Everyone is

Watching You!
Part 1
12 Must-Know Strategies
for New Finance Managers

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

Welcome
Thank you for downloading Clarity Recruitments Everyone IS Watching You, Part 1: 12 Must-Know
Strategies For New Finance Managers!
Management doesnt come with a how-to manual or an instruction booklet. Thats why Clarity has
produced this guide so that first-time managers can know what to expect from their new positions,
as well as how to prepare for the different challenges they will face on-the-job. The various strategies
and tips weve outlined in this document will enable you to begin your career on the right note,
establishing your reputation as someone both your superiors and your reports can depend on to
get things done.

This is just the beginning:

Clarity Recruitments Everyone IS Watching You, Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers
is only one of the many resources weve made available to give accounting and finance professionals a
critical edge in their career development. Visit our website www.findingclarity.ca to access the full library
of content from Clarity Recruitment, follow us on Twitter (@clarityrecruits), and join the conversation on
LinkedIn for more advice that will keep you ahead of the curve.

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

Introduction
You have just been appointed as the new finance or accounting manager at your company.
Sonow what? Where should you start? Who should you talk to first? And just what is it that youre
supposed to be doing again?
These are some of the common questions many first-time managers find themselves asking when
they start their new positions. For many, the first sixty days on the job can often amount to a baptism
by fire, during which they are forced to learn the ropes of management. Most have been star performers
with their companies, rewarded by their employers with promotions to supervisory roles. These are,
in short, individuals who are used to enjoying professional success. Yet the skills, knowledge, and attitude
necessary for excelling at the rank-and-file level dont always translate into instant success at managing
people and personalities. As the late great management consultant and writer Peter Drucker repeatedly insisted,

Management is all about people.

Sink or swim: the challenge for new nance and
accounting managers
The challenges of being put in charge of a team for the first time can come as a rude awakening to
first-time managers. While companies today are generally doing a better job of grooming their people
for managerial positions, many new supervisors are still promoted with little formal training or instruction.
Yet they are expected to deliver results almost immediately. Writing for Forbes, Erika Andersen, the author
of Growing Great Employees, has recently noted the ironic predicament in which new managers
find themselves:
Managing people is a complex and important enterprise. Its unlikely that your boss would one
day say to youStarting next week, youre going to be the company lawyer. But managing
people without any prior experience or training? No problem.

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

The newly appointed managers margin for error is slim, as the opportunities for salary raises and promotion
in many organizations can be limited outside of management. As a result, every decision and action that a
rookie manager takes is subject to intense scrutiny and review from above and below, as well as within
and without the company. The anxiety from being under the watchful eyes of their superiors and staffers
alike can overwhelm even the most confident up-and-comers. The demands on managers are seemingly
endless. As Linda Hill, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School has written in an
article on Becoming the Boss, for the Harvard Business Review:
[New managers] are enmeshed in a web of relationships. Not only with subordinates, but also
with bosses, peers, and others inside and outside the organization, all of whom make relentless
and often conflicting demands on them.Becoming a manager is not about becoming a boss.
Its about becoming a hostage.

Welcome to nance and accounting manager boot camp

Not surprisingly, many first-time or inexperienced finance managers struggle with these new demands and
dynamics. Some wilt under the pressure; it is not uncommon to hear of someone who, after a difficult start
to their budding management career, requests a demotion to their previous frontline position.
But before you storm into your superiors office and ask for your old job back, it would be prudent for you
to consider the advice offered in what follows. Tailored to the specific demands and problems that new
finance managers have to face, this white paper will help you grab the management bull by the horns, by
giving you twelve concrete strategies for succeeding in your first managerial position. Armed with this stepby-step guide, you will be able to prove yourself as a manager right out of the gate when it matters the most.

How will this information help me as a new nance manager?

You will be able to avoid some of the most common mistakes inexperienced finance managers commit
when they start their new jobs.

You will understand how you, as finance manager, can contribute to the growth and productivity of
other departments, and to the growth of the organization as a whole.

You will learn how to establish your credibility and authority with your new team from the outset,
and win the confidence of your superiors in your ability to supervise the group.

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

The 12 Must-Know Strategies

for New Finance and Accounting Managers
There are twelve strategies that every new finance manager should quickly master, so that they can hit the
ground running.

1. Build on your strengths

Rather than immediately focusing on your weaknesses and trying to address them from the get-go,
you should identify your strengths and think about how you can build on them to help your team and
organization. Find ways to align your areas of strength with your companys areas of need. Harping on what
you are bad at or need work on can actually be counterproductive. While you shouldnt completely ignore
your problem spots, you cant afford to spend all of your time trying to shore up a weakness into a strength,
if doing so will only lead to moderately greater output. Both you and your team will be far better served if
you capitalize on your strengths in order to drive productivity and change.

2. Find a mentor and/or a coach

Adopting a mentor to teach you some of the ropes and offer you a second opinion on your decisions
will radically accelerate your learning curve. When choosing a mentor, look both within and outside your
organization. Your mentor should be familiar with you, as well as your team and company. A co-worker
who leads another team within your organization would be ideal: having seen your own team in operation
and being familiar with the ins and outs of the organization, they can provide a different, perhaps more
objective, perspective on things.
If you can afford the expense, consider hiring yourself a coach. Like mentors, coaches can serve as excellent
sounding boards for your ideas and problems. But unlike a mentor, a coach can work with you personally,
on a one-on-one basis, to develop your skills. As Nigel MacLennan, the author of Coaching and
Mentoring, explains:
The coach concentrates on helping the performer learn how to achieve more. The mentors aim is
to be available for the performer to use as a resource. A mentor can fulfill the role quite adequately
with basic management, people and training or teaching skills. An effective coach must have the
knowledge, technique and skill to help the performer achieve, without directing.

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While many coaches have been career consultants, the best coaches are often those who have had
extensive experience running their own teams or organizations. Having had to make decisions about
people, processes, and systems, they will be able to relate to your problems and offer constructive,
practical advice.

3. Score some quick wins the right way

Make no mistake as a new manager, everyone is watching you. It is imperative that you score some quick
wins early in your tenure, to establish your credibility with your peers, win the respect of your reports,
and reward the faith of your bosses. But not all wins are created equal; and, as Mark Van Buren and Todd
Safferstone conclude in a widely discussed article for the Harvard Business Review, on The Quick Wins
Paradox, there is both a right and a wrong way to go after those early victories. Above all else, Van Buren
and Safferstone warn against the temptation on the part of new managers to score points for themselves at
the expense of others:
Knowing that they must rack up quick wins to prove themselves, new leaders often trip up
during the quest for early results. In some cases, they manage to get the outcome they were
seeking in a narrow sense, but the process isnt pretty, the fallout is toxic, and their ability to lead is
compromised.
Instead, you will want to aim for collective quick wins: tangible, quantifiable, and measurable business
goals, like reducing costs or growing revenue, that solicit the meaningful input and involvement of your
team members, leaving their fingerprints all over the results as much as your own. Victories in which your
team can share and which are achieved with them not in spite of them will pay larger dividends over the
long haul than those that are yours alone.

4. Choose your battles

Remember that, as a manager, you are responsible not only for finding solutions, but also for prioritizing
them according to their urgency and value to the organization. You need to find that golden mean where
low effort produces a high yield. Will the benefits be worth the trouble, time, and expense? If not, those
resources might be better deployed elsewhere. Among the common mistakes that new managers make,
Van Buren and Safferstone rightly count the tendency to get bogged down in minutia and focus excessively
on small details; far too many managers expend valuable time and energy on minor problems that neither
their leadership nor their team deem especially important.

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5. Persevere through the rough spells

It is not unusual, early on, for a first-time manager to lose confidence in themselves to feel like a failure
following a major setback. If anything, it would be unusual if you remained completely unscathed after a
particularly difficult week, or month, or quarter. Every manager has suffered a crisis of self-confidence at
some point or another during their tenure; indeed, you should expect to undergo several throughout your
career. The best managers, however, are able to quickly regain their footing after a setback. Your long-term
fortunes as a manager will depend on your ability to persevere through these tough times. In many ways,
success is simply a matter of surviving.
In order to rebound from a failure or setback, you need to take stock of your situation. Identify the moving
parts, with an eye towards finding some leverage on which you can lean or push. Your ability to regulate
your own emotions and energy level, and to keep an even keel through all the ebbs and flows the highs
as much as the lows will be critical to your longevity as a manager. Sometimes, it can be as simple as
choosing the right words to express yourself with. Negative or critical language, whether directed at
yourself or towards others, can be self-defeating, putting you in a headspace from which it can be difficult
to escape. Again, recognize that your job is more like a marathon than a sprint: if you can push yourself to
the finish line, youre already ahead.

6. Be responsive and reliable for for your nance team

Trish Barbato, the author of Inspire Your Career, offers this piece of advice:
Start practicing R-squared: that means be both responsive and reliable. The main reason you
need to be responsive is that you are building trust and success. The main complaint that people
have about their managers is that they ask for something and then dont get follow-up or pull
through. Being responsive and reliable shows people that you respect them, and that respect
really helps people build trust within your new team.
Failing to deliver for your team, especially when they are waiting or counting on you, will quickly erode their
faith in you. In fact, when you are looking to score a quick win early in your managerial tenure, dont limit
yourself to large-scale, company-wide initiatives: the victory that is closest to hand can be found with your
own team. Your direct reports may want nothing more than a manager who is responsive and reliable.
Dont disappoint.

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7. Remove barriers to performance

If you are supervising a team in which you were previously a member, you should already have an idea of
how things could be improved. Based on your prior experience, identify the three fixes or tweaks that would
yield the greatest gains in productivity and emotional well-being on the part of your team. Brainstorm
possible solutions; be sure to seek the input and feedback of the other team members. Then set about
lifting those barriers to performance. Routinize this process of identifying problems and troubleshooting
solutions, so that it becomes a part of the natural rhythm of your team.

8. Know that you are being tested

We all want to be liked, by our subordinates as much as by our superiors. But sometimes, you cant and,
in fact, shouldnt please everyone. You will want to be a fair manager, but not a pushover. Being a wellliked boss shouldnt come at the expense of being a well-respected one. This is especially the case if you are
managing your own former team. Dont be surprised if your new reports try to test you in various ways
for example, by asking to do something differently from how it was done under previous management,
or even by simply palming off one of their problems or responsibilities onto you. In either case, you should
bear in mind the culture that you are trying to create and establish. Ask yourself: is this a problem you
should be solving? Is this person testing you so they can get away with doing less?

9. Know and control your triggers

Whether you realize it or not, the fact is that you have been programmed, by your cumulative experiences,
to react in specific ways to various stimuli. All of us have certain emotional triggers that will seek to hijack
our reactions and produce an involuntary response like a reflex. Learning to master and control these
triggers can greatly improve your ability to manage people, so that you dont respond hastily to a
difficult situation.

10. Be present in the moment (and nowhere else)

As Lorin Belker and Gary Topchik point out in The First-Time Manager:
Many new managers have the mistaken idea that the minute they are promoted everyone is
going to hang on to every word they say....That is the wrong approach. These managers should
remember that they have two ears and one mouth; therefore they ought to do twice as much
listening as talking.

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Regardless of the place or occasion, listen carefully when one of your team members has something to tell
you. Be present in the moment. The worst thing that could happen is for you to miss out on a crucial piece
of information, because you werent paying attention. Worse still, your employees may leave the meeting or
interaction with the impression that they werent being heard; you may be branded as a manager who isnt
really interested in their employees opinions, feedback, and input. This can be a very tough reputation to
shake its vastly preferable to not be stuck with it in the first place.

11. Stick to your values

You may find yourself being pulled in many different directions by many different people. Its important
that you know who you are, and stay true to yourself. You should try to be flexible and fair. But dont be
inconsistent or compromise your values; that will only end up backfiring on you.

12. Know, and be known by, the people who actually run the place
Become friendly with people in the other functional areas of your company. Get to know your counterparts
in marketing and sales; introduce yourself to the folks in human resources, IT, and operations; learn the
names of the receptionists. All support functions in your organization should know who you are and vice versa.

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Conclusion
As a first-time finance manager, you will want to prepare yourself for the many challenges that await you in
your new position. But by heeding the advice provided in this white paper, and implementing these eleven
strategies, you can make your transition to management a relatively smooth and painless one. Getting your
managerial career off on the right foot will ensure your success in the long run.
Be sure to read the companion to this white paper, Everyone IS Watching You, Part 2: New Managers Guide
to Driving Performance, for some advanced strategies on how to maximize the performance of your finance
team and align it with the overall business goals of your organization.

Action items:

Complete the accompanying worksheet to ensure that youve adopted the twelve must-know
strategies that will prepare you for your first few months as a new finance manager.

Download the companion to this white paper, Everyone IS Watching You, Part 2: New Managers Guide
to Driving Performance, to learn how you can maximize your teams productivity and ensure that the
financial data and information youre delivering to the rest of the organization helps to grow the business.

Evaluate your progress in implementing the twelve must-know strategies, and take stock of the results.

Follow us on Twitter (@clarityrecruits), and join the conversation on LinkedIn for more practical advice
and best practices!

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About Clarity Recruitment

Clarity Recruitment is a boutique recruiting company that specializes in placing designated accountants,
along with other finance professionals, in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.
We help our clients identify, hire, and retain only the absolute best talent to protect and grow their
businesses. Whether they are in need of a specialized contract resource or are looking to add a permanent
full-time employee, our clients choose Clarity Recruitment because they trust our transparent and
technically innovative hiring process, and because they know that the people at Clarity Recruitment are the
best in the city at what they do. Our talented and tenured team is composed of top performers across the
accounting and finance sector in GTA. And they only work with the best tools including our proprietary
technology, Luma-Fi: the Candidate Visualization Engine. This combination of talented, experienced staff
working with cutting-edge technology allows our clients to visualize the best fit and make the right hire for
their needs.
At Clarity Recruitment, our work is our passion. We are knowledgeable, experienced, driven, and progressive.
Above all, we are committed to connecting exceptional people with remarkable companies like yours.

It is about time that someone brought

something new to the table. Luma-Fi
helped our team decide who we should hire.
- Director of HR, Multi-national Media Company

I love Luma-Fi - it instantly showed us

who the best candidate was.
- CFO, Technology Company

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Clarity Recruitment is a company

that brings a different dynamic to
the hiring process.
- Director, Engineering Company

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

Worksheet: 12 Must-Know Strategies

For New Finance Managers
1. Build on your strengths:
Action item: Identify and list your greatest strengths. These can be related to your skillset, knowledge, interests, intelligence,
values, or other personal qualities. Ask people that know you what they think are your most important talents and skills.
a)
b)
c)
Action: Identify how your strengths align with both your departments and your companys areas of need:

2. Find a mentor and/or a coach

Action item: Identify three things that you want to get out of a mentor/coach:
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Identify three possible mentors/coaches to approach based on the above objectives. Remember to consider
individuals both inside and outside your department and your company.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Reach out to the individuals youve identified as possible mentors/coaches. Make sure to let them know why
youve approached them specifically, as well as what youre looking from them as a mentor/coach.

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3. Score some quick wins the right way

Action item: Identify one member of your new team with whom you can brainstorm possibilities for a collective quick win:

Action: Identify at least five possible quick wins that is, tangible, quantifiable, and measureable business goals.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Action item: Evaluate each of the ideas youve brainstormed according to how feasible or practical it is, how much value
it will drive, and whether it will engage and educate both you and your new team. Discuss this quick win with the other
members of your team and produce a collective action plan to ensure success.

4. Choose your battles

Action item: Identify three goals that you want to achieve as a manager.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Identify three distractions that will keep you from achieving your goals:
a)
b)
c)
Watch out for these distractions. Limit the amount of time you devote to them. For example, if you get bogged down
responding to emails, block off specific periods of time in your agenda to focus on this task and then move on!
Action item: Assign at least 30 minutes of your day (in your calendar) to review the progress of your three goals.

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5. Persevere through the rough spells

Action item: Identify three activities that can help you to calm down or regain perspective when things get tough.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Identify the single greatest challenge youve faced as a manager. Review what youve learned from it
either about yourself, your team or your role and responsibilities. Remember: we learn as much from setbacks as we do
from success.

6. Be responsive and reliable for your team

Action item: Identify three things you can change about yourself, so that your team sees you as a more responsive leader.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Arrange a check-in meeting with each member of your team at least once a month. Ensure that theyre receiving
the support and resources they need to accomplish their tasks and reach their goals.

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Part 1: 12 Must-Know Strategies For New Finance Managers

7. Remove barriers to performance

Action item: Identify three fixes or tweaks that would yield gains in productivity and emotional well-being for your team.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Brainstorm ways to improve performance with the rest of your team. Establish a regular (monthly or bimonthly)
schedule for identifying problems and troubleshooting solutions, so that it becomes a part of your teams routine.

8. Know that you are being tested

Action item: Identify some of the ways your team might test you. Brainstorm possible responses (keeping in mind your
company culture and team dynamics). Remember that managing a group of your former peers is never easy, but that as a
new manager, its important that you earn your teams respect and establish authority right away.

9. Know and control your triggers

Action item: Identify the kinds of situations that trigger your emotions. For example, do you get worked up by the number
of items on your to-do list? Or is it the tone and manner of a conversation or correspondence that will set you off? Once you
begin to understand your own hot buttons, you can begin to address them.

Action item: Review your personal techniques to regain your composure (from question 5). Identify some ways to avoid or
prevent these kinds of situations from developing.

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10. Be present in the moment (and nowhere else)

Action item: Identify three activities or actions that take you away from being present in the here-and-now, both physically
and mentally. For example, do you check emails in meetings, or step outside to answer phone calls? Remember that these
distractions tell your team that they are not as important as your emails or phone calls.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Review your list above and make a plan to tackle your distractions one at a time.

11. Stick to your values

Action item: Identify three values that you dont want to compromise as a new manager. Remember that in management,
there are negotiables and non-negotiables; your values should be non-negotiable.
a)
b)
c)

12. Know, and be known by, the people who actually run the place
Action item: Identify three well-respected people within another functional area of your company who you want to get to
know and/or be noticed by.
a)
b)
c)
Action item: Introduce yourself and offer to take them out for coffee. If they are top managers who are always on-the-go,
consider other opportunities to be noticed; for example, volunteer to lead company-sponsored events or enter companysponsored competitions.

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