Dec. 26, 2023
Bonus Ep 73: Rediscover the Excitement of a Career in Finance and Accounting
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.
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.461 --> 00:00:03.350
Hi, this is Stephen McLain of the Finance Leader Podcast.
00:00:03.350 --> 00:00:06.008
This is Bonus Episode number 73.
00:00:06.008 --> 00:00:11.111
It's a great day to be a finance leader and I believe that can be every day.
00:00:11.111 --> 00:00:17.625
The finance and accounting fields are exciting and we get to be involved in some amazing processes.
00:00:17.625 --> 00:00:28.207
We get to shape and influence strategy, we get to tell stories with the data so that anyone can understand, and we have the opportunity to be leaders in the organization.
00:00:28.207 --> 00:00:50.289
A finance leader is a confident expert of finance and accounting principles who fuses technical expertise with leadership to make others around them better and to positively transform the organization by using accurate, relevant and real-time data to help other leaders make better decisions to execute the strategy.
00:00:50.289 --> 00:00:54.829
So this week I want to share an encore replay of Episode 98.
00:00:55.539 --> 00:00:57.887
Why did I choose a career in finance and accounting?
00:00:57.887 --> 00:01:01.329
Why did you choose to work in finance and accounting?
00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:03.045
Did you want to work with numbers?
00:01:03.045 --> 00:01:05.245
Did you think you would work mostly alone?
00:01:05.245 --> 00:01:08.106
Were you attracted to the leadership opportunities?
00:01:08.106 --> 00:01:10.846
Was it something else or a combination of these?
00:01:10.846 --> 00:01:17.725
Whatever got you interested, I am urging you to ask yourself if you still maintain that passion you once had.
00:01:17.725 --> 00:01:21.890
Do you embrace and look forward to leading with the numbers every day.
00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:28.984
The finance and accounting fields offer a great opportunity to career track the CEO of any organization.
00:01:28.984 --> 00:01:30.584
I love this profession.
00:01:30.584 --> 00:01:33.406
I love being a finance leader.
00:01:33.406 --> 00:01:41.206
Next week, I will be introducing how to develop a finance and accounting system that can support the overall business strategy.
00:01:41.206 --> 00:01:45.780
I will be sharing more in the future about this and I can't wait Now.
00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:48.748
Please enjoy this encore episode, episode 98.
00:01:48.748 --> 00:01:52.188
Why did I choose a career in finance and accounting?
00:01:52.188 --> 00:01:54.066
Have a great rest of your week.
00:01:54.066 --> 00:01:57.849
In a few weeks, we will be discussing our 2024 goal setting.
00:01:57.849 --> 00:02:02.322
Thank you for choosing the Finance Leader Podcast Until next time.
00:02:02.322 --> 00:02:03.688
Thank you for listening.
00:02:03.688 --> 00:02:04.381
Take care.
00:02:04.381 --> 00:02:12.568
Why did you choose to work in finance and accounting?
00:02:12.568 --> 00:02:14.425
Did you want to work with numbers?
00:02:14.425 --> 00:02:16.765
Did you think you would work mostly alone?
00:02:16.765 --> 00:02:19.987
Were you attracted to the leadership opportunities available?
00:02:19.987 --> 00:02:22.965
Was it something else or a combination of these?
00:02:22.965 --> 00:02:27.264
Whatever got you interested?
00:02:27.264 --> 00:02:32.004
I am urging you to ask yourself if you still maintain that passion you once had.
00:02:32.004 --> 00:02:36.030
Do you embrace and look forward to leading with the numbers every day?
00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:42.943
The finance and accounting fields offer a great opportunity to career track the CEO of an organization.
00:02:42.943 --> 00:02:49.084
There are so many incredible opportunities to make a positive difference, and that's why I love it.
00:02:49.084 --> 00:02:50.984
Please enjoy the episode.
00:02:51.819 --> 00:02:55.150
Welcome to the Finance Leader Podcast, where leadership is bigger than the numbers.
00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.346
I am your host, stephen McClain.
00:02:57.346 --> 00:03:01.810
This is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting.
00:03:01.810 --> 00:03:15.528
Please consider following me on Twitter, facebook, instagram and LinkedIn my usernames and the links are in this episode's show notes and also please join the Facebook group I have for this podcast community.
00:03:15.528 --> 00:03:23.903
Thank you, this is episode number 98, and I'll be asking why did you choose a career in the finance and accounting fields?
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:33.647
Benjamin Franklin said without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.
00:03:33.647 --> 00:03:39.412
This episode's format will be a little different from what I usually do, but it's for a reason.
00:03:39.412 --> 00:03:44.911
I want a deep dive in asking why did you choose a career in finance and accounting?
00:03:44.911 --> 00:03:48.709
What drove you to pick a career that was so numbers focused?
00:03:48.709 --> 00:04:01.685
Both finance and accounting are different in their approach, but both sides are trying to do the same thing Help drive the business to excellence, to grow the business and to make the overall organization successful.
00:04:01.685 --> 00:04:11.729
How many of you believe that you would have such a key role in making a business successful, or did you think you would only have a side role and mostly work alone.
00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:18.862
The finance and accounting teams in a company help drive strategy and they bring reality to what is happening.
00:04:18.862 --> 00:04:28.293
Because they have the numbers, we drive insights and we ensure that our resource management techniques follow gap and are consistent.
00:04:28.293 --> 00:04:38.067
We drive the business, we help senior leaders develop and execute the strategy and we also have the opportunity to get promoted into senior leadership.
00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.547
Do you still have the passion for this field?
00:04:40.547 --> 00:04:42.665
Are you still committed to excellence?
00:04:42.665 --> 00:04:48.343
Are you committed to growing the organization and to apply your leadership in helping every way possible?
00:04:48.343 --> 00:04:51.410
I want you to ask yourself what you want to accomplish.
00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:53.454
What is your long-term goal?
00:04:53.454 --> 00:04:56.668
Do you want to rise in your career or stay the same?
00:04:56.668 --> 00:05:00.725
Do you want to make the decision to commit to achieving your long-term goal?
00:05:00.725 --> 00:05:07.807
I chose finance and accounting because I do love to work with numbers, I love to solve problems and I love to lead.
00:05:07.807 --> 00:05:10.367
You can do all three in this profession.
00:05:10.367 --> 00:05:18.067
I especially love to advise and to help senior leaders develop and execute strategy and to do my part in growing the business.
00:05:18.067 --> 00:05:23.524
I have the daily opportunity to bring positive change in everything I do.
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.966
Now, how do we accomplish what I just shared as a finance and accounting leader?
00:05:27.966 --> 00:05:38.029
First, we need to learn and deeply know the key metrics that drive sales and that drive margin, so we know how and where to find insights in the data.
00:05:38.029 --> 00:05:41.884
You need to know everything about the metrics that drive the business.
00:05:41.884 --> 00:05:51.987
Then we need to partner with senior leaders to know more about what they are trying to accomplish and to help understand the performance of metrics and KPIs they are monitoring.
00:05:51.987 --> 00:06:00.545
We want to share insights with them about those KPIs and metrics so they are able to make better decisions and adjustments to grow the business.
00:06:00.545 --> 00:06:04.225
We also want to build better and more realistic projections.
00:06:04.225 --> 00:06:16.028
We also need to ensure we have accurate financial reporting and accurate financial statements by applying our core principles a solid financial system and good processes.
00:06:16.028 --> 00:06:27.166
Additionally, we need to look for efficiencies and opportunities in the middle of the profit and loss statement so we can save resources, which then positively affects net profit.
00:06:27.166 --> 00:06:31.646
These may be special projects that can deliver big savings in the long run.
00:06:31.646 --> 00:06:38.942
We should be looking for ways to partner around the company to help other teams to find usable insights as well.
00:06:38.942 --> 00:06:44.505
We have the opportunity to bridge the gap of communications between teams around the company.
00:06:44.505 --> 00:06:55.504
I have done this many times, as teams are developing plans or may be missing an important piece of information, but the team next to them has it and you are aware of that.
00:06:55.504 --> 00:07:00.629
You can bring those teams together because you work in the numbers and you see it.
00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:03.908
Bring the organization together through your leadership.
00:07:03.908 --> 00:07:14.766
Finally, we always need to be reviewing and transforming our processes so they are efficient, effective and near real time, which can lead to better and quicker decisions.
00:07:14.766 --> 00:07:29.007
Use your leadership to overcome the status quo on how we do tasks and how we do analysis, find and advocate for better ways, smarter ways and more technological, sound ways to finish projects and tasks.
00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.362
What do you want to accomplish in your career and in your life?
00:07:32.362 --> 00:07:33.863
What are your goals?
00:07:33.863 --> 00:07:37.805
Do you see yourself achieving your goals and do you have a written plan?
00:07:37.805 --> 00:07:40.867
Goal setting is essential to our success.
00:07:40.867 --> 00:07:47.608
You must have a written plan, a resilient mindset and the necessary skills to achieve those goals.
00:07:47.608 --> 00:07:50.608
Why did you choose a career in finance and accounting?
00:07:50.608 --> 00:07:52.665
Are you ready to achieve the goals?
00:07:52.665 --> 00:07:57.168
I know you have To achieve the role of CFO and even CEO.
00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:00.848
The finance and accounting fields are fun and very exciting.
00:08:00.848 --> 00:08:07.709
We get to lead with the numbers, to help grow the business and to bring positive change, and that's why I love it.
00:08:07.709 --> 00:08:09.362
Now for action.
00:08:09.362 --> 00:08:13.627
Today I have a request Write out your long-term career goal.
00:08:13.627 --> 00:08:17.689
We will work with this at the beginning of the year, in 2023.
00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:24.803
What do you want to achieve in this profession and do you want to become a sought after leader who can make a difference?
00:08:24.803 --> 00:08:30.382
If you have not already, I want to invite you to download a leadership guide for finance and accounting leaders.
00:08:30.382 --> 00:08:35.268
You can go to financeleaderacademycom and select free leadership guide on the main menu.
00:08:35.268 --> 00:08:40.407
It's free and it may give you a few ideas for your own leadership development.
00:08:40.407 --> 00:08:44.485
Today, I asked why you chose a career in finance and accounting.
00:08:44.485 --> 00:08:48.244
I believe we can make a positive difference in our organization.
00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:59.508
Finance and accounting professionals are often seen and sought after as leaders, so we have the remarkable opportunity to solve problems and to help senior leaders execute the strategy.
00:08:59.508 --> 00:09:08.590
People are often amazed by what we do, how we look through the data to come up with one or two figures that may transform an entire strategy.
00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:09.884
We get to do that.
00:09:09.884 --> 00:09:14.065
We get to steer the ship in a different direction based on one number.
00:09:14.065 --> 00:09:14.807
I have done this.
00:09:14.807 --> 00:09:15.844
I know you have too.
00:09:15.844 --> 00:09:24.688
I have spent days building a financial model to arrive at one number for a project, and key decisions were made with that.
00:09:24.688 --> 00:09:25.643
That's amazing.
00:09:25.643 --> 00:09:34.504
I am amazed at what we get to do pulling the right data to build a model to get to one number and then we execute from that one number.
00:09:34.504 --> 00:09:42.966
So join me in planning out a meaningful long-term goal for our finance and accounting careers, so we get to make a positive difference.
00:09:42.966 --> 00:09:45.967
Work with me so we can figure this out together.
00:09:45.967 --> 00:09:50.644
Next week I will be talking about taking risk so we achieve our goals.
00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.427
I hope you enjoyed the Finance Leader podcast.
00:09:53.427 --> 00:10:00.504
I'm dedicated to helping you grow your leadership skills, to change your mindset and to clarify your goals so you advance your career.
00:10:00.504 --> 00:10:03.969
You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:10:03.969 --> 00:10:11.522
If this episode helped you today, please share and leave a quick review so that others may find the podcast Until next time.
00:10:11.522 --> 00:10:19.567
You can check out more resources at financeleaderacademycom and sign up for my weekly updates so you don't miss an episode of the podcast.
00:10:19.567 --> 00:10:23.187
And now go lead your team and I'll see you next time.
00:10:23.187 --> 00:10:31.327
Thank you, treat $5 million in digital assetautoorg is a joint joint of Commissionersieland.
00:00:00.461 --> 00:00:03.350
00:00:03.350 --> 00:00:06.008
00:00:06.008 --> 00:00:11.111
00:00:11.111 --> 00:00:17.625
00:00:17.625 --> 00:00:28.207
00:00:28.207 --> 00:00:50.289
00:00:50.289 --> 00:00:54.829
00:00:55.539 --> 00:00:57.887
00:00:57.887 --> 00:01:01.329
00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:03.045
00:01:03.045 --> 00:01:05.245
00:01:05.245 --> 00:01:08.106
00:01:08.106 --> 00:01:10.846
00:01:10.846 --> 00:01:17.725
00:01:17.725 --> 00:01:21.890
00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:28.984
00:01:28.984 --> 00:01:30.584
00:01:30.584 --> 00:01:33.406
00:01:33.406 --> 00:01:41.206
00:01:41.206 --> 00:01:45.780
00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:48.748
00:01:48.748 --> 00:01:52.188
00:01:52.188 --> 00:01:54.066
00:01:54.066 --> 00:01:57.849
00:01:57.849 --> 00:02:02.322
00:02:02.322 --> 00:02:03.688
00:02:03.688 --> 00:02:04.381
00:02:04.381 --> 00:02:12.568
00:02:12.568 --> 00:02:14.425
00:02:14.425 --> 00:02:16.765
00:02:16.765 --> 00:02:19.987
00:02:19.987 --> 00:02:22.965
00:02:22.965 --> 00:02:27.264
00:02:27.264 --> 00:02:32.004
00:02:32.004 --> 00:02:36.030
00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:42.943
00:02:42.943 --> 00:02:49.084
00:02:49.084 --> 00:02:50.984
00:02:51.819 --> 00:02:55.150
00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.346
00:02:57.346 --> 00:03:01.810
00:03:01.810 --> 00:03:15.528
00:03:15.528 --> 00:03:23.903
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:33.647
00:03:33.647 --> 00:03:39.412
00:03:39.412 --> 00:03:44.911
00:03:44.911 --> 00:03:48.709
00:03:48.709 --> 00:04:01.685
00:04:01.685 --> 00:04:11.729
00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:18.862
00:04:18.862 --> 00:04:28.293
00:04:28.293 --> 00:04:38.067
00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.547
00:04:40.547 --> 00:04:42.665
00:04:42.665 --> 00:04:48.343
00:04:48.343 --> 00:04:51.410
00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:53.454
00:04:53.454 --> 00:04:56.668
00:04:56.668 --> 00:05:00.725
00:05:00.725 --> 00:05:07.807
00:05:07.807 --> 00:05:10.367
00:05:10.367 --> 00:05:18.067
00:05:18.067 --> 00:05:23.524
00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.966
00:05:27.966 --> 00:05:38.029
00:05:38.029 --> 00:05:41.884
00:05:41.884 --> 00:05:51.987
00:05:51.987 --> 00:06:00.545
00:06:00.545 --> 00:06:04.225
00:06:04.225 --> 00:06:16.028
00:06:16.028 --> 00:06:27.166
00:06:27.166 --> 00:06:31.646
00:06:31.646 --> 00:06:38.942
00:06:38.942 --> 00:06:44.505
00:06:44.505 --> 00:06:55.504
00:06:55.504 --> 00:07:00.629
00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:03.908
00:07:03.908 --> 00:07:14.766
00:07:14.766 --> 00:07:29.007
00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.362
00:07:32.362 --> 00:07:33.863
00:07:33.863 --> 00:07:37.805
00:07:37.805 --> 00:07:40.867
00:07:40.867 --> 00:07:47.608
00:07:47.608 --> 00:07:50.608
00:07:50.608 --> 00:07:52.665
00:07:52.665 --> 00:07:57.168
00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:00.848
00:08:00.848 --> 00:08:07.709
00:08:07.709 --> 00:08:09.362
00:08:09.362 --> 00:08:13.627
00:08:13.627 --> 00:08:17.689
00:08:17.689 --> 00:08:24.803
00:08:24.803 --> 00:08:30.382
00:08:30.382 --> 00:08:35.268
00:08:35.268 --> 00:08:40.407
00:08:40.407 --> 00:08:44.485
00:08:44.485 --> 00:08:48.244
00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:59.508
00:08:59.508 --> 00:09:08.590
00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:09.884
00:09:09.884 --> 00:09:14.065
00:09:14.065 --> 00:09:14.807
00:09:14.807 --> 00:09:15.844
00:09:15.844 --> 00:09:24.688
00:09:24.688 --> 00:09:25.643
00:09:25.643 --> 00:09:34.504
00:09:34.504 --> 00:09:42.966
00:09:42.966 --> 00:09:45.967
00:09:45.967 --> 00:09:50.644
00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.427
00:09:53.427 --> 00:10:00.504
00:10:00.504 --> 00:10:03.969
00:10:03.969 --> 00:10:11.522
00:10:11.522 --> 00:10:19.567
00:10:19.567 --> 00:10:23.187
00:10:23.187 --> 00:10:31.327
Join the Email List
Listen On
