I was not in the boy scouts for long as a child, but the one thing that I took away was their motto always to be prepared. Taylor (2010) stated that preparation is the number one foundation for business success. I credit the obsession of preparedness with my fear of failure. Taylor (2010) also said, “You must take responsibility for everything that can impact your preparation and performance. To ensure that you are doing everything you can to achieve your goals, you must take responsibility for everything that might influence your efforts” (para. 9).
I am always thinking of obstacles that may get in my way as I attempt to complete a goal or project. I want to do my best in every situation, so I try to think of everything that could hinder my performance. I also always try to have things completed early in case anything unplanned does come up that affects the project. Northouse (2016) stated that leadership is a process in which the leader affects and is affected by their followers. My preparedness is one of the areas where I have influenced my current leader.
I work as an accountant for a college and our books are in a fiscal year, so June 30th is our “new year’s eve.” All of our journal entries and transfers must be made by June 30th to be in the right fiscal year. Being the prepared and worried person that I am, I always try to have the journal entries that I know must be entered each year completed the week before June 30th. Some of the information needed to complete the journal entries comes from other departments of the college, which worries me every year. My supervisor always told me to finish the journal entries when I get the information, and everything would be okay because everyone in the college knows we must close the books on June 30th.
A couple of years ago my fears were realized when problems arose while closing the books, and we were not able to get everything in by June 30th. The IT department had to recreate a corrupt file which presented a problem. The recreation process took a couple of days, so the funds were not able to be moved on time. Another problem occurred due to computer complications where a journal was not able to be input on time. We received the information needed for the journal entry late in the day on June 30th, so the computer problems pushed us past the deadline. I reference this uneventful accounting story to say this instance caused my boss to begin to listen to me about preparedness.
She now seems to be more prepared in all aspects of the job. I noticed that she will now ask me a couple of weeks before the due date about the progress of a report due to the state. We just went through another June 30th last week, and my supervisor was able to help me get all of my journal entries in a couple of days before the deadline. She contacted the other departments and made sure they were prepared in getting the accounting department all of the pertinent information needed to close the Fiscal Year. We have even had conversations discussing what we would do if some unfortunate event were to take place to plan around the event.
The relationship between my leader and me has developed nicely. She understands my need to be prepared and has taken steps in not only making sure I am prepared, but her other employees are also prepared. We get along great and work together as a team nicely.
One way that our relationship has impacted me is by knowing that I did have some influence in the department. I feel accomplished that I was able to help the organization in a positive way. It is a small thing but preparedness has always been crucial to me, and it is nice to know that my passion for being prepared influenced my leader.
Another area I am passionate about in the workplace is ethics. I think that we as humans should always do the right thing when it comes to work and life in general. Horton (2016) stated “Building on a foundation of ethical behavior helps create long-lasting positive effects for a company” (para. 2). When I began working at the college, my previous supervisor asked me to alter some numbers while preparing a board report.
She was not asking me to change the bottom line but just some of the categories shown on the report. The request floored me. I remember going home and thinking to myself “what am I going to do?” I was new to the organization and did not want to go above her head or cause friction between us. I convinced myself that since I was not changing the bottom line, I would do what she asked of me this time.
To my dismay, this was not the only time she would ask me to do this type of thing. The following quarter, I was also requested to change some numbers in the board report. This time, I had to have an uncomfortable conversation letting her know that I did not believe this was an ethical thing to do and did not feel comfortable making the requested changes. I told her that the board should see the correct numbers and not the altered numbers that show what they want to see. I believe her fear was that she did not want to answer to why the figures were not what they were seeking.
Eventually, I was able to influence her to show the accurate reports each quarter. If the board had questions, then they could be addressed at that time, but the numbers should not be skewed even if it was not changing the bottom line. This relationship was never as friendly as the relationship I have with my current leader. I honestly could never trust or respect her due to her unethical actions. I believe my supervisor hired me because she thought I was young and would do what I was asked. When I did not feel comfortable, she was never pleased with my disobedience. Unfortunately, she was let go a couple of years ago due to disagreements with the new CFO of the college.
The one thing I did take away from this relationship was self-confidence. I was in my mid-twenties, and this was my first accounting job. I was terrified to have a conversation with her about not agreeing with her request. In this instance, I was forced to stick to my beliefs and was not sure about the outcome. In the end, everything worked out well, and my confidence began to grow.
When I first read the prompt for this blog, I thought I am a follower and have not influenced any of my leaders. After contemplating the assignment a couple of days, I realized that my belief in ethics and being prepared did have an impact on my leaders.
References
Horton, M. (2016). Why are business ethics important? Investopedia. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040815/why-are-business-ethics-important.asp
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Taylor, J. (2010). Business: Ten laws of prime business preparation. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201009/business-ten-laws-prime-business-preparation
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