Bonus Episode 1: The Challenges Ahead

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Hi, this is Stephen McLain. I host a finance leader podcast. I just wrapped up season one last week and I want to share a few things going forward. We have being challenged more than we have in a very long time. We need leaders. We need leaders to provide hope. We need leaders to have compassion because everything just got very exponential. We are in a different time right now. We're in a time when we need leaders to remain calm. We need leaders to provide a way. We need leaders for people to rally around right now, As the world tries to overcome this present challenge and people are scared, people are looking to their leadership to provide a vision, provide a way to overcome what we're dealing with to provide a way to deal with the challenges that are out there. So I'm asking leaders to take care of your team, establish some good guidance, establish some good guidelines as you have transitioned from in the office, work to work from home. Just reassure that going forward, we're gonna be looking out for you. We're gonna be here for you as the challenges exponentially grow and I just need you to be thinking about them having compassion for what they're dealing with, because when they're at home, they're dealing with not only what's going on out here, what they're dealing with, everything else inside the home. They have challenges with Children. Spouses are also working from home. There's worry about their external family. There's worry about where this world is going to go over the next couple of months and next couple of years and just needed. We consider it of all those things that are going on as you develop tasks and a work routine and try to figure out what's going forward. So once we have overcome the present challenge and we see that the number of cases of this virus have gone over the peak and we start to see less and less each day, we need to figure out what's next. After we get to that point and getting back to that normal is gonna take time. Look, it is not just gonna be that we have seen that peak and we've seen that downward slope of that curve, and it's just time to go back to the office and couldn't go back to school. It's gonna take some time to adjust as we become normalized to this to this challenge that we have had to face over Now, these last few weeks, you're gonna have to rebuild your team. You're gonna have to reconsider it and compassion about as people get back in the office, have patients have compassion, think about that. They still have the challenges. So over the next few weeks, I'll be presenting a few things to think about as we deal with this. And we still continue to face this challenge and just want you to think about those things. And as you lead your team through this crisis and then or as you transition back to the office, it's gonna be a new normal, and they're still going to take some time to adjust. Just want to encourage you to start thinking about those things, and I'll be sharing some bonus content over the next few weeks as a transition from season one to Season two. So now I want to share a few things from Season one and tell you what's coming next. It has been a lot of fun and lots of work. What I have definitely enjoyed bringing you this podcast every week over the last 10 weeks. I got back great feedback, great comments. I appreciate all the support. It's definitely been a learning experience for me as I developed the content and recorded the episodes and then trying to get better every time is a started this project. I was determined to be open minded about where it needs to go because we need to grow our leadership skills. The finance and accounting profession is very technically savvy, but I do believe we're very poor when it comes to leadership skills. I believe that managers and leaders tend to micromanage and only focus on the numbers instead of their team again. Going back to our present crisis and recording this in March 2020 that we're dealing with the challenge of our lifetime as we have transitioned from working in the office to working at home. So I just want to continue to challenge that point that let's not just focus on the numbers, but we need to focus on our team and we do provide clarity and vision and we did have a little bit of compassion as we're all dealing with many challenges and many things in our lives, not just working in the office. So just continue to self assess yourself. And when you're getting that mode of, I've got all these tasks that need to be done, and I am driving my team to try to achieve a certain number, and you're probably not gonna be able to get 100% attention that you would get in the office because your team is dealing with a lot of different things in their lives right now. They're challenged. They're worried about their kids. They're worried about their parents. They're worried about themselves. So just have that compassion as you drive forward. I do know that we have a ton of potential to be better leaders at leading our teams. I know it's gonna take a lot of work, and that's why I wanted to bring this podcast to you. As leaders, we need to be honest with ourselves about our ability to build effective teams. We need to work on our soft skills, especially communication. We need to learn how to be more transparent and less controlling. Just want to share with you that season number two will debut on April 28th and I will be revealing what is coming over the next few weeks and again. Until then, I will be sharing some bonus content and some leadership thought props to challenge you. I do appreciate your feedback, and I will be looking at the entire podcast format and trying to find a good way to deliver you the best content in the best format. I have lots of feedback for the 10 episodes that I did, and I appreciate all that. And that's really one of the reasons why doing 10 episodes the way that I did with changing a few things here in the air was to get some good feedback on how I can deliver good content and good thoughts to you things to think about to improve your leadership. Beyond the numbers, please consider joining my free Facebook group. The link is on the description. This is gonna be a place where we continue to grow and to grow others around you now go do great things and more than ever, set a great example in this tough time. Don't forget to be compassionate with your team as they're faced with multiple things and multiple things on their mind. Not just their job, but also their families. I'll see you next week. Thank you.