Quit the broke cycle, adopt wealth-building principles now!

Last week I shared 5 principles and mindset shifts that I have learned in my 18 years of experience in finance.

Today, I'm sharing the rest.

6. Do the right things, especially when you have no skin in the game

2 distinct situations come to mind, one as an employee, one as a consultant.

Employee: During my time in logistics, my role has always been double-hatted, internal stakeholders and customer needs. one of my responsibilities was ensuring the accuracy of our data and the integrity of our KPI calculations. This led to a couple of head-butting situations between me and the head of operations. My position was clear:? "i'm on your side, my job is to have your back. If you can't convince me that the KPI calculations are correct, then i can't defend them when they'll be challenged". At the end of the day, the responsibility of getting the KPI's signed off and paid was not on me, it was on the head of ops, but we were a team and I had his back.?

Consultant: I took on a contract to help with a system implementation. The first conversation I've had with the managing partner was one of full transparency. My definition of a successful system implementation is optimising processes and integrating systems in such a way that you can run the reports you need to run your business at various level of the organisation. Success to me is not replicating what the old accounting system did. That conversation was the catalyst needed to take a different approach, one that would benefit the company in the long run. I had no skin in the game, i could have kept my mouth shut and get paid for doing what I was brought in to do, but that didn't align with my values.

7. Interviewing is like marketing

When you interview for a job, 2 things happen simultaneously:

• the company is assessing your ability to fix their problems
• you are assessing the company's suitability for you (if you're not, then something for you to consider) and positioning yourself as someone that can fix their problems

When people prepare for interviews, they often spend time trying to memorise incorporation date and last year's revenue. I spend time thinking about how the company might be set up, what challenge that industry might be facing, what specific challenges the company might be facing. A recruiting agency is extremely useful in the latter.

I have once interviewed for an FP&A analyst role for a young company. Their specific challenge was around having been recently acquired by a PE firm and not having an FP&A function. PE firms are notoriously known for wanting enhanced and specific reporting, which they didn't have the systems or manpower to produce. I spent the first interview talking about challenges and importance of FP&A function, geeked out with the CFO on Excel formulas and the use of pivot tables. Before the 2nd interview, they had sent me an Excel test. I took that opportunity to show them what the future can look like, with Power BI reporting. At the time, i wasn't an advanced Power BI user, but it presented that to them nonetheless - i was comfortable doing that because what I wanted the end result to be, the rest was details and technical skills which i knew i could acquire. 3h later they offered me the job, for 20% higher than their original budget. I have been successful in positioning myself as a solution to their problem.

8. Beware of the comfort zone

There is a cyclicity to every new job: the early days when you're learning, the good type of stress that makes you want to get better, the process of getting better, starting to make a difference, the comfort zone, career stagnation and becoming stuck.

The comfort zone is when you know what's expected of you, you know how to get your job done the fastest way possible. The learning during the comfort zone reduces considerably (unless pursued on purpose), there is little progress and you find yourself feeling stuck and loosing your confidence.

Staying in the comfort zone is tempting, the pay might be just enough for you to afford your hobbies and you have time to prioritise other things. Be mindful how long you stay there for, before you reduce your ability to progress.

How do you know if you're there? Simple, test to see if your work is adding value.

Back when i doing a retail analyst role, I decided to stop sending the weekly reports out and see what happens. I knew the impact of delaying them wouldn't be significant, worst case i would have gotten a slap on the wrist from the sales director. Here comes Monday, i refresh and review last week's performance but don't out my usual communication. To my surprise, nothing happened... Crickets... Out of 100 people on the distribution list (division manager, regional managers and unit managers), no one called. That's the day in which i decided to have a conversion with my manager about what can we do to really support the people we are supposed to be business partnering.

9. Be willing to walk away

Before I decided to do what I'm really passionate about, I had a last attempt at the climbing the career ladder. I convinced myself that being Head of FP&A will help me down the line. Despite the sinking feeling in stomach, i was determined to do it for 2 years. I had spoken to my line manager, who gave me encouraging signs, who said that i still need to grow but they'll support my development. I had recruited and trained 2 team members, searched for software to support in our journey, started building relationships with the wider business. Nothing seemed to be enough, no matter what i did, my promotion didn't seem to be any closer. My manager wanted everything without letting go of control or trusting me to deliver. I found myself crying on 2 team meetings, when the expectations set on my team and I were completely unrealistic and when we were not allowed to make things better or faster. The first time it happened, i put it down to stress - a one off event. The second time it happened - i couldn't hide anymore. After the meeting finished, i handed in my notice. I felt scared but relieved.

10. There is always a way

A belief i have always held is that there is always a way even though i might know it yet.

This is not an outrageous belief, we are not all knowing, so there's always the chance that we are missing some information. The missing piece can be business knowledge, technical skills, ability to see the higher picture or details. This belief develops an inquisitive mind, that asks questions and tries new things until the outcome is achieved. To my career and development, this has been so important that I would go as far as to say it is the foundation of all everything i do.

11. Learning never stops

When you think you've become great at what you do and you are inclined to stop pushing yourself, don't. The business environment constantly changes, aided by technology and new developments. In order to become unfireable, learning is the key. With an eye on trends within finance, you assess the areas in which you need to develop yourself so you position yourself as an expert.

The areas i have found useful are:

• systems logic
• psychology
• business operations
• Excel skills (and other coding languages)

When those elements come together, you develop the ability to see how business issues can be addressed, what areas of the business they impact, how to create and implement sustainable processes - a mental puzzle where everything fits into it's right place.

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