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March 12, 2025 15 mins

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Bonus episode #86: When was the last time your finance team truly worked as a single unit rather than a collection of individuals? In this thought-provoking episode, we explore how leadership transforms independent contributors into high-performing teams that accomplish seemingly impossible goals.

Trust forms the bedrock of exceptional team performance. We delve into how leaders can cultivate environments where team members take calculated risks, collaborate effectively, and support one another through challenges. This trust doesn't happen by accident—it requires deliberate leadership focused on fairness, consistency, and mutual respect.

Clear communication emerges as the essential bridge between leadership intentions and team execution. We explore practical approaches to communication that eliminate confusion and align everyone toward common goals. From structured one-on-one meetings to effective team gatherings, we examine how communication patterns directly impact performance outcomes in finance organizations.

The episode also tackles practical strategies for enhancing team capabilities, including task automation, elimination of unnecessary processes, and delegation frameworks like the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. These approaches help finance teams manage their demanding workloads more effectively while focusing on high-value activities.

Beyond the tactical, we explore the deeper elements of team development—creating individual growth plans, establishing accountability without micromanagement, and fostering an environment where team members hold each other to high standards. These elements combine to create teams capable of sustained excellence rather than merely occasional high performance.


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.


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Episode Transcript

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Stephen McLain (00:00):
Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance
Leader Podcast.
This is bonus episode number 86.
Leadership, to me, has alwaysbeen about accomplishing the
impossible.
Anyone can put together aschedule post.
It then sit back to watchpeople show up or not even show
up to their shifts.
But what about creating anenvironment for your team to

(00:21):
work better together andcollaborate on a tough project
that creates a new product or anew line of business, or to
create efficiencies, for example, how well does your team work
together?
How well do they come togetherin a crisis and how much do they
trust each other and you?
I want to share with you allthis week a replay of episode

(00:42):
number 121, uniting Individualswith Leadership a discussion on
improving team performance.
Excellent team performancebegins with trust.
Like it always has, trustbegins with you, the leader.
What are you doing to buildtrust, trust that elevates your
team to new levels?
Please enjoy this encore replayof episode number 121, uniting

(01:06):
Individuals Leadership adiscussion on improving team
performance.
You can find more resources atfinanceleaderacademycom.
Enjoy the rest of your week andthank you for listening to the
Finance Leader Podcast.
Enjoy.
Last week, I summarized 10 keyleadership principles that we

(01:29):
each need to grow and develop,and this week I am expanding on
that list by talkingspecifically about improving
team performance.
There are so many factors toconsider, especially specific
conditions for your situationwhen trying to help your team
improve a little better, but wecan work to bring our team

(01:51):
together to break down thecommunication barrier and
deliver greater results.
Through leadership and betterteam engagement, we can build a
team that trusts each other andcan perform greater.
Beginning today, please enjoythe episode.
Welcome to the Finance LeaderPodcast, where leadership is
bigger than the numbers.
I am your host, Stephen McLain.

(02:16):
This is the podcast fordeveloping leaders in finance
and accounting.
Please consider following me onTwitter, facebook, instagram
and LinkedIn.
My usernames and the links arein this episode's show notes,
thank you.
This is episode number 121, andI'll be talking about improving
team performance.
Helen Keller said alone we cando so little, together we can do

(02:37):
so much.
I love leadership, but I alsolove building teams that work
together well and that performat the highest level.
It's a great challenge.
It takes communication and ittakes investing in yourself and
in your team.
We grow ourselves, we grow ourleadership and we grow our team
members, and that will grow ouroverall performance.

(02:59):
Often, improving teamperformance means a better
system, though I do believe thisis true.
It also means you set up yourteam through effective
leadership, clear and consistentcommunication, treating people
fairly, giving your team membersopportunities to grow and excel
, and providing a teamenvironment that allows for

(03:20):
discovery, risk-taking, growthand learning.
We can achieve all of that, andit always begins with us.
In the last episode, in episode120, I talked about my 10 key
leadership principles to helpguide you on how you build a
team that matters and that canperform at a high level.

(03:40):
Leadership is a mindset thathelps us overcome obstacles to
achieve some amazing things.
If you missed the episode,please go back and listen,
because I believe it will helpyou in your own leadership
development and journey.
You must begin with buildingtrust.
Trust is the glue that holdsgreat teams together.

(04:01):
When you have real trust on theteam, you have people who will
take more risk, which results inmore growth and development.
A team who trusts andappreciates each other will
collaborate more and help eachother more.
We must be careful oncompetition, though.
You should be competing againsta standard, not against each

(04:22):
other, and we must show nofavoritism when you lead based
on accountability, merit,fairness and how well you
perform, the team willunderstand how decisions are
made.
Team engagement matters becauseyou must be involved with your
team to bring out their best and, at the same time, give them
the room to do their workwithout excessive control and

(04:45):
supervision.
Let them grow.
Let them make mistakes, alsoknown as teachable moments.
Build a team based on inclusion, merit and opportunity.
Give people the opportunity toshow you what they can do, based
on potential.
I always recommend that leaderscheck their biases as they lead
so they are aware how theypersonally view people and

(05:07):
situations.
The more you know aboutyourself, the better you can
lead and be an example ofleadership.
Bring everyone together andgive opportunities to show off
what they can do.
Those who are consistentlydoing well get more
opportunities for greaterresponsibility and their career
will take off.
What can we automate and whatcan we eliminate?

(05:29):
I believe in automating theroutine and eliminating any
unnecessary task or process.
What is your team doing thatcan go away by automating it or
stopping it altogether?
I always like to ask my team,especially when you take over a
team, what regular reports,emails and data they are sending
and what is your current weeklymeeting schedule.

(05:52):
There is usually something theyare working on routinely that
can easily be automated or eveneliminated altogether.
We talked about communication inthe last episode in depth,
because it is so important toget right in the beginning.
Clear communication eliminatesconfusion and brings people
closer together.
There is clarity when your teamunderstands their tasks, the

(06:16):
deadlines and the expectations.
You will also have more buy-inwhen you share relevant
information quickly, so there isno guessing and no propensity
for gossip.
Share and communicate what ishappening.
The moment communication stopsis the moment you lose your team
as a leader.

(06:36):
Avoid micromanagement and ridyourself of people-pleasing.
A people pleaser leader willseek validation from their peers
and more senior leaders whilesimultaneously treating their
subordinate team members theworst, and will micromanage and
belittle those they lead.
Let's avoid both thesetendencies, because they will
destroy the team dynamics, trustand any chance to perform at a

(07:00):
high level.
The people pleaser may enjoyshort-term results while leaving
a path of destruction behindthem, meaning their team members
will feel used andunappreciated behind them.
Meaning their team members willfeel used and unappreciated.
I want to see this community dobetter.
Lead with integrity, lead withpurpose, lead with character and
if mistakes happen, make a plan.
Don't belittle.

(07:20):
Lift others up instead.
Please remember to sign up forthe Mid-Year Goal Challenge
coming in June.
I want you all to achieve thegoals you have set for yourself
this year.
The bar is set high and we mustfollow through on what we want
to accomplish.
So please sign up atfinanceleaderacademycom.
The link is in the show notes.

(07:41):
Our team's performance is oftenlinked to our leadership and
personal investment in the team.
We need to positively engagewith everyone, individually and
collectively, to bring out thebest, to create an environment
for trust and then on toexcellence.
Now let's talk about improvingyour team's performance.
Number one building trust andflexibility.

(08:03):
Creating a team environmentthat fosters growth begins with
trust.
Do your team members trust eachother?
Do they trust the companyleadership and do they trust you
?
Honesty, fairness, leading withintegrity, showing up with the
right attitude, enforcingaccountability across the team
and much more helps to buildteam trust.

(08:24):
Number two hiring and teamalignment.
When getting a new leadershiprole, we often inherit a team in
place already.
We have to fit in and thenbegin to create the environment
for everyone to win together.
We need to learn the criticaltasks and requirements and begin
to set a standard of excellence.
We want to hire and build teamsbased on inclusion and merit.

(08:46):
We provide opportunities forall to excel, but it is up to
each person to grasp theopportunities available to grow
and to show off their potential.
We give more opportunitiesbased on merit, results,
achieved attitude andwillingness to expand their
skill set and abilities.
One key task you have toaccomplish early is to determine

(09:09):
if the required tasks, projectsand KPI metric portfolio is
distributed properly.
Does it make sense?
Number three team engagement.
To be a leader means you haveto engage with your team.
You have several key tools as aleader to engage with your team
, to align your expectations andto encourage more collaboration

(09:29):
.
The routine one-on-one meetingwith each person is invaluable.
It is precious time to talkover issues.
It gives your team members timeand opportunity to talk over
projects, any obstacles they mayhave, any assistance they may
need and any pertinent personalissues like planned PTO or
anything else of significance.
If you are not doing theroutine one-on-one meetings,

(09:52):
please start scheduling them now.
You will not regret it.
One more important tool is theweekly team meeting.
We don't want more meetings,but we do need the most
important meetings to align theteam, to address issues, to
enhance communication, torecognize top performance and
many other important issues.
The weekly team meeting, whendone effectively, actually works

(10:15):
to improve overall performance.
And then anonymous feedbackthrough employer surveys is
another helpful way to know howto better engage and grow our
team.
Feedback requires us to reflecton our own performance, our
attitude and our approach.
Us to reflect on our ownperformance, our attitude and
our approach.
Number four task and timemanagement.

(10:36):
We are often buried in endlesstasks, projects and ad hoc
requirements and the everydayfires that must be put out, so
it is good to have a few toolsto help with managing our to-do
list.
This is where leadership helpsa lot.
I mentioned it in the lastepisode as that you should be
setting priorities for your teamto help focus on the most

(10:56):
important.
Automating routine tasks is ourfirst job.
Reports that must be submittedon a set day and time can be set
up to be run.
I recommend working with IT tosee what can be automated.
Next is to determine what taskscan be eliminated.
I found many times over theyears that reports that were
being submitted on a routinebasis were often not even

(11:17):
required any longer.
This is a huge time saver whenyou dig into what is being
submitted by your team, andanother key tool at your
disposal is delegation.
I personally use the EisenhowerDecision Matrix to help me
decide on priorities, when todelegate a task and when to
delete or eliminate a task.
I recommend it to everyone.

(11:38):
There are many styles of toolslike this out there, but this is
the one that is simple and soeasy to use and again, it's the
Eisenhower Decision Matrix.
Don't forget that you have todelegate so you also can focus
on what is important for yourlevel.
5.
Development.
I believe that every teammember, including the leader,
should have an individualdevelopment plan to identify

(12:01):
goals, training requirements,skill developments and any CPEs
that need to be earned.
The IDP is an investmentdocument for your team, you and
the organization is investing ineach person to grow that person
and to help them achieve theirgoals.
That person and to help themachieve their goals.
Development also includesopportunities to excel by way of

(12:22):
assignment to key project teams.
This can develop key skills andgive an opportunity for face
time with senior leaders so youcan show off your abilities and
skills.
Number six accountability.
The best level ofaccountability is when the team
holds each other accountable andit doesn't always require the
leader to do so.
This requires a high level oftrust and expectations.

(12:43):
What is your team's expectedlevel of performance and does
each person buy into that vision?
And ensure you keep everyoneaccountable?
No favorites here.
Everyone must measure up to thestandard.
And finally, number seven clearand consistent communication.
I talked about this in the lastepisode.
Clear and consistentcommunication paves the way for

(13:03):
excellence.
When your team knows what isexpected on a task, it is so
much easier.
Your team becomes moreconfident and ready to
accomplish even more.
Now for action.
Today.
What are your thoughts on howyour team performs?
Do they meet deadlines?
Do they meet the expectationsfor the quality of work they are
submitting?
Does your team work ondeveloping critical skills?

(13:25):
Are they ready for greaterresponsibility?
Are they collaborating whenthey need to, or are they always
operating alone?
Not everyone is at the samelevel, so you need to work with
each person to help them achievewhat you expect them to
accomplish and set the standardfor excellence, which begins
with your own performance andmindset.
Please go to Finance LeaderAcademy for more resources.

(13:48):
I offer a self-paced onlinecourse called Advance your
Finance and Accounting Career,developing a Promotion Strategy
that Sets you Apart.
You will also find several freeresources to help you.
Again, that'sfinanceleaderacademycom.
Today I talked about improvingteam performance.
Last week I shared my 10 keyleadership principles.

(14:09):
This week I wanted to enhancethat list with areas to further
help team performance.
I want to see you grow in yourleadership and also your ability
to improve how your teamperforms.
It's important that the teamworks together to achieve common
goals and to move in the samedirection.
When you enhance and improveyour communication and set

(14:29):
priorities, you have won most ofthat battle.
I hope you enjoyed the FinanceLeader Podcast.
I am focused on helping thiscommunity to become more
confident finance leaderscapable of transforming
organizations.
You can find this episodewherever you listen to podcasts.
If this episode helped youtoday, please share with a
colleague and leave a quickwritten review Until next time.

(14:52):
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.
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