Strategy is a decision around what market you will pursue and with what product and service mix and more importantly - how you will employ your resources to serve that market properly, so your company becomes profitable. Companies don’t have unlimited resources, so they must make very deliberate, data-driven, and leader-guided decisions to make those difficult choices. This is where you, a finance leader, comes in.
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 Steven McLean of the finance
leader podcast. This is bonusepisode number 58. Welcome. How
are you all doing? For me, it'sanother great day to exercise my
leadership abilities to make myteammates better and my
organization better. I lovetalking about finance
leadership. Because we have anincredible opportunity to help
deliver the strategy, we oftenhave to be the responsible
(00:23):
person in the room to ensure weall are being great stewards of
the company's resources, and tobe the person who can check
results against what the agreedstrategy is. The strategy is a
decision around what market youwill pursue and with what
product and service mix, andmore importantly, how will you
will employ your resources toserve that market properly. So
(00:47):
your company becomes profitable.
Companies don't have unlimitedresources, so they must make
very deliberate data driven andleader guided decisions to make
those difficult choices. This iswhere you a finance leader comes
in. A finance leader helpsaddress the right KPIs to use
and then develops what data setscan support those KPIs further,
(01:07):
we should be looking forinsights that can help senior
leaders to make betterdecisions. Yes, we must
continually become an expert onthe technical side. But we need
to learn leadership. So we canhelp influence proper decisions,
data driven decisions within anacceptable risk model. And it
takes practice to do this and ittakes confidence. Be confident
(01:29):
in your technical ability, growyour communication skills, and
then develop your skills to findspecial insights to positively
influence senior leaders to makebetter decisions. It's tough
sometimes because you will bedealing with people who have
high expectations and are highachievers, you have to be
confident in your findings inyour recommendations. Because if
(01:51):
you lack confidence at any stepin that interaction, it will
most likely not go well. And anyeffort to shape a decision or
influence an action will belost. Be confident in everything
you do in every set of data andany insights that you present,
own that data set and focus onpersuading a better decision.
believe that what you have donewill make a difference and they
(02:14):
will listen to you much more.
Again, I am encouraging you tobecome a finance leader, so you
can have a say in how thestrategy is developed and how it
is executed. If you lead a teamteach your team to embrace
finance leadership, definitelygrow those technical skills and
technical knowledge, but alsogrow your leadership skills to
(02:36):
make a difference. As youdevelop and work on your goals
for this year. Make sure you addleadership skills in your
development plan. Ensure you usethe SMART Goal Setting technique
to help you plan your goals.
SMART stands for specific,measurable, attainable, relevant
and time bound. Using the SMARTframework can help ensure that
goals are clear, actionable andachievable. This week, I want to
(02:59):
share an encore episode with youepisode 102. Use the SMART goal
setting method for better goalplanning. When we set our goals
let's use the SMART Goal Settingmethodology. So we set realistic
goals that we can achievebecause we have properly thought
through the best way to planthem and achieve them. Please
enjoy this encore EpisodeEpisode one how to use the smart
(03:22):
goal setting method for bettergoal planning. Season 14 will
debut next week. Thank you.
Last episode I talked about goalsetting for 2023. And that I
want you to be bold this year.
That's bold. B believe Ohovercome l leadership and D
(03:46):
decisive. When we set our goals,let's use the SMART Goal Setting
methodology. So we set realisticgoals that we can achieve,
because we have properly thoughtthrough the best way to plan
them and achieve them. You knowhow I feel about New Year's
resolutions? Because at thispoint, most people have given up
(04:08):
on them since they had no solidfoundation in being achieved.
Let's plan out our goals thatmakes sense for us. Please enjoy
the episode. Welcome to thefinance leader podcast where
leadership is bigger than thenumbers. I am your host Stephen
McLean. This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
(04:28):
and accounting. Please considerfollowing me on Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram andLinkedIn. My usernames and the
links are in this episode's shownotes. This is episode number
102. And now we'll be talkingabout the SMART Goal Setting
technique. And I will highlightthe following topics. Number one
be focused. Number two the SMARTGoal Setting technique and three
(04:53):
ensure you are being bold thisyear. Legendary flip All coach
Lou Holtz said, if you're boredwith life, you don't get up
every morning with a burningdesire to do things, you don't
have enough goals. And thisepisode I want to briefly talk
about the SMART Goal Settingtechnique. I am sure you have
heard about it previously andeven used it. It's a great
(05:16):
technique to ensure you properlyplan out your goals. SMART Goal
setting is a framework forsetting and achieving Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevantand time bound goals. It is a
widely used method for settingand achieving goals in both
personal and professionalsettings. The acronym stands for
specific, measurable,attainable, relevant and time
(05:39):
bound. Using the SMART frameworkcan help ensure that goals are
clear, actionable andachievable. Now I love goals and
goal setting and I loveachievement even more the focus
and the effort to achievesomething you want. That is what
goal setting and achievement isall about. We talked extensively
last episode about goal setting.
(06:03):
Have you written out your goalsfor this year? If yes, that's
great. If not, you're not lateat all. It may take a few weeks
to uncover and decide what youwant to achieve for this year.
And that's okay, if you havethem. Let's use the SMART Goal
Setting methodology to plan outour goals correctly. What is
your long term goal? Now thiscan change over time. But what
(06:26):
do you want to achieve in yourprofessional life and sure you
plan backwards from that goal sothat you know what steps you
need to achieve it. Do you knowyour long term goal is it to be
CFO or even CEO, maybe a CPA anda firm a business owner or
something else. There are somany possibilities. The last
episode I also talked aboutbeing bold this year. Now that's
(06:48):
B believe overcome. L is inleadership and D decisive bold
is a growth mindset technique.
To unlock your potential, I wantyou to be decisive about your
goals, decide what you want toaccomplish and then commit
action to that plan. Now theproductivity tip I want to share
with you this week is to ensurethat your goals are broken down
(07:09):
into smaller and actionablechunks. When you break down your
goals into smaller and smallerpieces, you are more likely to
achieve your bigger goal. Sobreak down your goal into
smaller and smaller parts assmall as you can. And then you
will find yourself accomplishingmore. One more thing, having a
written plan will set you up forsuccess. And sure you're
(07:30):
updating that plan as you makeprogress. And as you make
decisions about your goals,updating your plan monthly is
ideal. They'll put time on yourcalendar to ensure you get it
done broken down goals and awritten plan. Now let's talk
about more about goal settingand smart goal setting. Number
one, be focused. To besuccessful, you must be
(07:52):
committed to excellence becommitted to achieving your
goals, you have to focus, youhave to eliminate the
distractions and becomehyperfocused which means your
routines have to change and yourapproach has to change. Now some
of you won't believe this, butmultitasking is really a myth.
And the thought of it is ruiningyour ability to achieve the hard
(08:12):
task. Those of you who swear bymultitasking believe you're
getting more done. And youbelieve you truly are working on
more than one task or problem ata time. And the thought of it is
ruining your ability to achievethe hard task which is your long
term goal. But what it is, isslowing you down. And what
really happens is that bothtasks you are working on becomes
(08:33):
less than excellent, you'reactually achieving less and you
are not really achieving yourpotential. And since you are not
focused on one particular task,both tasks are suffering. By
focusing on one task objectiveor goal at a time, you can hyper
focus on that one area so youachieve it with excellence. One
area so you can focus focus iskey. Number two, the SMART Goal
(08:58):
Setting technique. SMART Goalsetting is a method of setting
goals that is widely used inbusiness and organizations. The
acronym SMART stands forSpecific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and timebound. These five criteria are
used to ensure that goals arewell defined and achievable.
specific a specific goal has aclear target or outcome that is
(09:23):
well defined it should answerthe questions of what why and
how. Now measurable, ameasurable goal can be
quantified or tracked in someway. This allows for progress to
be monitored and the goalsachievement to be evaluated.
achievable. The goal should berealistic and attainable. It
(09:43):
should be something that can beachieved with the resources and
capabilities that are availablerelevant. A relevant goal is one
that aligns with the overallobjectives and mission of the
organization or individual timebound. A goal should have a
specific have a deadline forcompletion. This creates a sense
of urgency and helps to focusefforts towards achieving the
(10:04):
goal. Using the smart criteriawhen setting goals can help to
ensure that they are clear,achievable and aligned with the
overall objectives of theorganization or individual. It
can also help to increasemotivation and focus, making it
more likely that the goal willbe achieved. Number three, I
want you to be bold and 2023. Italked about this in the last
(10:28):
episode, I want you to applybold this year in everything you
do. Bold, which is believeovercome leadership, and
decisive belief is knowing thatyou can achieve the goals you're
setting for yourself, it'simportant to believe that you
can get it done. Now being boldis about ensuring you go after
and achieve your long term goal.
(10:51):
Now go get it for action today.
First, I want you to validateyour long term goal. Do you have
that written down and plannedout and sure you know your long
term goal, it can change, soit's good to review and update
it so you know what you'recommitting yourself to. Next, I
want you to format your goalsusing the smart technique I
talked about today. Look overyour goals. And sure you have
(11:12):
addressed the acronym SMART,Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and timebound. Review your goals and
your individual developmentplans. And one more thing, do
your daily routines and habitssupport your goal achievement
process. Now if you have notalready, I want to invite you to
download a leadership guide forfinance and accounting leaders,
(11:34):
you can go to Finance leaderacademy.com and select Free
leadership guide on the mainmenu. It's free, and it may give
you a few ideas for your ownleadership development. Today I
talked about the SMART GoalSetting technique and I
highlighted the following pointsnumber one, be focused. Number
two, the SMART Goal Settingtechnique, and three ensure you
(11:54):
are being bold this year. Goalsetting is important because it
provides direction and focus andhelps individuals and
organizations to achieve theirdesired outcomes. By setting
clear, measurable and achievablegoals individuals and
organizations can track progressand measure success. I love goal
setting and achievement. And Ihope you do too high performing
(12:18):
professionals want to be aroundother high performers who are
focused and ready to achieve.
Now next episode I'll be talkingabout preparing yourself for
improvement and achievement. Weare going to address our mindset
which is a topic close to myheart, just like leadership and
goal setting. I hope you enjoyedthe finance leader podcast I am
(12:41):
dedicated to helping you growyour leadership skills, to
change your mindset and toclarify your goals. So you
advance your career. You canfind this episode wherever you
listen to podcasts. If thisepisode helped you today, please
share and leave a quick reviewso that others may find the
podcast. Until next time, youcan check out more resources at
(13:01):
finance leader academy.com andsign up for my weekly updates so
you don't miss an episode of thepodcast. And now go lead your
team and I'll see you next time.
Thank you
Hi, this is Steven McLean of the finance
leader podcast. This is bonusepisode number 58. Welcome. How
are you all doing? For me, it'sanother great day to exercise my
leadership abilities to make myteammates better and my
organization better. I lovetalking about finance
leadership. Because we have anincredible opportunity to help
deliver the strategy, we oftenhave to be the responsible
(00:23):
person in the room to ensure weall are being great stewards of
the company's resources, and tobe the person who can check
results against what the agreedstrategy is. The strategy is a
decision around what market youwill pursue and with what
product and service mix, andmore importantly, how will you
will employ your resources toserve that market properly. So
(00:47):
your company becomes profitable.
Companies don't have unlimitedresources, so they must make
very deliberate data driven andleader guided decisions to make
those difficult choices. This iswhere you a finance leader comes
in. A finance leader helpsaddress the right KPIs to use
and then develops what data setscan support those KPIs further,
(01:07):
we should be looking forinsights that can help senior
leaders to make betterdecisions. Yes, we must
continually become an expert onthe technical side. But we need
to learn leadership. So we canhelp influence proper decisions,
data driven decisions within anacceptable risk model. And it
takes practice to do this and ittakes confidence. Be confident
(01:29):
in your technical ability, growyour communication skills, and
then develop your skills to findspecial insights to positively
influence senior leaders to makebetter decisions. It's tough
sometimes because you will bedealing with people who have
high expectations and are highachievers, you have to be
confident in your findings inyour recommendations. Because if
(01:51):
you lack confidence at any stepin that interaction, it will
most likely not go well. And anyeffort to shape a decision or
influence an action will belost. Be confident in everything
you do in every set of data andany insights that you present,
own that data set and focus onpersuading a better decision.
believe that what you have donewill make a difference and they
(02:14):
will listen to you much more.
Again, I am encouraging you tobecome a finance leader, so you
can have a say in how thestrategy is developed and how it
is executed. If you lead a teamteach your team to embrace
finance leadership, definitelygrow those technical skills and
technical knowledge, but alsogrow your leadership skills to
(02:36):
make a difference. As youdevelop and work on your goals
for this year. Make sure you addleadership skills in your
development plan. Ensure you usethe SMART Goal Setting technique
to help you plan your goals.
SMART stands for specific,measurable, attainable, relevant
and time bound. Using the SMARTframework can help ensure that
goals are clear, actionable andachievable. This week, I want to
(02:59):
share an encore episode with youepisode 102. Use the SMART goal
setting method for better goalplanning. When we set our goals
let's use the SMART Goal Settingmethodology. So we set realistic
goals that we can achievebecause we have properly thought
through the best way to planthem and achieve them. Please
enjoy this encore EpisodeEpisode one how to use the smart
(03:22):
goal setting method for bettergoal planning. Season 14 will
debut next week. Thank you.
Last episode I talked about goalsetting for 2023. And that I
want you to be bold this year.
That's bold. B believe Ohovercome l leadership and D
(03:46):
decisive. When we set our goals,let's use the SMART Goal Setting
methodology. So we set realisticgoals that we can achieve,
because we have properly thoughtthrough the best way to plan
them and achieve them. You knowhow I feel about New Year's
resolutions? Because at thispoint, most people have given up
(04:08):
on them since they had no solidfoundation in being achieved.
Let's plan out our goals thatmakes sense for us. Please enjoy
the episode. Welcome to thefinance leader podcast where
leadership is bigger than thenumbers. I am your host Stephen
McLean. This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
(04:28):
and accounting. Please considerfollowing me on Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram andLinkedIn. My usernames and the
links are in this episode's shownotes. This is episode number
102. And now we'll be talkingabout the SMART Goal Setting
technique. And I will highlightthe following topics. Number one
be focused. Number two the SMARTGoal Setting technique and three
(04:53):
ensure you are being bold thisyear. Legendary flip All coach
Lou Holtz said, if you're boredwith life, you don't get up
every morning with a burningdesire to do things, you don't
have enough goals. And thisepisode I want to briefly talk
about the SMART Goal Settingtechnique. I am sure you have
heard about it previously andeven used it. It's a great
(05:16):
technique to ensure you properlyplan out your goals. SMART Goal
setting is a framework forsetting and achieving Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevantand time bound goals. It is a
widely used method for settingand achieving goals in both
personal and professionalsettings. The acronym stands for
specific, measurable,attainable, relevant and time
(05:39):
bound. Using the SMART frameworkcan help ensure that goals are
clear, actionable andachievable. Now I love goals and
goal setting and I loveachievement even more the focus
and the effort to achievesomething you want. That is what
goal setting and achievement isall about. We talked extensively
last episode about goal setting.
(06:03):
Have you written out your goalsfor this year? If yes, that's
great. If not, you're not lateat all. It may take a few weeks
to uncover and decide what youwant to achieve for this year.
And that's okay, if you havethem. Let's use the SMART Goal
Setting methodology to plan outour goals correctly. What is
your long term goal? Now thiscan change over time. But what
(06:26):
do you want to achieve in yourprofessional life and sure you
plan backwards from that goal sothat you know what steps you
need to achieve it. Do you knowyour long term goal is it to be
CFO or even CEO, maybe a CPA anda firm a business owner or
something else. There are somany possibilities. The last
episode I also talked aboutbeing bold this year. Now that's
(06:48):
B believe overcome. L is inleadership and D decisive bold
is a growth mindset technique.
To unlock your potential, I wantyou to be decisive about your
goals, decide what you want toaccomplish and then commit
action to that plan. Now theproductivity tip I want to share
with you this week is to ensurethat your goals are broken down
(07:09):
into smaller and actionablechunks. When you break down your
goals into smaller and smallerpieces, you are more likely to
achieve your bigger goal. Sobreak down your goal into
smaller and smaller parts assmall as you can. And then you
will find yourself accomplishingmore. One more thing, having a
written plan will set you up forsuccess. And sure you're
(07:30):
updating that plan as you makeprogress. And as you make
decisions about your goals,updating your plan monthly is
ideal. They'll put time on yourcalendar to ensure you get it
done broken down goals and awritten plan. Now let's talk
about more about goal settingand smart goal setting. Number
one, be focused. To besuccessful, you must be
(07:52):
committed to excellence becommitted to achieving your
goals, you have to focus, youhave to eliminate the
distractions and becomehyperfocused which means your
routines have to change and yourapproach has to change. Now some
of you won't believe this, butmultitasking is really a myth.
And the thought of it is ruiningyour ability to achieve the hard
(08:12):
task. Those of you who swear bymultitasking believe you're
getting more done. And youbelieve you truly are working on
more than one task or problem ata time. And the thought of it is
ruining your ability to achievethe hard task which is your long
term goal. But what it is, isslowing you down. And what
really happens is that bothtasks you are working on becomes
(08:33):
less than excellent, you'reactually achieving less and you
are not really achieving yourpotential. And since you are not
focused on one particular task,both tasks are suffering. By
focusing on one task objectiveor goal at a time, you can hyper
focus on that one area so youachieve it with excellence. One
area so you can focus focus iskey. Number two, the SMART Goal
(08:58):
Setting technique. SMART Goalsetting is a method of setting
goals that is widely used inbusiness and organizations. The
acronym SMART stands forSpecific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and timebound. These five criteria are
used to ensure that goals arewell defined and achievable.
specific a specific goal has aclear target or outcome that is
(09:23):
well defined it should answerthe questions of what why and
how. Now measurable, ameasurable goal can be
quantified or tracked in someway. This allows for progress to
be monitored and the goalsachievement to be evaluated.
achievable. The goal should berealistic and attainable. It
(09:43):
should be something that can beachieved with the resources and
capabilities that are availablerelevant. A relevant goal is one
that aligns with the overallobjectives and mission of the
organization or individual timebound. A goal should have a
specific have a deadline forcompletion. This creates a sense
of urgency and helps to focusefforts towards achieving the
(10:04):
goal. Using the smart criteriawhen setting goals can help to
ensure that they are clear,achievable and aligned with the
overall objectives of theorganization or individual. It
can also help to increasemotivation and focus, making it
more likely that the goal willbe achieved. Number three, I
want you to be bold and 2023. Italked about this in the last
(10:28):
episode, I want you to applybold this year in everything you
do. Bold, which is believeovercome leadership, and
decisive belief is knowing thatyou can achieve the goals you're
setting for yourself, it'simportant to believe that you
can get it done. Now being boldis about ensuring you go after
and achieve your long term goal.
(10:51):
Now go get it for action today.
First, I want you to validateyour long term goal. Do you have
that written down and plannedout and sure you know your long
term goal, it can change, soit's good to review and update
it so you know what you'recommitting yourself to. Next, I
want you to format your goalsusing the smart technique I
talked about today. Look overyour goals. And sure you have
(11:12):
addressed the acronym SMART,Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and timebound. Review your goals and
your individual developmentplans. And one more thing, do
your daily routines and habitssupport your goal achievement
process. Now if you have notalready, I want to invite you to
download a leadership guide forfinance and accounting leaders,
(11:34):
you can go to Finance leaderacademy.com and select Free
leadership guide on the mainmenu. It's free, and it may give
you a few ideas for your ownleadership development. Today I
talked about the SMART GoalSetting technique and I
highlighted the following pointsnumber one, be focused. Number
two, the SMART Goal Settingtechnique, and three ensure you
(11:54):
are being bold this year. Goalsetting is important because it
provides direction and focus andhelps individuals and
organizations to achieve theirdesired outcomes. By setting
clear, measurable and achievablegoals individuals and
organizations can track progressand measure success. I love goal
setting and achievement. And Ihope you do too high performing
(12:18):
professionals want to be aroundother high performers who are
focused and ready to achieve.
Now next episode I'll be talkingabout preparing yourself for
improvement and achievement. Weare going to address our mindset
which is a topic close to myheart, just like leadership and
goal setting. I hope you enjoyedthe finance leader podcast I am
(12:41):
dedicated to helping you growyour leadership skills, to
change your mindset and toclarify your goals. So you
advance your career. You canfind this episode wherever you
listen to podcasts. If thisepisode helped you today, please
share and leave a quick reviewso that others may find the
podcast. Until next time, youcan check out more resources at
(13:01):
finance leader academy.com andsign up for my weekly updates so
you don't miss an episode of thepodcast. And now go lead your
team and I'll see you next time.
Thank you
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