The Finance Leader Podcast
The Finance Leader Podcast
From Challenges to Opportunities in Leadership
Bonus episode #81: Unlock the secrets of leadership excellence and transform your team's performance with insights that promise to elevate your leadership journey. This special bonus episode of The Finance Leader Podcast, hosted by Stephen McLain, revisits transformative leadership principles that inspire greatness just in time for the new year. Stephen draws on personal experiences from his time in the Army, emphasizing the importance of elevating others and setting the pace for success with integrity and high character. Whether you're facing challenges or embracing new opportunities, this episode serves as a motivational guide to enhancing your leadership skills and making a tangible impact in your world.
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For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy: financeleaderacademy.com.
Hi, this is Stephen McLen of the Finance Leader Podcast. This is bonus episode number 82. Thank you for listening to the podcast. I am always here for you in your leadership journey. In a few weeks, we will begin a new year. I love to talk about new possibilities, new goals and a new you, so we will get to all of that.
Stephen McLain:This is a busy time of year. All over this world, we see great challenges which require great leadership. Please take a few moments to reflect on how you, as a leader, can improve your corner of the world a little better. Sharing a replay of episode number 120, inspiring Greatness Transformative Leadership Principles. Leadership always begins with you. Before you can elevate others, you have to elevate yourself. Are you a person of high character, integrity and values? And when faced with a leadership opportunity or challenge, do you embrace it or shy away? In this busy time, please slow down a little to enjoy what you have around you in terms of friends and family. You never know when the time you're enjoying today will end. Please enjoy these moments and don't let them slip away. And if you are in a season of challenge, stay strong. It will get better. Please reach out to someone if you are experiencing a time of great challenge. Please enjoy this Encore replay of episode number 120, inspiring Greatness Transformative Leadership Principles. You can find more resources at financeleaderacademycom.
Stephen McLain:Enjoy the rest of your week and thank you for listening to the Finance Leader Podcast. Enjoy this week. I am reflecting on key leadership principles so you can be inspired to move your team to a higher level of performance. Leadership always begins with you. Before you can elevate others, you have to elevate yourself. Are you a person of high character, integrity and values? And when faced with a leadership opportunity or challenge, do you embrace it or shy away? During my many years in the Army, we practiced the simple principle of when put in charge, take charge. Leadership set the direction and speed of performance. Are you ready? Please enjoy the episode. Welcome to the Finance Leader Podcast, where leadership is bigger than the numbers. I am your host, Stephen McLain. This is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, facebook, instagram and LinkedIn. My usernames and the links are in this episode's show notes. Thank you. This is episode number 120, and I will be reflecting on my most important leadership principles.
Stephen McLain:Author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek said it doesn't matter when we start. It doesn't matter where we start. All that matters is that we start. Leadership is a big deal to me. Where leadership is lacking, direction and vision are also lacking, standards are absent and no combined team effort will be found. Effort will be squandered and resources wasted. But when we see leadership exercised, we can see people start to work on common goals. People begin to know what the priorities are, so time, effort and resources are used more wisely and we begin to see excellence in our outcomes being realized. When leaders use leadership to bring people together, to collaborate and teach what is expected, how we will do things and what the expectations are, we will begin to see a team come together to perform in an amazing way. This is the level of leadership I am looking forward to.
Stephen McLain:Last week, I shared an amazing interview with Waseer Khaman, the Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller for the Low Income Investment Fund. We talked about emphasizing your value, transitioning to financial planning and analysis, learning leadership and the impacts of artificial intelligence. If you missed it, please go back and listen to the episode. Waseer shares some incredible advice and you will hear some impactful nuggets of wisdom that can help you move forward. Leadership always begins with us. We need to set the highest example and highest set of standards for our team to follow. Your team will emulate your attitude, your approach to work, your values and your standards. If you fail to deliver results on time, they will too. I am talking about developing a leadership mindset that inspires others to be their best, to elevate the team's performance, to think differently and to work together more.
Stephen McLain:The status quo is our enemy. The status quo tells you that you are doing fine to convince you that everything is going well, so you don't initiate necessary change. The status quo will blind you to changing conditions, so you don't adapt. It will make you lazy and then you will become irrelevant. Leaders fight the status quo and we fight good enough. Establish a balance of presence, guidelines and expectations to ensure we don't micromanage, so that our team can execute on their own when they need to Be available, but don't make every simple decision. Be ready to help, but don't look over their shoulders. Be ready to lead when an obstacle happens. Sometimes you only need to coach your team member around the obstacle. Don't always solve the issue right away.
Stephen McLain:Development means working out of their comfort zone, and this is the heart of leadership growing more leaders. I want you to all become leaders who grasp that opportunity. When it comes to take charge, be decisive and set a way forward so all can be successful Leaders, lift those around them to become leaders also. Now let's talk about my key principles of leadership. Number one embrace that leadership makes a difference. Leading people can be challenging. Sometimes, if you begin with yourself, it becomes easier. Challenge yourself to set the best example for others to follow. At all times, leadership provides the atmosphere of achieving the impossible. I want you to learn to be a better active listener, to have more engaging interactions with your team members.
Stephen McLain:When leadership is missing, effort and resources are also wasted. There is no collective effort, no strategic plan on how resources will be applied and no clear expectations or communication. People will be frustrated and your top performers will want to leave. People will be frustrated and your top performers will want to leave. People desire effective leadership so they know what is expected and what the top priorities are, so they don't waste their time, and, on the other hand, your poor performers often like a lack of leadership so they have an excuse for their performance and no one is there to push them to be better. No-transcript.
Stephen McLain:Number two when in charge, take charge. Your team wants to see displays of confidence and decisiveness when you are placed as a leader of a task, a team or project. Take action, make decisions, show confidence, Exercise your authority and make timely decisions. You will be respected for taking charge. You will be even more respected for being a leader that everyone wants to follow. Learn when decisions must be made without looking lost, delegate when necessary and hold everyone accountable, including yourself, and, most importantly, achieve the desired results.
Stephen McLain:Number three you set the example of integrity, character and values. Your team will follow your lead and your example. If you fall short consistently, they will too. If you lie, they will lie. So that is why it's so important that leaders set the standard on values and behavior they want their team to perform. Number four treat everyone with dignity, humanity and fairness. You must acknowledge and be aware of the bias you have. We all have bias. When you know your bias, you can be more aware of how you approach people-related decisions and become a better person. I also believe strongly in moving on quickly from people who don't contribute, but we have to follow the proper process. Give people chances to improve and change. If no change comes, then move on, but do it with dignity. Additionally, we must reward and give recognition for desired outcomes.
Stephen McLain:Number five facilitate clear communication and priorities. How many times have you heard of team failure due to a lack of communication and having no priorities? Have you heard of team failure due to a lack of communication and having no priorities? I believe we need team priorities so that each team member can develop their daily priorities. This guides how and when the work is done. Have open communication, share relevant information quickly. Plan and execute a team meeting that makes sense and prioritize the effort so the team works together. Foster collaboration always. We don't work in a vacuum, nor a silo.
Stephen McLain:Number six set clear guidelines and operating principles so they can operate on their own. Provide a leader's intent on what you want done and what standard you expect. Establish your standard of excellence and expectations. This is why we don't micromanage and your team knows what is expected. Number seven anticipate the future. Leaders must be ready for change because it is inevitable. We will not allow the status quo to be our company philosophy. You have to pay attention to change indicators in your company, in the industry and in the economy.
Stephen McLain:Number eight be ready to lead in a crisis. This goes back to take charge when placed in charge. If a crisis occurs, be decisive in action. Find out what happened, develop a plan with experts if you need to, and then delegate tasks and responsibility to overcome the crisis or emergency or adverse event. We make no excuses. We initiate action. This is when leadership is so important.
Stephen McLain:Number nine lift others up. We must grow other leaders. We must ensure that when we see an emerging leader or high performer, we give them opportunities to excel, and when our team members are going through a personal crisis of their own, we offer them a way to handle it and we will not worry about what it means. We will take care of our team. It is your job, leaders, to make it work. When people have to be away from their job, figure it out, be there for your team. And number 10, achieve results. As leaders, we must achieve results. This is what leaders do. The great leaders grow other leaders so they can more easily achieve the desired results. If your team is not achieving results, then you must become a problem solver to figure it out.
Stephen McLain:Now for action today. How do you approach leadership? Does it scare you a little, confused by what to do, or maybe you embrace it and love to see what you can do to create more positive outcomes for your team. Be honest with yourself on how you embrace and exercise your leadership and authority. Review these leadership principles again to see where you may have exceptional talent and also for areas of improvement. Keep working on your leadership. Please go to Finance Leader Academy for more resources. I offer a self-paced online course called Advance your Finance and Accounting Career, developing a promotion strategy that sets you apart. You will also find several free resources to help you Again. That's financeleaderacademycom.
Stephen McLain:Today, I reflected on my most important leadership principles. We are already expected to be technical experts, but it takes leading people correctly to accomplish organizational goals. It takes a leader who cares and who can communicate clearly to help move everyone in the same direction. Leadership requires us to find excellence in people when they often can't see it in themselves. Next episode, I will be talking about how to elevate your team's performance. I hope you enjoyed the Finance Leader Podcast. I am focused on helping this community to become more confident finance leaders capable of transforming organizations. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share with a colleague and leave a quick review Until next time. 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. And now go lead your team and I'll see you next time. Thank you.
