WHAT IS A ‘LIFE CHANGING CAREER MOVE’ AND HOW DO

The role of Mentorship in Finance & Accountancy: How to find and be a mentor

I suspect Mentoring has always been around but the last decade or so has seen it rise to considerable prominence...Its value is probably greater now than it was throughout our history, or at least modern history.I have been exposed to mentoring and mentorship from every angle having proactively sought out my own mentors in the past and in time taken on the role of mentor to others. In my dual roles as a partner within The CFO Partnership and a board director of Sharp Consultancy for over a quarter of a century I have experienced it through osmosis and experience. Mentoring is something very close to my heart.Hopefully in this article I can explain why you should seek out a mentor for yourself, why your skills could make you a great mentor for others, how much satisfaction you might gain from mentoring others and one or two points on what makes a great mentor. Mentoring in Finance:Whilst mentoring can be beneficial in every type of employment and indeed, every walk of life, I believe it has particular relevance in the accountancy and finance sector.Accountants need to develop their management and leadership skills as they progress just like anyone else. They need to develop their self-knowledge and self-awareness like anyone else. They are, however, more exposed to issues regarding ethics and integrity than many other roles/industries. There can be and often is pressure for the results to be better than they are, perhaps to secure further lending or investment, please the boss, even keep their job. More than a few accountants have found themselves at His Majesty’s pleasure having done something they wouldn’t normally have done but have been pressured into. The finance leader (usually Finance Director or CFO) is the key sounding board for the owners/stakeholders; they are often the conscience of the owners. They probably need the ability to say ‘no’ more than other board members – and say yes and encourage. Whilst not responsible for operations, marketing, HR, IT (sometimes they are) and so on they transcend all those areas. They make a mistake – everything can go South very quickly.It is in part for the above reasons that the value of a mentor, someone who can be an independent sounding board, can question you and listen to you, offer opinions and advice is invaluable.Frequently a mentor helps you reach your decision and gives you the confidence to fulfil your plan. They help set challenges into perspective. They ask questions you haven’t thought of and allow you to see things through another person’s experiences. They are calming influencers and confidence builders. As a younger man early in my career I was told the best way of developing fast was to be a sponge, to absorb the greatest attributes of those around me and above me; to become an amalgamation of the best traits of those people. The challenge in accountancy and finance is you can easily find yourself at a relatively young (and hence relatively inexperienced) age in a fairly senior role with perhaps only one or two more senior finance people above you. Even if they are good, it is a very shallow talent pool to learn from. A mentor therefore can help you ‘mentally mature’, hone your decision making, cope with daily stresses, deal with difficult situations, improve as a manager or leader, manage upwards, improve your profile and credibility and build your own personal brand – in effect be the best version of yourself.However, it is worth noting what a mentor is NOT. They are not there to tell you what to do. They are not there to make decisions for you. They are not there to do your job for you. If that is what you are looking for then a mentor is not the solution.Why I became a Mentor:It was a very easy decision for me. By nature, I love helping others (it’s why I’ve loved recruitment for nearly 30 years) and I benefitted so much from formal and informal mentors myself.As an aside, a formal mentor is someone who takes responsibility for mentoring you. Informal mentors are people you surround yourself with who you know you can learn so much from just by being associated with them. There are dozens if not hundreds of people I would class as informal mentors to me; people who probably believe that I have helped them and probably don’t realise just how much they have helped me. Osmosis again!Mentoring someone is surprisingly two-way. You are there to benefit them, but you often benefit from the dynamic yourself. Mentees frequently inspire you to think differently in the same way you hope to inspire them. If you like helping people, then few things are as satisfying as being a mentor. When your mentee has a huge challenge and they are lost at sea, helping them find their way of navigating those choppy waters is one of the most satisfying things you can do. They feel fulfilled. You feel fulfilled.Finding a Mentor:It would be very difficult to try and find a random person to be your mentor. Chances are it will be someone you know well enough to admire and respect. Possibly a colleague, a customer, a supplier, a relative or a friend.You probably need to know them in advance to be sure you’d feel comfortable opening up to them; and be sure they would operate in the strictest of confidence.My first mentor was one of my customers. He was (is) a chartered accountant and at the time had been a partner in private equity for many years. He was inspirational, knowledgeable, vastly experienced in business and because of his private equity experience, had dealt with every size and type of business and every type of management team. I was very nervous asking him, but I plucked up the courage and was surprised by how flattered and delighted he was to be asked.Pick a mentor who might have enjoyed the career and experiences that you hope to achieve yourself. Luckily in finance it’s likely that you have already been exposed to such people.Identify who you’d want and simply ask them in a manner that shows how much you respect them. Give them a very easy way out so they don’t feel trapped in to agreeing ‘I know how very busy you are so there’s absolutely no problem at all if you haven’t got the time or for that matter, if being a mentor just doesn’t appeal to you’.How to be a good mentor:I suspect this is the one area I am least qualified to speak with authority on. I hope I’m a decent mentor, but would I be told if I wasn’t?There are some very sensible things that you can do or avoid doing though:Do ask what they want to get out of the meetingsDo ask what they don’t want to cover Do ask lots of questions; questions where the mentee presents the potential answers.Do explore reasoning; ‘Why’ is not an aggressive questionDo give ideas if requested toDo listenDon’t tellDon’t do it for themDo agree what actions they want to deliver before the next meeting (if that’s something they want you to do)Don’t berate them if they haven’t done what they said they were going to do – you aren’t their managerDon’t be emotional. Be factual. The regularity of the meetings is entirely up to the mentee. I always liked 1 hour every 2-3 months but that’s me. Final Thoughts:Finance is a multifaceted, technical, regulated and challenging discipline. It has huge risks if mistakes are made and can have more ethical/integrity dilemmas than many jobs. Having a mentor in finance can therefore have huge benefits.From a career development perspective, they can make all the difference. Therefore:Decide on what kind of support and advice you would like.Decide what you are trying to achieve in your business and your career.Figure out what kind of prson might have the experience that would be valuable.Do you know anyone like that?Don’t be shy, ask them. Ask them the way I mentioned earlier, and they’ll be flattered (and more likely to say yes).A dog may be for life, but a Mentor doesn’t have to be. If it isn’t working (they all lose their benefit over time) move on to another.Consider doing the same for someone else and mentoring them.

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Just occasionally, though very rarely - so rarely that for many people it never happens - a life changing career opportunity comes along; for the lucky ones it may happen once, or if they’re very lucky indeed twice in their entire careers. I’ve seen them in my professional capacity and can confirm they are rare.

It happened to me, once, 24 years ago and by pure luck I spotted it (though I’m not sure I really understood what it was) and of course, that is when I joined Sharp Consultancy. I had three other offers the same week; two with Plc’s and yet I joined a fledgling business, with four employees, on the lowest salary of the four offers and went ‘backwards’ to be a trainee again after eight years of (slowly) climbing the ladder in banking. Family and friends thought I was bonkers.

I’ve seen many people miss their moment by either failing to see it or, more often, failing to grasp it. Their reasons are varied an I’ll go in to that a little later. First of all, what is a life changing career move?

Let’s start by saying what it isn’t. Most moves are progressive; they follow a similar path, perhaps with an elevated trajectory, but the theme and flavour doesn’t change materially. There is NOTHING at all wrong with these moves, indeed we could describe them as normal. Most people go through their entire working lives having nothing other than ‘progressive’ career moves; they climb the ladder, enjoy their work, get satisfaction from what is important to them - financial reward, responsibility, autonomy, status or anything else. They’re happy. No reason not to be.

A life changing career move is one that changes not just your job but changes the direction of your life. It changes the lives of those around you and that change, for you and your family and friends is material. It’s when you look back and say “Where would I have been today if I hadn’t……….?” It’s when you were able to achieve things you never thought you were capable of (again, I mean things that are important to you - these may include status and financial reward but may not be what’s important to everyone). It’s a feeling beyond being satisfied. It’s often hard for you to believe.

Occasionally the reason someone doesn’t grasp the opportunity is that they don’t see it. More often however, they see it but walk away. In my years doing this job I believe there are predominantly four reasons why someone walks away. All are understandable. Rarely are they conscious. It helps if you can see any one of them in yourself but that isn’t easy and, equally, it’s difficult to have someone point them out to you (chances are you won’t like having it pointed out and you’ll shoot the messenger ). Once you calm down and think it through rationally, you might just agree. So what are they?

1) Fear. Fear of change, fear of growth, fear of the unfamiliar. This is natural – we are
programmed to be frightened of certain things (think of all the phobias out there: heights,
confined spaces, snakes, spiders, horses [OK that last one is just me]). Whether it’s the first
time you have to speak publicly, the day you get married, go to university, you leave home
and a whole plethora of other things, it is natural. What isn’t natural is allowing it to control
you otherwise you’d never do or achieve anything (though that’s sometimes easier said than
done).

2) Self Confidence. Or rather the lack thereof. This is a huge topic and one I am not
qualified to comment on in any sort of professional capacity but have seen first-hand how
crippling it can be. Interestingly though, I am stunned by how many hugely successful
people suffer with this yet still find a way through or past it. It never leaves them but they
are able to override it. In fact, I think for some people it is the reason for their success;
always striving to prove to themselves they are worthy, they are good enough and they
push and push themselves to fantastic heights. Over the years, many CFO’s, MD’s,
CEO’s and partners in major accounting firms and private equity houses have all
confided in me that they have a problem with self-confidence. You really wouldn’t
have known if they hadn’t told you. Though it can lead to success, sadly, it rarely
leads to happiness. Listen to those around you and what they say about you - it’s often a
more positive view of you than the view you hold of yourself. Take heart from this, theirs is
usually the more accurate one and isn’t coloured by your lack of self-confidence.

3) Ego. This gets in the way for so many people. They would rather do a job they don’t
enjoy, in an environment they don’t like, for a boss they can’t stand - even to the extent it
has negative effects on them and on their relationship with their families and their friends
- because they are an ‘ABC Director’ for one of the world’s most prestigious Plc’s/investment
banks/private equity houses/management consultancies/firms of accountants – delete as
appropriate. After all, what would they say to their friends if they moved to do something
less prestigious, or, heaven forbid, on a lower salary, even if it was more enjoyable?
It doesn’t fit with their self-image. There’s a sticker that you often see on the back of cars
(Land Rovers normally) that if I recall correctly reads ‘One life. Live it’. Good advice. Do what
makes you happy. There really isn’t much else that counts, especially not ego.

4) Intransigence. Perhaps inflexible is a better word. If you’re ambitious you need goals
and if you have goals you need a plan. A career plan is a very good thing. I’ve seen people
achieve great things without a plan - but very rarely - and it always involves either unbelievable
luck or a level of brilliance that is simply in a different league to everyone else – both unlikely.
So Plan = Good. That well known 19th century Prussian Commander, Helmuth von Moltke
was credited with saying ‘No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy’. So Plan = Good.
The flexibility to change plan as need or opportunity arises = better.

Let’s say you had the goal to be a millionaire by the time you were 40 (ignore whether this is a
noble goal or not) and you had a plan about how you’d achieve it - how much you would save,
where it would be invested and so on. It’s a 20 year plan. After 10 years someone came along
and offered to give you the winning lottery ticket. Who wouldn’t take it and save themselves a
further 10 years of effort without guarantee of success? I’ll exaggerate now to prove a point
but the exaggeration is nowhere near as great as you might think.

Let’s imagine now that you wanted to be a CFO by the time you were 40 and you were offered the chance to be interviewed (we’ll assume good company, relevant opportunity etc) for a CFO role when you were 36 years old. Some people would jump at it. But a lot – and more than you would think - won’t because they have a plan and this wasn’t part of the plan. They walk away from the opportunity because “I have a good chance of making CFO where I am in under four years’ time, IF my boss retires a bit early when he’s 55 as he thinks he might, and IF Andy gets that move overseas that he’s looking for, that means Sarah will probably get promoted IF she passes the internal panel interviews and no-one externally who’s better comes along, and as long as that happens and IF the economy stays strong then I should get my chance at promotion to CFO IF I too pass the internal panel interviews, which should be in the next three or four years, all being well”. That probably made you laugh. A version of that happens all the time.

Life is a race. Some win, some don’t. ‘That’s life’ as the saying goes. A career is a race. Some win, some don’t, some don’t even bother entering. It’s a surprisingly short race. For most people after 40 years it’s over - and of that 40 most of the climb is completed in the first 20. And of that 20 a surprisingly large amount of ground has to be covered in the first 10. So if you’re in a race, try and ride the best horse. We can’t all ride the favourite, sometimes because we’re not good enough to ride it (a fact, not a criticism) and sometimes because we don’t like the favourite. But if you can’t or don’t want to be aboard the favourite make sure you’re sat on one of the front-runners. You might like the 100-1 horse but 99 times out of 100 you will lose. The favourite doesn’t always win, but there’s a lot more at stake than a £10 bet; there’s your career and a large part of your life - at least bet with a good chance of winning.

A final thought. There are no guarantees. Odds on favourites lose. Things out of your control can get in the way. Play the odds and opportunities as they arise. A lifelong friend of mine from my school days (now an FD) at the age of 48 achieved what he had always wanted; he did a MBO – 3 months before the pandemic struck. His business is in a sector that will struggle. Hindsight now shows us he may have been better not doing that MBO. But that was his Life Changing Career Move moment and he knew it and jumped at it. My heart goes out to him. It wasn’t his fault. That’s (rather crappy) life. Thankfully he’s immensely talented and level headed; his plans have changed, his company’s plans have changed and he and his business will probably find a way through. I hope so. Back to that car bumper sticker. One life. Live it.

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WHAT IS A ‘LIFE CHANGING CAREER MOVE’ AND HOW DO YOU SPOT ONE

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