Leadership in the Workforce of the Future - Articles

In September 2021, I attended CFMA’s Southwest Regional Conference in San Diego, CA. During the CFO panel discussion, one of the panelists said something to this effect: “We have to realize that the pandemic has caused everyone in our company — from the C-suite to the people who clean our offices — to think about their lives and their jobs differently.”

In October 2021, I read the book 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, which was recommended by a CFMA friend. The title comes from the author’s realization that if we live to be 80 years old, we have only lived for 4,000 weeks. He challenges the idea of expecting to get everything done in that time and, instead, encourages readers to make tough choices about what we choose to do.

In November 2021, I needed to hire an HR manager. Every candidate asked if there was flexibility around when and where they would work. “Is work-from-home an option?” “Can my day end at 3?” Many were in the job market because they wanted to do work that would be valued, wanted more opportunities to learn, or lacked the feeling of respect and appreciation in their current role. I was reminded that people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.

In this era now termed “The Great Resignation,” appreciation, personal development, flexibility, autonomy, connectedness, respect, and engagement — ideas that were once considered optional — have taken center stage and are finally being recognized as necessary.

For some businesses, where the culture can be described as “put your head down and do your job,” this will be difficult. The manager who doesn’t recognize this shift and fails to intentionally learn new skills will be managing fewer and fewer people.

The good news is that leadership can be learned, and CFMA is a place where we can learn to be great leaders. In addition to great book recommendations from CFMA friends on leadership, there are chapter meetings, conference sessions, and webinars throughout the year that are taught by great leaders.

We can also volunteer on a chapter or national committee to meet and work with some of the best leadership role models in our industry. Our peer groups discuss company culture, and we help each other through leadership challenges.

CFMA’s website is also packed with content about leadership and employee engagement, and this issue of our award-winning CFMA Building Profits magazine has articles about managing your accounting department and how to grow talent from within.

One of several tools that Burkeman recommends in his book is to cultivate instantaneous generosity. Whenever a generous impulse arises in your mind — to give money, check in on a friend, or send an email praising someone’s work — act on the impulse right away. Don’t put it off because most likely you won’t get back to it.

For some people this comes naturally, but I must admit it spoke to me. How often do I tell people how much I appreciate them? I can work on this and become a better leader.