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Marsha Lindquist of Granite Leadership Strategies believes certain realities of the business world are carved in stone. Her book, “Why Are You Still Working Your A** Off”, distills her 3 decades of experience into a compendium of knowledge on the subject of employing resources more effectively. Today, the longtime financial strategist brings her unique point of view to the table, issuing some much-needed straight talk into the do-it-all leadership culture.
[1:27] Born to Calculate
Marsha Lindquist proudly proclaims herself as a lifelong cruncher of numbers. Although her aptitude for organizational leadership was developed later in life, the question of how she got into finance has its answer in the formative years of her childhood. In her words, she was born into the industry, developing an early fascination with the concept of money that she parlayed into a career in accounting. The thrills in Lundquist’s professional life come when she is able to turn a profit for her clients’ companies as well as in her own organization.
[2:01] Names and Numbers
While her natural inclination for enumeration gave her career plenty of momentum from the outset, she considers her most marketable skill making the abstract tangible. Her focus is on making ideas such as efficiency and productivity into actionable advice for the clients she serves. For Lindquist, every effect is measurable by the resources dedicated to it. By promoting a more complete understanding of resource management, she is able to provide real value for clients by lowering their cost of doing business.
[2:59] Inspiration vs Implementation
Leadership demands limitless challenges be addressed with limited resources. The veteran consultant finds coordination among the team leaders tasked with the groundwork for change to be an essential ingredient for success. Department heads, from HR and finance to management and outreach, should come away from a consultation with a common sense of their shared goals. To Lindquist, it is essential that decision makers at every organizational level understand not only what their team wants to accomplish, but why.
[4:02] Brass Tacks and Hard Facts
Lindquist points to intimate understanding of an organization’s finances as a core factor in its success. While surface level metrics such as a positive profit-loss report or a healthy supply of cash on hand can present a picture of health, they can also obscure larger issues. For this accountant at heart, a rudimentary understanding of finance is not enough for the leader with an eye on the future. A decision maker who lacks a thorough familiarity with the finances of a business may suffer unwitting losses in both immediate profits and opportunity cost.
[5:14] Monthly Metric Maintenance
In order to attain a comprehensive view of the way money moves through your business, Lindquist recommends keeping regular tabs on certain key metrics. Profit/loss statements, balance sheets, and general ledgers should always be reviewed on a monthly basis, but some businesses benefit from even more in-depth examination. Complex organizations that rely on consistent innovation should be keeping careful track of each project’s costs to help keep investment levels and profit potential proportionate.
[8:58] Delegation is Growth
Keeping a constant eye on the financial health of a business can prove overwhelming for small business owners. To Lindquist, this highlights the importance of hiring the right person to do each job, and holding them accountable for their performance. In her own organization, she employs a dedicated bookkeeper along with an accountant to organize data into easily digestible forms. By employing a big picture perspective instead of getting mired in minutiae, she is better able to identify potential problems and make more confident decisions.
About Marsha Lindquist:
Website: https://graniteleadershipstrategies.com/marsha-lindquist/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshalindquist1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marshagovcon?lang=en
Connect with MindTeam Solutions:
Website: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/mindteamsolutions
Email: Info@MindTeamSolutions.com
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/mindteamsolutions