The Change Your Mindset Podcast

Welcome to the Change Your Mindset podcast, hosted by Peter Margaritis, CPA, AKA The Accidental Accountant. Peter is a speaker, expert in applied improvisation and author of the book 'Improv Is No Joke, Using Improvization to Create Positive Results in Leadership and Life'. Peter's new book, Taking the Numb Our of Numbers: Explaining & Presenting Financial Information with Confidence and Clarity will be published in June 2018.

S5E2: CEO Fires 900 Employees on Zoom

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

Sometimes we have a hard time defining what good or great leadership is, but we also know what bad leadership is.

I believe in Improv leadership, which is more about the team and less about an individual. No matter what business we are in, people are our most important asset and we need to begin to treat them better.

The firing of 900 employees by the CEO of better.com via a zoom call is a tragic example of how not to manage people.

How do you inspire when you are leading a large number of people and can’t interact with them individually? You can by tone and attitude. Being in a toxic environment where you are ridiculed when you make comments or question will lead to either choosing to keep your job and silencing yourself or choosing to leave and finding another job.

Intimidation is not a form of management and this type of leadership needs to go away and be replaced with some type of leadership that has compassion. One that looks at their people who are productive as an ethical part of the organization and show respect for their employees. When you show respect to your employees, that puts you apart from a lot of other leaders out there who look at their employees as just a number and something that is replaceable

Ego has a lot to do with good and bad leadership. The leaders who are willing to put it aside will be more successful than those leaders who still want to tell everybody what to do and how to do it, and look at them as a replaceable asset. It goes back to being human and going back to thinking about a fellow person, being tolerant and supportive.

S5E1: Keeping It Human with Kathy Klotz-Guest

From the desk of Peter Margaritis

“When we have compassion and empathy for ourselves, we will radiate that to other people.” Kathy Klotz

Kathy Klotz-Guest is a speaker, author, comedian, and founder of Keeping It Human. Kathy started Keeping It Human after 15 years leading tech marketing and communications. Her mission is to help leaders, teams and companies use Improv and humor principles to be happier, healthier, and more creative all the while having more fun.

Cathy has worked for global brands such as Amazon, Dow Jones, and Deloitte and has spoken internationally on company and conference stages, including South by Southwest, Inbound, and coming soon, TEDx salon. In addition, Kathy studied and performed Improv at Comedy Sports and Sketch at the second city La. Kathy still performs and teaches improv and stand-up. Kathy is a graduate of Stanford University and UC Berkeley with an MBA and a Masters of Arts. She is currently working on her third book and still barely makes her teen kids laugh.

The challenges that organizations have today stem from fear and uncertainty and this keeps people from moving forward because they get stuck in old patterns that have to be unlearned. Leaders thought that they had to have all the answers but with a shift of mindset towards improvisational thinking, we reframe leadership and suddenly realize that leaders don’t have to have all the answers and that it is okay to let go.

Leaders constantly send these conflicting, contradictory messages, which are shut-up signals. Suppose we don’t do something about honoring the way people learn and how they check for credibility and honesty in an organization. In that case, we are just shooting ourselves in the foot repeatedly because we’re doing the same things and expecting that it’s going to be different.

Leaders must let people experiment and know that it’s safe to fail. Part of growing that muscle is to be okay with failure and see it as learning. The difference between people who succeed and those who don’t is that the people who succeed keep trying and keep showing up every day.

People have a template mentality about how things are supposed to work, but that’s not how humans or life works. The reality is so much of the bravery, boldness, and the art of learning to show up human, making mistakes, learning, and improving. This requires us to use this muscle of trusting the process.

Lead with compassion. Give yourself permission to play, be human, and make mistakes. When you do that for yourself, you are more likely to show up that way for other people, which will automatically make it safer for other people to connect with you.

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S4E48. Taking December Off

From the desk of Crate Media

For the first time since I launched Change Your Mindset in 2016, I’ve decided to take the month of December off to pause and reflect. This podcast is very near and dear to me, and I want to put the time and care necessary into making the next evolution of it with intentionality. From podcast length to formatting, I spend this episode rehashing the past and brainstorming what’s to come.

This podcast has reached people all over the world in 136 countries and all 50 U.S. states. I am continually blown away by the power of this exciting medium. It has only grown to what it is today through consistency, commitment, and patience.

See you all in 2022!

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S4E47. The Wisdom in Creating a Culture-First Firm with Joey Havens

From the desk of Crate Media

“When you see a turtle on top of a fence post, chances are, he did not get there on his own.” Joey Haven uses this visual to kick off a recent blog post illustrating how leaders only get to where they are because others helped them get there.

He serves as the Managing Partner of Strategic Growth for the CPA firm, HORNE, and previously served as the Executive Partner from 2012 to 2021, leading more than 1,800 team members to build the Wise Firm©, while passionately living out his life’s calling to help others see and reach their full potential. Prior to being named Executive Partner in 2012, Joey served as the Managing Partner of Healthcare Services and the Managing Partner of Government Services.

Within the profession, Joey actively challenges the mainstays of public accounting. He advocates growing leaders faster using holistic approaches and intentional sponsorship. In addition to his weekly beBetter blog, he is the author of numerous whitepapers and articles, including Becoming the Firm of the Future published by the AICPA. He’s also co-authored four books during his career at HORNE and is an active member of CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 30 Thought Leaders, where he works with other accounting professionals to help lead and shape the industry. Joey is a frequent presenter/teacher/facilitator on creating a culture of belonging, strategic planning, leadership development and loves to teach young professionals the ABCs to Outstanding.

He named his firm the Wise Firm© based on the parable of the wise man and the foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock and the foolish man built his house on the sand. When the storms came, the rain and the wind washed the fool’s house away. He had a feeling that the CPA profession would soon face generational storms, and he wanted to build a strong foundation that could survive those winds. That foundation was culture.

The power of a high performing team, with high trust and a strong sense of community, allows you to move past fear and stand firm against any challenge.

Click to Download the Full Transcript PDF

Resources:

S4E46. Why is Customer Service So Difficult?

From the desk of Crate Media

Growing up, I worked in a family restaurant – I am Greek American, after all. My father took a different approach and purchased a liquor store. In both cases, providing excellent customer service was the standard because that is the formula to success in business. 

But if that’s true, what the hell happened to excellent customer service? Lately, it seems harder to find than Bigfoot riding the Loch Ness Monster with a roll of toilet paper.

In business improv, this means having respect for the customers you are serving. Part of that respect – one that many in the accounting profession face – is the use of language that your customer understands. Yes, we’re all used to technical jargon at work. But the language of business accounting is a foreign language to those outside of the profession. Would it be very respectful to travel to a foreign country and expect everyone there to understand your language without issue?

CPAs need to understand that explaining financial information in plain English – and using stories to help clients understand – creates a strong competitive advantage in the marketplace. You want to be the firm that everyone raves about because you offer the kind of excellent customer service that everyone deserves – especially as it becomes harder to come by.