What Being a Great Leader Means to Me

For this month’s Editor’s Alley, I wanted to focus on something that was near and dear to my heart: leadership and what it means to me to be a great leader.  And with the recent announcement of CSMFO’s Virtual Leadership Series, this seemed like a very appropriate time.  Whether you are a natural born leader or have had to work hard to become one, here are a few quick tips that I believe can be used by all to be a more effective leader.  However, I’d also be interested to hear from other current, past, and aspiring leaders out there on what being a great leader means to you.  As such, I have placed a post on the CSMFO Knowledge Base to share your thoughts.  Thank you for participating.  I look forward to hearing from you!

• Be Humble, Empathetic, and Approachable – For many years, coming up through the ranks of the public finance world, I was in awe of Finance Directors and what they did. I was nervous around them and didn’t believe I could just walk up and start talking to them.  However, as I became more involved with CSMFO and moved into the Finance Director role myself, I came to realize that while Finance Directors do many great things and can have tremendous impact, we are all just people too, with both our good qualities and our flaws, and our good days and our bad. Thus, as you ascend into leadership roles, I encourage you to remain humble and remember how you got there, be empathetic, and be approachable.  Keep your door open whenever possible, step outside your office daily to encourage interaction with you, consider the challenges that affect your team members (both at work and at home), and in the simplest terms possible, be human.  By doing so, the teams you lead will have a deeper connection to you and want to follow you – not out of fear, but out of genuine desire.
• Support Your Teams and Show You Care – No leader can do everything themself and to be successful, a leader needs the support and contributions of every member of their team. However, to ensure that this support is received always, you also have to be willing to support your team whenever possible, even when it may be tough to do so.  This means fighting for that needed position when it is fiscally doable, not throwing members of your team “under a bus,” but instead having private conversations with an individual to hold them accountable, and pitching in when the need arises.  Cover the front counter if staff is on vacation or sick, take that phone call to calm down an irate customer, and don’t give work to others that you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself.  If you truly have your team’s back and support them, the support you receive back will be ten times greater. Also, get to know your team and the individuals on it.  You don’t need to know everything about a person, but taking genuine interest in both a person’s professional and personal life shows that you care about them not only as a worker, but also as a person.
• Encourage Open Communication and Input, and Be an Active Listener – Teams work best when leaders clearly and regularly communicate their vision, goals, and objectives, both verbally and in writing. But not only does a leader communicate out, they also encourage two-way communication and listen.  Most people want to be heard and have an impact.  There are also a lot of great ideas out there that don’t necessarily all need to come from the Finance Director.  So talk to your team, listen, and seek that input; whether it be in a department meeting, a one-on-one, an e-mail, or a casual drop in.  However, if you ask for input, also genuinely take it into account when making decisions.  The final decision is yours to make, but collaboration and consideration of all viewpoints will make it a well thought out and often better decision.
• Mentor, Coach, and Encourage Professional Development and Growth – A manager manages and makes sure operational tasks are completed. A leader inspires and takes active steps to ensure that the team has the tools, resources, guidance, and opportunities to be successful in their current roles today and grow in their careers.  So take the time to listen and offer guidance when needed and learn about the strengths and gaps needing to be filled in by each member of your team. And in addition to daily mentoring and coaching, I also highly encourage you to send staff to trainings, conferences, and other educational and networking opportunities whenever possible.  This will help to ensure that you not only produce the best quality output today, but also develop the leaders of tomorrow; leaders that are capable of taking over when we leave or retire.  Some may ultimately move on to promotional opportunities elsewhere, and that is ok, but you will become a leader that other talented people want to work for because you help others to succeed.  And I am a bit biased, but CSMFO offers some great educational and networking opportunities for your teams.  So please continue to check them out on our Community Calendar.
• Always Be Learning and Be a Knowledge Resource – In addition to developing your own team, take the time to continue developing yourself. We are trusted resources to our teams and we can constantly learn something new, no matter what stage we are in our career.  So take that leadership course that you may have seen, get more involved with professional organizations such as CSMFO and others to stay current on recent developments and best practices, go to a conference, take a training, get a mentor yourself, and know that no one is ever a finished product.  By doing so, you will continue to be the person that your team can rely on to make the right decisions, help develop innovative solutions, and overcome any challenges that may arise.
• Have Fun and Make the Workplace Enjoyable – This last one may not be natural for all and not all work is fun, but I encourage you to expand your comfort zones and take active steps to make the workplace fun and enjoyable. This could be anything from celebrating birthdays, the passing of the budget and the completion of the audit, taking your team out to lunch, and/or having regular team building events.  People want to feel appreciated, and they much prefer coming to a place that they enjoy than one they do not.  By bringing a little joy and appreciation to the workplace, I truly believe you will see a better work product, better teamwork and collaboration, better communication, and an all-around better work environment. Keep it light. Have fun!