WE ARE ALL MORE THAN OUR RESUMES
At a recent conference a speaker suggested that resumes typically describe work experience but fall far short of capturing a complete picture of our skills. Executives are often engaged in much more than their paid jobs.
This has been the case for me too. For the last several years, in addition to launching a consulting business and holding a full-time corporate position, I have been the President of the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles (UCCLA). I am the first female President of this 80 year old organization and have seen the organization through 2 crises now – COVID-19 and the russian invasion of Ukraine.
Along the way I have learned a great deal. Today’s post is the FINAL post of a multi-part series of posts in which I will share the key lessons I have learned, the mistakes I made and where my financial planning and analysis skillset served me in responding to russia’s invasion of a sovereign country. In the spirit of “making my mess my message” I hope these you find these insights useful.
LESSON 7: Crisis management has an expiration date for everyone
Each crisis has a phase much like the different company stages 1-5 (See The Five Stages of Small-Business Growth (hbr.org)). From the initial onset through the arc to a war of attrition to nearing the end, the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles will transit many phases of a unique situation. After four years of crisis management at the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles, I am seeing that the initial phase of the war is passing. The onset and windstorm of the russian invasion is transitioning into the management the Center in an ongoing war. Much is out of the hands of the Center yet there is still a role to play.
As an FP&A leader I have had the privilege to be part of almost all phases of a company’s growth. That experience gave me the confidence to launch my own FP&A Consulting Firm – FP&A Expertise – Financial Planning and Analysis (fpa-expertise.com). From a strictly FP&A perspective (in contrast to accounting and general financial leadership), most companies are not ready for FP&A at Stage 1. It tends to matter how the organization is capitalized. If there are high investor demands, then the case can be made for an FP&A team as the reporting requirements can be demanding. But typically, an early-stage company is not ready for FP&A as the organization is usually still trying to figure out how to close the books. Once there is a cadence of accounting close processes with a high degree of integrity in the data, then and only then is an organization truly ready for FP&A. Fast moving start ups sometimes do this in parallel – implementing systems and FP&A processes while the close process is still being ironed out. I have found that the volume of change that is still likely in the chart of accounts and posting processes, makes for a bumpy road in setting up reporting systems and internal FP&A processes. The re-work that often ensues may not be worth it depending on the situation. Stage 2 and stage 3 companies are usually the prime entrance point for an FP&A team and this is where I have built many greenfield FP&A teams. From talent selection to system implementation and cross organizational process development, I have had the joy of going from nothing to an effective team for offering the leadership team key insights into the progress of the business and where efficiencies can be tapped. Building the bridge between strategic planning, executive decision making and organizational execution is the true sweet spot of FP&A.
Of the five stages, I had the least amount of experience at Stage 1. Not anymore. Leading the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles through crisis has taught me a tremendous amount about what it is like to be at Stage 1. The volume of blocking and tackling demanded by both the COVID situation and the russian invasion made each day different, stressful and functioned as a muse for creative thinking and problem solving. As I reflect on this experience, one of my initial regrets was that we did not first have a strategy – a lens through which all decisions would be made.
What I learned is that Stage 1 situations are not the place for strategic plans. There is no bandwidth. There are too many moving pieces and any formal strategic plan would be in the trash within minutes of having designed something.
As we approach 1000 days of russian aggression in Ukraine, I can say that the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles is well past Stage 1. Though not yet a well-oiled machine in the context of the war, we have garnered internal expertise in terms of political advocacy, media management, and operational execution for humanitarian relief and financial processes. Much like building out an FP&A organization, you see pockets of expertise aligned with natural abilities bubble up to the top. Then the organization naturally aligns around those experts as problems arise.
Not matter what stage you are in, if you think you need FP&A in your organization or just want to talk about it, this is where I can help.
#financialplanningandanalysis #fpa #finance #companystages #budeting #planning #strategy #process #systems #leadership #management #annualplanning #financialconsulting #executive