Chapter 4
Attitudes for Success

Your attitude determines your altitude! You determine your attitude.

Introduction

Without knowing who you are, I can guarantee that you already have the technical and other skills that you need to be successful. However, there are two attitudes that separate those who are successful in this contractor position from those who are not. These attitudes also apply to the person who chooses to serve as a part-time CFO or Controller.

The first attitude will improve as you take on more projects. Quickly developing this attitude, which I coin as “Teflon-coated mental toughness,” will serve you in many ways.

A duck is considered waterproof, as are most birds. The duck can stay in frigid waters and not feel the cold or damp. This waterproofing describes the first attitude that will help your success as a Hired Gun. This is not to say that you lack this. You also do not lack the three sights that make up the Fortune Teller Attitude.

The Fortune Teller Attitude is the awareness that you have a tremendous amount of knowledge that you can use at any time. Use your hindsight, foresight, and insight in ways that benefit your client.

This chapter serves as a reminder that you will need both of these attitudes and for you to reinforce them occasionally.

After completing this chapter you should be able to

• Define the plusses and minuses of being a contractor instead of an employee.

• Explain how you benefit by redefining yourself as your own employer and boss.

• Know how to adopt the attitude of Teflon-coated mental toughness.

• Understand why you must stay away from office politics and meetings.

• Recognize the reasons that it is easy to blur the role between contactor and employee.

• Use your three special sights to make you indispensable as a resource.

What Mindset Does the Contract Controller Need?

Please see exhibit 4-1 for an example of the advantages and disadvantages of the contract controller position.

Contractor’s Mindset

For those of you reading this book who work for a public accounting firm and are contracted out to a client as their unofficial Controller, this discussion of the contractor’s mindset will seem unnecessary.

Please keep in mind that a majority of CPAs who choose to be a contract Controller were once regular everyday employees. For many of them this is likely their first opportunity to serve as a contractor or consultant who accepts the responsibilities that the everyday Controller has. They need a gentle reminder that they are a consultant.

As a Hired Gun, you will sit in the Controller or CFO’s chair for 20 to 50 hours a week and perform all the normal functions that an employee does, you will interact with employees as an employee does, you will be vital to the organization’s success. Yet you get compensated by the hour. You will naturally become emotionally tied to your client. If you were an employee prior to becoming a contractor, you developed emotional connections to your employers; you were loyal to them and respected them.

You find yourself in a position doing everything their employee would do except the terms of your employment relationship are different.

Not everyone needs this reminder. In my interactions with the scores of Hired Guns whom I have had the pleasure to meet since 1992, 75 percent of them needed this reminder about the contractor’s mindset.

There are more reasons why someone like you who is contemplating being a Hired Gun must adopt a different attitude.

Exhibit 4-1

The Pluses and Minuses of the Contract Controller Position

Advantages
For You:	For the Hiring Company:
flexibility less commitment new challenges and skills immediate impact constantly marketing yourself life balance excitement less pressure no political games	flexibility less commitment lower cost immediate impact higher caliber person higher caliber talent and skills “just in time” help low risk no emotional attachment to job
Disadvantages
For You:	For the Hiring Company:
undependable source of income selecting the right company little notice of termination lack of stability constant marketing of yourself focus on short-term solutions little or no benefits high risk	recruitment time selecting the right candidate higher cost lack of stability less reliance on one employee focus on short-term solutions consultant may need time to fit in limits on contractor’s time and availability

1. You Control Your Own Destiny

THE GREAT JOB RECESSION OF 2008-2010

In the past three years, over eight million jobs have been eliminated. Many of these may never return.

Semi-permanent Unemployment

In Washington State alone, over 200,000 accountants, finance managers, bankers, construction employees, and blue collar specialists lost their full-time jobs. It will take years for those jobs to come back, if they return at all. A majority of these laid off workers, who have degrees, experience, and useable skills, are unable to find meaningful work. In this Great Job Recession, the average time for being out of work has exploded from several months to years.

Denial

The problem when it comes to losing your job is that you can easily slip into a state of denial, believing that this is only a temporary condition.

Self-Esteem Concerns

When your job disappears, you lose a support system that is often your reason for living —a sort of external motivator. Far too many employees invest their lives in their careers and, unfortunately, define themselves by a job or career. If you often introduce yourself by saying “I am a CPA” or “I am an accountant,” then you probably have fallen into this mindset, as well. Therefore, your self-esteem suffers when your job or career is taken from you.

The Retirement Gap

Only a few years ago, nearly 40 percent of employees at large and medium-size companies had a guaranteed pension plan. Today, only 15 percent of workers have any sort of guaranteed retirement benefits. This retirement gap extends from the Boomers, who are close to retirement, all the way to those in their twenties, who are just joining the work force.

TRANSFORMATION OF JOBS AND PAY

Currently, we are in a major disruption and restructuring of the workforce, about work itself, and how workers and their pay are defined. Just like today, America and the rest of the world have gone through several of these major jobs transformations in the past.

One of the first job transformations was when we changed from a nation subsisting on agriculture and sole proprietors to one that relied on huge businesses and factories that mass-produced products. The next transformation was when these large factories were shuttered and the jobs were moved to second-world countries while, locally, service jobs replaced blue collar jobs. Again, a smaller disruption occurred when jobs were redefined and paychecks depended upon one’s ability to employ technology and one’s degree or education.

2. You Are Your Boss and Employer

No one knows for sure exactly what redefinement of work and pay we are moving towards, but it is clear that most of the jobs that exist today and have existed in the past ten years (for example, bank tellers, research assistants, librarians, journalists, draftsmen, and cashiers) are being phased out of existence.

The solution is to see yourself as an independent contractor instead of a regular and full-time employee. In order to do this, you must accept the premise that you most likely will not work for just one employer for more than a few years, and may work several jobs simultaneously.

You must also believe that you will work in a specific career or profession for only a decade or so, before finding another one with a future. Finally, you must recognize that you are in control of your employment destiny.

WAYS TO FINE TUNE YOUR ATTITUDE

A few things you can do to help you adopt this “I Am My Own Employer” attitude are

• Establish ownership for all your work and work products.

• Define your unique assets or talents, past and present.

• Prove your worth to your existing employer every day.

• Continually reinvent yourself by investing in learning new things.

• Seek out the ways that your current skills are transferable to other professions.

• Create a positive focal point in your life that is outside of work, such as a hobby or avocation.

The Attitude of Teflon-Coated Toughness

To be a successful advisor and worker, the contract and part-time Controller needs to develop a mental toughness.

This toughness is required because you will find yourself stuck in the middle on many issues.

Your client’s leaders will look to you for advice and counsel but will also treat you as an outsider or worse, a management spy.

It is hard for most people to feel comfortable in this insider/outsider role. Many contract and part-time Controllers are asked to work themselves out of a job, which is a painful experience.

I coined the term for this mindset using the metaphor of Teflon, which is a material that holds up to heavy use and high temperatures. Yet, Teflon keeps a smoothness that prevents sticking. By putting Teflon with the word toughness, it describes an attitude of being supportive, concerned, and caring, yet being able to stay emotionally unattached.

Reasons for This Attitude

These are the many reasons you need Teflon-coated mental toughness. Some are expected, while a few are strange but true.

• You are a contractor serving as an employee, which puzzles some employees.

• Employees do not understand your role or why you were not hired as an employee.

• The person who hired you may not have explained why you were hired.

• The person you work for may have built up tremendous expectations about what you can do.

• Employees have a natural wariness when dealing with consultants.

• Members of the accounting team often think that you are there to take their jobs away.

• Besides results, the client is looking to you for specific advice on how to improve things.

• The client and their employees know that each time they talk with you it is costing the company money; so they try to have very little interaction with you.

• You may fill the seat of an employee who is popular and is missed.

• No one quite understands your authority or why you are asking them to do things for you.

• You are asked to supervise and direct employees, yet you are not their official supervisor.

• You may be required to give accounting employees a performance evaluation, yet you have only worked with them for a short period of time and will be gone soon.

• You are not always available when they need you, which can be unsettling to some employees.

• You stay focused and on task and do not participate in normal office activities, yet you are in the office every day.

• Finally, you are a high-powered CPA, yet you are not the auditor. So why are you there?

How to Develop a Tough, Non-Stick Attitude

Tips for developing a tough, non-stick attitude include

• See yourself as an outside advisor.

• Keep a mental distance from those within.

• Remind yourself and others of what your role is.

• Keep up your networking activities.

• Expect to be asked to leave at any time.

SEE YOURSELF AS AN OUTSIDE ADVISOR

As I stated earlier, you need to understand that you are hired as an outsider. Most of the time, what your client expects from you is clarity. It could be clear thinking on what is not working or new ideas on how to improve what is currently being done.

Falling into the employee mode is easy for someone who is hired as a contractor for the first time.

One of the Hired Guns I coach was an employee for over 25 years and is in his second year as a contract professional. Six months into every new project, he forgets that he is an outside advisor. When I notice this, I remind him that his client wants specific suggestions about improvements that regular employees are missing. After many reminders, he develops a long list of specific things that his client can do to make things more productive. He recognizes his habit and appreciates my gentle reminder to see himself as an outside advisor.

KEEP A MENTAL DISTANCE FROM THOSE WITHIN

Look back at the laundry list of reasons that you need to develop a Teflon-coated mental toughness. Most of them are related to how the people you work with will relate to and perceive you. You also must remind yourself on a regular basis to keep a mental distance from those you work with.

Here are a few suggestions that helped me and other contractors:

• Prepare a weekly report for your client on the achievements you have made for them.

• Develop a written “suggestions for improvement” report and present this to your client on a regular basis.

• Excuse yourself from most staff, office, or company meetings that have nothing to do with your role.

• Avoid the normal office chitchat that happens in hallways and after meetings.

• Do not go to lunch with employees on a regular basis unless it is for a business reason.

• Refrain from attending office parties.

• Do not get involved with the office grapevine.

• If you are on a long-term assignment (over three years), decline from receiving longevity or milestone recognition.

• If you are on a long-term assignment do not participate in employee of the month recognition.

REMIND YOURSELF AND OTHERS OF WHAT YOUR ROLE IS

As I stated earlier, your client will probably do one of two things. He will probably not explain the specific reasons why you are hired or will play up your background and accomplishments as the reasons you are hired.

The first scenario will create a tremendous amount of skepticism and wariness about why you are there. Employees, when they are in a difficult situation, worry that they will be terminated. Suddenly, you show up as the expert and their fear escalates.

The second scenario also creates a tremendous amount of skepticism and wariness about you specifically. Employees have a natural fear of consultants and the more that your client builds you up, the more of a target you become.

This strategy will help you in these two scenarios and will serve to get you out of unnecessary expectations that others will place upon you.

Example: You are a stand-in for their regular Controller who is out on family leave. This person, whose chair you sit in, spends hours each day answering employees’ questions. In your capacity, as a consultant who is expected to streamline the accounting department, you cannot afford to spend half of those precious hours solving other people’s problems.

Employing this strategy whenever someone comes to you with a question, you can ask: “Does this issue have to do with streamlining the accounting department?” If the answer is “no,” then you tactfully inform them: “My sole purpose for being here is to improve our accounting processes. All my energy and time is focused on that goal.” You then suggest other people who can offer assistance.

I find this to be a very common issue that all Hired Guns face. Employees will use the contract Controller or CFO as their sounding board and crutch. This habit is detrimental to your success as a Hired Gun.

KEEP UP YOUR NETWORKING ACTIVITIES

A good strategy for keeping your mental distance and seeing yourself as an outsider is to spend a few minutes each day networking with others which serves you in two ways. First, you have the opportunity to use other professionals as your sounding board for the issues that you are currently facing and the opportunity to return the favor. Second, you will soon be out of a job and you need to be on the lookout for your next project or client.

Daily networking will keep you informed about potential work. Feedback from all Hired Guns shows that this business is very cyclical. For several months of the year you will be so busy that you do not have time to breathe. For several months of the year you have very little to do and are worried when the next project will fall into your lap.

By establishing a daily habit of networking by maintaining contacts and making new connections, you will be able to reduce the wild swings in your project work flow.

EXPECT TO BE ASKED TO LEAVE AT ANYTIME

This final strategy may seem superfluous to those who have been contracting for a while and those who work in public accounting. However, this was a painful mistake that I made in my first Hired Gun position. I want others to learn from my mistakes.

MY STORY

For over a decade, I was a Controller and then a CFO in the regular employee capacity. My first opportunity to work under contract popped up unexpectedly. This was not even in my radar but I took a chance. The project was open-ended since the client did not know how long the project would last. About six months into the project, my client Bob, the CEO, came into the office I occupied and said, “Ron, your last day will be in two weeks. It has been great having you here but the shareholders have decided that we can no longer afford to have a CFO.”

My face fell and I tried to hide my disappointment. To me it felt like I was being fired, a painful experience for anyone. Bob noticed the look on my face and said, “Ron, you knew this day was coming. Why are you disappointed?” I assured him that everything was okay and that I understood completely.

As I sat back trying to understand why I was feeling rejected, it hit me. I was emotionally attached to the company. Even though I came in as a contractor, I maintained the attitude of an employee. I had not realized this because it was a habit formed by 25 years of employee status. So, when I developed this book, I purposely listed my mistake as a warning sign to others who are considering becoming a contractor.

The Attitude of the Fortune Teller

The second attitude that you need to be successful is what I coined as the Fortune Teller Attitude. This is the willingness to openly and confidently use your hindsight, foresight, and insight.

Pretend that you have concerns about your future so you visit a fortune teller. She hands you a cup of tea—after you pay her fee—and you talk about your issues and concerns. After finishing your tea, she takes your cup and pours the tea leaves onto a plate. She proceeds to read your future by studying the tea leaves.

This expert you have engaged is using her gift of three special sights to help you sort out what you need to do.

Hindsight

The fortune teller has years of experience and wisdom behind her. If she is any good she has heard about nearly every problem that a person could experience. The fortune teller uses the hindsight of her and others’ experiences in advising you.

The normal person is said to have 20/20 hindsight. The Hired Gun must have 40/20: meaning you can quickly look at the past and identify trends and opportunities. You are experienced. You have been through all sorts of situations. You have listened to the stories of others in CPE sessions or in casual conversations. Believe it or not, your brain has stored all this data, which is accessible whenever you need it. The trick in the Fortune Teller Attitude is to trust yourself. You already know where you are headed. If you do not change your path (or deal with your problem), you know exactly where you will end up.

The first element of the Fortune Teller Attitude is to use your hindsight as an asset.

Example: Before the recession that began in late 2007, many companies thought they had a sound Business Model, because they were profitable. But, once nearly every market shrunk like a balloon with a hole, they went out of business, because they had an irrelevant or outdated business structure or their strategies where flawed.

The question to consider, using your hindsight, is this: Will this pattern of denial continue, or will CEOs learn from this painful experience?

Foresight

You assume that this fortuneteller has the gift of foresight. Yet, foresight is simply understanding the phenomenon of cause and effect. For every action there is a reaction. By paying attention, watching, observing, and testing you too can become an expert on cause and effect. The fortune teller knows this and relies on paying attention, watching, observing, and testing to amaze you with her foresight.

Foresight is not only the ability to think ahead and predict the future; it is also the courage to act on what you predict might take place. People in accounting prefer not to make mistakes, so we fail to act if we do not have sufficient information. The Fortune Teller Attitude requires courage because your trigger point for acting is much lower than your comfort level.

Example: You are collecting data that will lead to an important decision, which needs to be made quickly. If no information is “0” and full information is “100,” the time for you to act is at “60.”

The willingness to act sooner than later takes a tremendous faith in your own abilities and is a crucial element of this Fortune Teller Attitude.

Example: The preliminary results of the 2010 election seem to indicate that small businesses will win, since the GOP claims to promote their interests. However, it is also clear Congress will hold any improvements to the economy hostage to get what they want —full control of all branches of the government. The question to consider, using your foresight, is this: Will those who truly represent the interests of small businesses work cooperatively to make sure businesses have the means to prosper and hire people?

Insight

The fortune teller tells you the meaning of the tea leaves because she deeply understands human nature. Believe it or not, people are predictable. We all have the same wants, desires, dreams, hopes, and fears. The fortune teller uses this knowledge or insight to say the things that will make you believe what she says is true. Even before your appointment with the fortune teller, you already knew what you needed to do; you just could not admit it to yourself.

The third element of the Fortune Teller Attitude is insight. All too often accountants tend to take things at face value or rely only on numbers. You give a financial statement to a client without saying anything. You hand a batch of reports to the executive committee without comment. You prepare a special analysis report for someone who requested it and never take the time to reveal the insights that you gleaned from your work.

As a person with a deep background of financial accomplishments, you have tremendous insight that very few other people in your organization or business have. It is our gift and yet for some reason we are timid in sharing this insight. The people in business who get the highest financial rewards are those who are willing to share their insights and the courage to stand behind them.

Example: I recently consulted with a professional services firm that had high employee turnover and was not profitable all year round —only in busy season. Using your insight, the question to consider is this: Are issues such as turnover, dissension, and lack of employee engagement problems or symptoms?

Using my insight, I knew that those were symptoms and not the cause of the problem. After asking lots of questions and looking at the firm objectively, I found that the problems were caused by the culture. Once we made sure all the partners supported one culture and a unified set of values, these lingering problems vanished.

PUTTING THEM ALL TOGETHER

The fortune teller, who some people assume has the ability to read the future, is merely a person using the three elements that you need to be successful as a contract Controller or CFO:

• Hindsight

• Foresight

• Insight

Conclusion

Because you are filling the position of Controller, one that may have been or could be occupied by a regular employee, you must first recognize that you are an independent agent brought in to solve a problem. Yet with all the responsibilities that the typical Controller has, it is easy for the Hired Gun to fall into an employee mindset.

This mindset, which can be described as, “I love solving problems and I am always here to help!” can make you ineffective and especially unproductive. To be successful as a contract professional, you must develop an attitude of Teflon-coated mental toughness.

Before you can fully recognize the importance of this attitude, it is good to review the advantages and disadvantages of going into a contractor situation. You are the only one who can determine if the advantages outweigh the negatives or the reverse.

The Fortune Teller Attitude reminds you to use three special sights to help both your client and you solve the client’s issues. You already have the gifts of hindsight, foresight, and insight. See these as something beneficial and valuable.

Now that you have a good understanding of these two key attitudes, we will quickly move into the skills that ensure your success as a Hired Gun.