Leaders of Modern Finance – Adapting to New Environments, Hosted by Ben Murray ft. Nick Gerostathos
On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast, Ben Murray, Founder of The SaaS CFO, is joined by Nick Gerostathos, SVP, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller at Talkdesk.
From Public Accounting to Private Enterprise
Nick’s foray into the financial field came through his work at PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms. It was there that he received his crash course in bookkeeping, auditing and technical financial reporting. As Nick puts it, this phase of his career focused on analyzing data at the end of its life cycle, having already run its course through various organizational systems and processes. Learning how to work with this type of financial information, that was more or less fixed, built the bedrock that gave Nick the requisite knowledge to build more fluid financial plans. Nick’s time at PwC also allowed him to spend time abroad, helping private companies scale and eventually go public, added experience that would prove valuable later on in his career.
From public accounting, Nick then transitioned into several controllership roles at different multinational corporations. In contrast to his previous work, these positions offered Nick an up-close look at financial operations, whereas before he had only seen these operations in the form of their end product. Rather than analyze fixed data, he was now working to develop that data, forming financial plans from scratch to help steer the operations of massive organizations. These organizations were often public companies, so Nick had the opportunity to work on the other side of the tracks. Rather than helping businesses scale and go public, he now worked alongside colleagues with years of experience in managing a public company. Being part of such teams offered tremendous opportunities for Nick’s professional development. He was surrounded by fellow financial leaders with experience in the fluid nature of FP&A and it opened doors for Nick to become a more robust financial executive.
Change as a Development Tool
More than any one role, Nick credits much of his professional development to his shifts between roles throughout his career, especially his transition from public to private accounting. First among the lessons learned in his career shift, was the training he received in communication and in developing professional relationships.
During Nick’s time at PwC, much of his work fell under the banner of client-contractor relationships. While still important, these relationships could be short-lived and shallow, revolving around specific assignments and on a temporary basis. In then becoming a controller at the kind of organization that would have once been Nick’s client, the team dynamics shifted dramatically. The work became much more creative, he was having to develop plans and operations rather than align data with existing systems. This in turn required a more collaborative effort. Nick had to develop long-term professional relationships and communicate constantly with the team to creatively overcome ever-changing challenges. Learning to communicate with leaders across departments and develop relationships that allowed for greater team cohesion were important skills that helped Nick become a more well-rounded financial professional.
Besides becoming a better communicator and team member, his transition after PwC afforded Nick the chance to hone his skills in working with financial data. The world of FP&A is a very different one from that of basic auditing and bookkeeping. As Nick puts it, rather than being comfortable with systems that were 95% perfect (as in his public accounting days), he was now being asked to squeeze another 3% efficiency out of such systems. At times it involved a complete reshuffling of resources and often meant collaborating with unfamiliar departments. It meant that Nick was expanding not only his understanding of financial operations but also of the business as a whole. It broadened his understanding of data acquisition and how KPIs were used. This was especially important for Nick’s evolving philosophy on management, where he strove to make his team a financial partner to organizational leaders, rather than simply a technical team fulfilling an accounting function.
It was precisely Nick’s entrance into this new field that provided the opportunity for him to learn and develop these valuable new skills. Instead of beginning his financial journey in the private industry, he was coming from a background that taught him a very different approach to financial leadership. Thus, he wasn’t just learning new skills, but also learning how to adapt to an unfamiliar environment. Every chance to improve his communication or his familiarity with a new financial system was also an exercise in broader flexibility and growth potential. So, with every new opportunity, Nick wasn’t just growing his financial skillset, but also his leadership intuitions and general versatility across industries.
Being Intentionally Uncomfortable
Because of Nick’s own professional experience, shifting between industries is something he encourages his fellow financial leaders to pursue for the sake of their growth and development. To do so, however, comes with a few caveats.
First, according to Nick, undertaking such a transition requires openness and transparency. When working as part of a team, trust is part of what makes growth possible, and putting up barriers between communication hinders the ability of the team to hold each other accountable and pull each upward.
Hand in hand with openness comes humility. To join a large organization is to be surrounded by people more knowledgeable and skilled than yourself, almost by definition. While the temptation to compete may be strong, Nick encourages financial leaders to see these skilled and competent colleagues as resources from which to learn. Willingness to admit that you’re not the smartest person in the room is the first step in furthering your own knowledge.
These characteristics are helpful for all financial professionals but are essential to those seeking to place themselves in an unfamiliar environment for the sake of growth. The transition on its own is not enough to make a skilled financial leader. Professional development can only occur when that transition is taken on in a spirit of openness and humility.
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