
I have done this many times, asteams are developing plans or
may be missing an importantpiece of information, but the
team next to them has it and youare aware of that.
(06:55):
You can bring those teamstogether because you work in the
numbers and you see it.
Bring the organization togetherthrough your leadership.
Finally, we always need to bereviewing and transforming our
processes so they are efficient,effective and near real time,
which can lead to better andquicker decisions.
Use your leadership to overcomethe status quo on how we do
(07:18):
tasks and how we do analysis,find and advocate for better
ways, smarter ways and moretechnological, sound ways to
finish projects and tasks.
What do you want to accomplishin your career and in your life?
What are your goals?
Do you see yourself achievingyour goals and do you have a
written plan?
Goal setting is essential toour success.
(07:40):
You must have a written plan, aresilient mindset and the
necessary skills to achievethose goals.
Why did you choose a career infinance and accounting?
Are you ready to achieve thegoals?
I know you have To achieve therole of CFO and even CEO.
The finance and accountingfields are fun and very exciting
.
We get to lead with the numbers, to help grow the business and
(08:04):
to bring positive change, andthat's why I love it.
Now for action.
Today I have a request Writeout your long-term career goal.
We will work with this at thebeginning of the year, in 2023.
What do you want to achieve inthis profession and do you want
to become a sought after leaderwho can make a difference?
(08:24):
If you have not already, I wantto invite you to download a
leadership guide for finance andaccounting leaders.
You can go tofinanceleaderacademycom and
select free leadership guide onthe main menu.
It's free and it may give you afew ideas for your own
leadership development.
Today, I asked why you chose acareer in finance and accounting
.
I believe we can make apositive difference in our
(08:47):
organization.
Finance and accountingprofessionals are often seen and
sought after as leaders, so wehave the remarkable opportunity
to solve problems and to helpsenior leaders execute the
strategy.
People are often amazed by whatwe do, how we look through the
data to come up with one or twofigures that may transform an
entire strategy.
(09:08):
We get to do that.
We get to steer the ship in adifferent direction based on one
number.
I have done this.
I know you have too.
I have spent days building afinancial model to arrive at one
number for a project, and keydecisions were made with that.
That's amazing.
I am amazed at what we get todo pulling the right data to
(09:29):
build a model to get to onenumber and then we execute from
that one number.
So join me in planning out ameaningful long-term goal for
our finance and accountingcareers, so we get to make a
positive difference.
Work with me so we can figurethis out together.
Next week I will be talkingabout taking risk so we achieve
(09:50):
our goals.
I hope you enjoyed the FinanceLeader podcast.
I'm dedicated to helping yougrow your leadership skills, to
change your mindset and toclarify your goals so you
advance your career.
You can find this episodewherever you listen to podcasts.
If this episode helped youtoday, please share and leave a
quick review so that others mayfind the podcast Until next time
(10:11):
.
You can check out moreresources at
financeleaderacademycom and signup for my weekly updates so you
don't miss an episode of thepodcast.
And now go lead your team andI'll see you next time.
Thank you, treat $5 million indigital assetautoorg is a joint
joint of Commissionersieland.
Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance
Leader Podcast.
This is Bonus Episode number 73.
It's a great day to be afinance leader and I believe
that can be every day.
The finance and accountingfields are exciting and we get
to be involved in some amazingprocesses.
We get to shape and influencestrategy, we get to tell stories
(00:21):
with the data so that anyonecan understand, and we have the
opportunity to be leaders in theorganization.
A finance leader is a confidentexpert of finance and
accounting principles who fusestechnical expertise with
leadership to make others aroundthem better and to positively
transform the organization byusing accurate, relevant and
(00:44):
real-time data to help otherleaders make better decisions to
execute the strategy.
So this week I want to share anencore replay of Episode 98.
Why did I choose a career infinance and accounting?
Why did you choose to work infinance and accounting?
Did you want to work withnumbers?
Did you think you would workmostly alone?
(01:05):
Were you attracted to theleadership opportunities?
Was it something else or acombination of these?
Whatever got you interested, Iam urging you to ask yourself if
you still maintain that passionyou once had.
Do you embrace and look forwardto leading with the numbers
every day.
The finance and accountingfields offer a great opportunity
(01:25):
to career track the CEO of anyorganization.
I love this profession.
I love being a finance leader.
Next week, I will beintroducing how to develop a
finance and accounting systemthat can support the overall
business strategy.
I will be sharing more in thefuture about this and I can't
wait Now.
(01:45):
Please enjoy this encoreepisode, episode 98.
Why did I choose a career infinance and accounting?
Have a great rest of your week.
In a few weeks, we will bediscussing our 2024 goal setting
.
Thank you for choosing theFinance Leader Podcast Until
next time.
Thank you for listening.
Take care.
Why did you choose to work infinance and accounting?
(02:12):
Did you want to work withnumbers?
Did you think you would workmostly alone?
Were you attracted to theleadership opportunities
available?
Was it something else or acombination of these?
Whatever got you interested?
I am urging you to ask yourselfif you still maintain that
passion you once had.
Do you embrace and look forwardto leading with the numbers
(02:35):
every day?
The finance and accountingfields offer a great opportunity
to career track the CEO of anorganization.
There are so many incredibleopportunities to make a positive
difference, and that's why Ilove it.
Please enjoy the episode.
Welcome to the Finance LeaderPodcast, where leadership is
bigger than the numbers.
I am your host, stephen McClain.
(02:57):
This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
and accounting.
Please consider following me onTwitter, facebook, instagram
and LinkedIn my usernames andthe links are in this episode's
show notes and also please jointhe Facebook group I have for
this podcast community.
Thank you, this is episodenumber 98, and I'll be asking
(03:20):
why did you choose a career inthe finance and accounting
fields?
Benjamin Franklin said withoutcontinual growth and progress,
such words as improvement,achievement and success have no
meaning.
This episode's format will be alittle different from what I
usually do, but it's for areason.
I want a deep dive in askingwhy did you choose a career in
(03:43):
finance and accounting?
What drove you to pick a careerthat was so numbers focused?
Both finance and accounting aredifferent in their approach,
but both sides are trying to dothe same thing Help drive the
business to excellence, to growthe business and to make the
overall organization successful.
How many of you believe thatyou would have such a key role
(04:05):
in making a business successful,or did you think you would only
have a side role and mostlywork alone.
The finance and accountingteams in a company help drive
strategy and they bring realityto what is happening.
Because they have the numbers,we drive insights and we ensure
that our resource managementtechniques follow gap and are
(04:27):
consistent.
We drive the business, we helpsenior leaders develop and
execute the strategy and we alsohave the opportunity to get
promoted into senior leadership.
Do you still have the passionfor this field?
Are you still committed toexcellence?
Are you committed to growingthe organization and to apply
your leadership in helping everyway possible?
(04:48):
I want you to ask yourself whatyou want to accomplish.
What is your long-term goal?
Do you want to rise in yourcareer or stay the same?
Do you want to make thedecision to commit to achieving
your long-term goal?
I chose finance and accountingbecause I do love to work with
numbers, I love to solveproblems and I love to lead.
You can do all three in thisprofession.
(05:10):
I especially love to advise andto help senior leaders develop
and execute strategy and to domy part in growing the business.
I have the daily opportunity tobring positive change in
everything I do.
Now, how do we accomplish what Ijust shared as a finance and
accounting leader?
First, we need to learn anddeeply know the key metrics that
(05:31):
drive sales and that drivemargin, so we know how and where
to find insights in the data.
You need to know everythingabout the metrics that drive the
business.
Then we need to partner withsenior leaders to know more
about what they are trying toaccomplish and to help
understand the performance ofmetrics and KPIs they are
monitoring.
(05:51):
We want to share insights withthem about those KPIs and
metrics so they are able to makebetter decisions and
adjustments to grow the business.
We also want to build betterand more realistic projections.
We also need to ensure we haveaccurate financial reporting and
accurate financial statementsby applying our core principles
(06:13):
a solid financial system andgood processes.
Additionally, we need to lookfor efficiencies and
opportunities in the middle ofthe profit and loss statement so
we can save resources, whichthen positively affects net
profit.
These may be special projectsthat can deliver big savings in
the long run.
We should be looking for waysto partner around the company to
(06:35):
help other teams to find usableinsights as well.
We have the opportunity tobridge the gap of communications
between teams around thecompany.
I have done this many times, asteams are developing plans or
may be missing an importantpiece of information, but the
team next to them has it and youare aware of that.
(06:55):
You can bring those teamstogether because you work in the
numbers and you see it.
Bring the organization togetherthrough your leadership.
Finally, we always need to bereviewing and transforming our
processes so they are efficient,effective and near real time,
which can lead to better andquicker decisions.
Use your leadership to overcomethe status quo on how we do
(07:18):
tasks and how we do analysis,find and advocate for better
ways, smarter ways and moretechnological, sound ways to
finish projects and tasks.
What do you want to accomplishin your career and in your life?
What are your goals?
Do you see yourself achievingyour goals and do you have a
written plan?
Goal setting is essential toour success.
(07:40):
You must have a written plan, aresilient mindset and the
necessary skills to achievethose goals.
Why did you choose a career infinance and accounting?
Are you ready to achieve thegoals?
I know you have To achieve therole of CFO and even CEO.
The finance and accountingfields are fun and very exciting
.
We get to lead with the numbers, to help grow the business and
(08:04):
to bring positive change, andthat's why I love it.
Now for action.
Today I have a request Writeout your long-term career goal.
We will work with this at thebeginning of the year, in 2023.
What do you want to achieve inthis profession and do you want
to become a sought after leaderwho can make a difference?
(08:24):
If you have not already, I wantto invite you to download a
leadership guide for finance andaccounting leaders.
You can go tofinanceleaderacademycom and
select free leadership guide onthe main menu.
It's free and it may give you afew ideas for your own
leadership development.
Today, I asked why you chose acareer in finance and accounting
.
I believe we can make apositive difference in our
(08:47):
organization.
Finance and accountingprofessionals are often seen and
sought after as leaders, so wehave the remarkable opportunity
to solve problems and to helpsenior leaders execute the
strategy.
People are often amazed by whatwe do, how we look through the
data to come up with one or twofigures that may transform an
entire strategy.
(09:08):
We get to do that.
We get to steer the ship in adifferent direction based on one
number.
I have done this.
I know you have too.
I have spent days building afinancial model to arrive at one
number for a project, and keydecisions were made with that.
That's amazing.
I am amazed at what we get todo pulling the right data to
(09:29):
build a model to get to onenumber and then we execute from
that one number.
So join me in planning out ameaningful long-term goal for
our finance and accountingcareers, so we get to make a
positive difference.
Work with me so we can figurethis out together.
Next week I will be talkingabout taking risk so we achieve
(09:50):
our goals.
I hope you enjoyed the FinanceLeader podcast.
I'm dedicated to helping yougrow your leadership skills, to
change your mindset and toclarify your goals so you
advance your career.
You can find this episodewherever you listen to podcasts.
If this episode helped youtoday, please share and leave a
quick review so that others mayfind the podcast Until next time
(10:11):
.
You can check out moreresources at
financeleaderacademycom and signup for my weekly updates so you
don't miss an episode of thepodcast.
And now go lead your team andI'll see you next time.
Thank you, treat $5 million indigital assetautoorg is a joint
joint of Commissionersieland.
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Stuff You Missed in History Class
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.
3. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.