ryan russell

continuation of financial thoughts for young leaders who are steering clear of this area because the want to focus on ‘their specialty’.

• make a budget (or find out what it is) for your area
  • start watching it weekly for 2 months, then bi-weekly for 4 months then move to monthly as you are ready and have a handle on things
  • if your budget worksheets from the accounting dept. are too complicated, consider making your own excel spreadsheet to keep track of things.
• set a goal for a speicifc program or line item that is audacious then work your butt off to hit it.
  • it might be a sales goal, a savings/under budget goal or change of procedure
• take leadership of the bottom line
  • as you watch the budget more closely you will begin to see things that didn’t stand out to you before (waste, over spending, un-needed expense lines, low revenue numbers, etc.). rather than letting them be money in and money out, take control — make a positive change for the betterment of your organization.
• take it personally as a reflection of your leadership
  • in most leadership environments (i am not familiar with government work) how you manage the bottom line is the most direct measure of your leadership. you will not be given more responsibility if you can not manage money. there are very few places where you can climb in leadership and not have to savvey and sound with the dollar.
• read regularly
  • your reading list should include 2-4 books annually on some aspect of money and you should be learning the importance of investing  PLUS the markets.