Episodes

Episode #28: We must continue to improve the monthly close process so we add value and help our senior leaders do their jobs better with valuable insights about the business. Monthly close isn't only to close the books, but to really figure out what happened so we can determine if the business met expectations and we can make necessary adjustments. Monthly close requires leadership to improve the process. Episode outline: Map out the process - does it make sense? Let analysts be analysts, and ...

Episode # 27: Understanding Emotional Intelligence is our ability to be self-aware of our own words, actions, and attitude and how it affects others. We need to know ourselves so we can become a better leader who can inspire and create a positive environment where our team can thrive. Episode outline: Our actions and words affect others so we must become self-aware Understanding and caring for others Stay humble, continue to learn, and set the example, and We still set the bar high, but how ...

Episode # 26: Collaboration done right can help solve problems by using the expertise and knowledge around the organization. When you collaborate with others, you get the benefit of the insights that you may have missed when working alone. Episode outline: How collaboration can solve a problem You need to build trust and set clear expectations Getting the right people involved Communicate the results across the company Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smc...

Episode #25: Growing your influence is a key step in your journey in becoming a senior leader. You have a unique role, because you have the opportunity to speak with many leaders across the organization. This provides a chance to talk about how to best support the strategy and to share ideas where the organization should be going in the future. Episode outline: 1) Our ability to influence others begins with us, 2) Understand your potential impact, 3) Continue to make connections. Please conne...

Episode # 24: We are obligated to speak up about a decision if it's not in the best interest of the organization. In this episode, I discuss four steps to professionally disagree with your supervisor about a pending decision, Be in the proper mindset,Our approach and method,Bring data, analysis, and options to discuss,If your recommendation and concerns are dismissed, then we fully support the decision. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3...

Episode # 23: Your habits often define who you are, and what you can accomplish. In the episode, I recommend five habits that you can incorporate into your day, Improve your morning and evening routines, How can you reduce your mid-day stress, Better time management, Written goals, and, Team communication. Here is the blog post on scheduling time on your calendar for thinking. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsult...

Episode # 22: You need a well-trained team behind you, because you can't get all the work done alone. To go to a higher level, you need an empowered and trained team ready to take on challenges. In Finance and Accounting, we deal with a hectic list of tasks, reports, additional analysis, and monthly close. We need a team ready to help us get all the requirements done. Episode outline, You need to set the team culture you need to achieve excellence,Take risk and better understand the risk / r...

Episode # 21: You must set yourself apart from your peers so you get recognized by senior leaders and advance your career. Just doing your job every day will not get you promoted. Only completing tasks that have been assigned to you won’t help you advance. Episode outline: Grow your leadership skills and abilities, Make sure you make your boss's priorities your priorities, Get things done without being told and get it done with little guidance, Achieve results, and Professionalism and devel...

Bonus episode #9: You can have a great Impact as a Leader in your organization. In this episode, I talk about why I love to lead, and the positive impacts we get to make in our organization. While we perform our Finance and Accounting duties, we can get overwhelmed while delivering financial projections, completing our journal entries, and conducting monthly close procedures, but we also have a great responsibility to create an environment where our team can grow and thrive. As leaders, here ar...

Organizations have a greater chance of success when Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Accounting, Operations, and the Executive Senior Leadership are more strategically aligned. Developing Finance Leaders capable of growing partnerships across the organization and leading positive change are the goals for this podcast. The host is Stephen McLain, a U.S. Army-Retired Finance Officer. After retirement, Stephen transitioned to working as a Business Consultant in Corporate FP&A and Accounting...

Bonus episode # 8: Writing down your goals gives you a significantly greater chance of success according to numerous studies going back decades. When goal setting, you must be specific, have a defined date of completion, review them often, and update regularly. In the episode, I highlight my goal setting process which includes: Having the right mindset, Ensuring you have a supportive inner circle, Develop a strategy, Nurture your network, and Assess and update your goals regularly. Note: ...

Your mindset determines your outcome. How you view yourself and how you view the world will affect your career potential. In the episode, we discuss the following: 1) Leadership is the embodiment of making the impossible possible, 2) Mindset determines everything, 3) What is holding you back? 4) You can only control yourself and how you view your abilities, 5) Remove negative influences from your life, 6) Our team will adopt our mindset, so we need to be self-aware of our own. You can downloa...

Values make up our personal character. This week's episode is about the seven key leader values that we should strive to improve daily. These values show how we lead, and how we deal with tough decisions. Are we fair? Can we be humble? Are we an expert in our field? We are discussing humility, professionalism, technical competence, respect, duty, integrity, and courage. How you approach your duties affects your team members. We must be working to have a personal character that will prepare ...

Episode # 20: Becoming Your Best Self is essential when you are developing your leadership ability, because when you lead others you should be your best version to encourage growth and development while avoiding toxic behavior. During the episode, I discuss Becoming Your Best Self using the following focus areas: Continuous improvement, Develop a deep respect for others, and Take the high road when dealing with an adverse event or personal setback. The show notes for this episode are no lon...

Episode # 19: Executive Presence represents your ability to confidently lead an organization in a positive way, show respect for others, solve problems, and anticipate the future. In the episode, I talk about Executive Presence in terms of looking like a leader, acting like a leader, and becoming a leader. The episode show notes are no longer available. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant 4. LinkedIn: stephenjmcla...

Episode # 18: Writing down your goals gives you a significantly greater chance of success according to numerous studies going back decades. When goal setting, you must be specific, have a defined date of completion, review them often, and update regularly. Episode outline: Having the right mindset, Ensuring you have a supportive inner circle, Develop a strategy, Nurture your network, and Assess and update your goals regularly. The original show notes are no longer available. Please conne...

Episode #17: By taking more risk, you improve your chance to advance your career. By only doing your daily duties, you will most likely be seen as a competent, reliable worker, but really never able to show your potential for greater responsibility. Additionally, I am encouraging you to take more risk in developing your team Episode outline: 1) You must do more than your daily duties to advance your career, 2) Becoming comfortable means you have become complacent, 3) Develop courage to add mor...

Episode # 16: Adapting to a People Focused Leadership style will create a dynamic environment where you develop and empower your team instead of only trying to complete items off your to-do list. There are three significant reasons to change your leadership style from being Task Focused to Becoming People Focused: 1) You can not do the work alone - you need a well developed team, 2) Productivity, effectiveness will increase as your team feels more appreciated and involved, and 3) The business ...

Episode # 15: Effective leadership is built on trust. Teams and relationships are built on trust. Once trust is lost, it will be difficult to recover. It takes time, and you may never get it back. In this episode, we discuss the following: What happens to a team when no one trusts the leader, and they can't trust each other? We must personally set the best example of character and work ethic, We must clearly communicate relevant information quickly, We must deliver results within the deadlin...

Episode # 14: Purpose gives us the reason for what we do, and why we show up every day. It's our job as leaders to communicate purpose to our team members so they better understand how they contribute to the organization and can get excited about the brand. When we know our purpose, we can better support the customer. Purpose is what we do, and vision is where we are going. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsu...

Episode # 13: Earning a Professional Certification adds great value to your professional foundation and can boost your earnings and career potential. In the episode, I am discussing the reasons to earn a professional certification or license. Additionally, I list out a few finance and accounting certifications you can consider to pursue. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant 4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii For more re...

Episode # 12: Developing your soft skills will enhance and develop your career. In January 2020, LinkedIn published a list of five soft skills that companies are looking for right now. Episode outline: Creativity Persuasion Collaboration Adaptability Emotional Intelligence The original show notes are no longer available. Please connect with me on: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitter: smclainiii 3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant 4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii For more resources, pl...

Episode # 11: Overcoming adversity and building your resilience are the topics on the episode this week. Becoming resilient is the ability to bounce back and overcome an adverse event. In the episode, I list seven items that you can use to build a resiliency plan. Additionally, this episode is the debut of Season #2 of the podcast. This season will be focused on Leader Development with topics that include goal setting, critical soft skills, and licenses and certifications, and developing an exe...

How do we overcome our strong Organizational Culture, that normally helps us achieve excellence, when extraordinary circumstances require us to go against it? In this bonus episode, I talk about the strong culture of the U.S. Armed Forces, which requires close-in training by its personnel. But, due to COVID-19, military personnel have to get away from each other to protect themselves, which means they can't train like they normally have to do. And military units love to train. They need to trai...