Episodes

Send a text Episode #101: This is 2023 and I believe this is the year we become bold in our career execution, our skills development, and our leadership growth. The last few years people have become hesitant due to the challenges we were facing so they did not take risk in their advancement or even…

Send a text We will be using the acronym BOLD to shape our plans for 2023. BOLD: Believe, Overcome, Leadership, and Decisive. Believe in yourself, Overcome obstacles, Grow your Leadership and Be decisive in your plans and opportunities. BOLD: Believe, Overcome, Leadership, and Decisive. Please conn…

Send a text As a Finance or Accounting professional have you ever been assigned to a project team or worked on a business case? Have you provided financial analysis or accounting advice regarding a high visibility project? These are great opportunities to develop and show off your skills. Additiona…

Send a text Do you know how to enjoy your time off when you do take your vacation time? This is important so you can get mentally refreshed. You need a break – you need to clear your mind and ready yourself so you that you can tackle next year. Enjoy your time off: Set boundaries,Be guilt free for …

Send a text Let’s wrap up 2022, but put off new ideas until next year. Enjoy your accomplishments, get some rest, enjoy your family, friends and colleagues, and put things in perspective. Season 13 will debut on January 10th. We will be talking about our focus, priorities, and goals for 2023. We ar…

Send a text To prepare for 2023, I want you to work on your confidence, to take more risk, and to understand your self-worth even more. What do you bring to the table? What makes you unique in our profession? What value do you bring to the organization? Believe that you are important to your team a…

Send a text Episode #100: Did you know that as a finance and accounting leader you can have a great, positive impact across your organization? Finance and Accounting professionals do more than just analysis and record financial transactions. We help lead change. We bring reality with the numbers. W…

Send a text Episode # 99: Are you willing to take more risk to ensure you achieve what you want in your career? Or…are you playing it too safe? Taking risk is often a mindset issue where you can limit yourself and fear stepping out from your comfort zone. Get vulnerable, develop a plan and find the…

Send a text Episode #98: Why did you choose to work in Finance and Accounting? Did you want to work with numbers? Did you think you would work mostly alone? Were you attracted to the leadership opportunities available? Was it something else or a combination of these? Whatever got you interested, I …

Send a text How productive are you during the day? Is your day filled with distractions? Do you have set templates and use your available tools to make your workday easier especially for routine tasks? Having a productive day begins with our mindset. Use the tools you have available to make your wo…

Send a text Episode #96: Are you facing a leadership challenge right now, or soon? Do you even know? Have you been complacent, or are you watching for the signs that change or a business challenge is imminent? When things are going well, it’s easier to lead, but when the business environment change…

Send a text We all need a reminder to believe in ourselves especially when it gets tough, that is, when you face a challenge and then doubt tries to settle in. We are all in a battle to overcome beliefs about our abilities in our mind. Limiting beliefs can take over our mind AND our spirit at any t…

Send a text Who you have in your inner circle matters. Who you have around you, and who you associate with regularly affects your mindset, how you approach life, your happiness, and the overall level of your mental, spiritual, and physical fitness. Who you let in your life matters, and it affects e…

Send a text If a crisis happened to you today, do you have a support system in place to help you through it? Who would you call? Who would help you? Having a support system in place is critical for surviving and overcoming an emergency. Please connect with me: 1. Instagram: stephen.mclain 2. Twitte…

Send a text Are you facing a challenge? If so, what are you doing to overcome that challenge? Does it require working with someone on a solution, or is it a challenge that you personally have to solve? Is it a mindset issue? Are you having trouble with a goal? Please connect with me: 1. Instagram: …

Send a text This week, I am sharing an encore replay from Season 9 - Episode 77: Five Pillars of Career Advancement for Finance and Accounting Professionals What does it take to advance your career? There are many decisions and pathways you can take. There are lots of choices, but how do you prepar…

Send a text I wanted to briefly talk about a trending topic that I have been seeing all over Twitter. You probably heard about it: Quiet Quitting. What does that mean? Well, it’s something that has been happening for a very long time, which is doing your job without probably doing any of the extras…

Send a text Episode # 95: A successful budget development cycle begins with clearly communicated expectations and coherently executed leadership. You must partner with other leaders to minimize conflict, meet senior leader guidance, and deliver a budget plan that is on target and makes sense. Ensur…

Send a text Episode #94: As leaders in Finance and Accounting, we are asked to analyze problems constantly. Leaders solve the critical problems of the organization. We don’t let issues grow into bigger problems. The most difficult part of problem solving is to identify what the real problem is, fol…

Send a text Episode # 93: This week it’s all about embracing, adopting and using artificial intelligence in our finance and accounting processes. I expect the early adopters to gain a significant competitive advantage as they shift from waiting on data to guiding a system with real time data that s…

Send a text We work with data every day in finance and accounting. The data leads us to insights and relevant information. This is why it’s important that our data is clean AND validated. The way to useable information is to ensure we have good data, but do you know what that means, and can you spo…

Send a text Episode 91: Financial Planning and Analysis provides one of the most critical and powerful functions in the business. Are you resourcing and employing your FP&A Team properly? You need to be continually planning the team’s functions and capabilities as technology changes and the bus…

Send a text How do you want your team to interact with each other? Do you want to be all business all the time, more relaxed, or something else? As the leader, you set the tone for the team’s culture. The team’s culture determines how well everyone respects each other and works together. Don’t over…

Send a text Financial Analysts help grow the business by digging in to the how and the why to financial transactions to find patterns and insights. These patterns can help find a way to leverage your offers to increase sales. Additionally, costs can be saved by finding efficiencies within the expen…