Perhaps it is because I have been a Chief Financial Officer that I find financial folks of all types to be interesting people. The rest of the world may disagree, but who cares?
As a “breed” we tend to be individuals of high integrity, and generally personable and well spoken. By well spoken, I mean the ideas we present are typically well thought out and concisely stated. Frankly, I have little patience for those given to rattling on and on about next to nothing. (And, yes, they do walk among us, but, they are from other professions.)
While the world may view our profession as populated by something other than a group of social butterflies, I like US.
However when it comes to the networking process our tendency to use words sparingly and to show as little emotion as possible works against us. While in our “real world” it is probably a good idea not to scare “the crew” when we say “the company is running out of cash,” in the world of networking you need to show great enthusiasm for the work you do and how you do it.
Being a good CFO, Controller or Treasurer isn’t easy. And yet I find that members tell the stories about how they performed their magic on a daily basis in a near monotone.
I know you don’t want to come off as bragging, but as they say in Texas, it isn’t bragging if it’s true. If you aren’t going to sound excited about how you increased cash flow by 50%, who IS going to get excited?
I have in my old age become a bit of a story teller, and you need to become one as well. You really can dress up those stories about correcting journal entries, Excel models you have built with pivot tables, and potentially uncollectible receivables you have collected. And, you can make them sound exciting.
It isn’t easy, but you CAN do it.
Accounting isn’t just an arcane skill. It is the tool that drives the economy of this planet. Unless you can measure something, you can’t improve it.
So take a suggestion from the official spinmeister of The FENG. Believe that you are an exciting person who has accomplished great things. And, tell the world about it.
If you don’t sound excited about the work you do, no one else will be.
Don’t curb your enthusiasm. There’s no money in being modest and reserved.
Regards, Matt
