A problem shared is a problem halved - but a problem solved is heaven

Dear

IFRS3 (revised)? IR20? ISA 600 (also) revised? Which one is your poison? Know it inside out? Up half the night reading it? Wonder if anyone really cares? How’s the workload? OK. Enough said.

Hi! I’m Carol McLachlan. You may remember me as an accountant, passionate about personal development. Or you may know the 21st century me, as theaccountantscoach.

Either way, as a coach and a CA working closely with accountants and their colleagues, I’ll bet the refrain above rings some bells.

But fear not, fellow accountants, The Accountant’s Coach is here and help is at hand. This is what coaching is all about: I use my extensive accountancy experience to solve your problems, ease your pain, and put your personal you in synch with your professional you.

In short, I can make your life better – and at the same time contribute to your CPD plan!

So from now on I’ll be emailing you The Accountant’s Coach each month with valuable tips on solving the workplace problems you tell me keep you awake at night:

• How do you find the human being lurking inside your boss (or inside your junior, for that matter)?
• Why are meetings and presentations like trudging through treacle?
• Why, after motivation sessions, do your team call you 'Adolf'?
• Why do you behave like a doormat when you’re with your major client?
• Can they sack you for saying 'no'?

We’ll not just focus on skills. We’ll also focus on the inherent resources you find inside yourself. Optimise these resources, and you’ll improve your quality of life at work

I’ll be showing you, as well, novel approaches to leadership and interpersonal skills that will help you fulfil your CPD requirements. You’ll boost your self-esteem, improve your work-life balance and really optimise the value that you get from your ongoing investment in personal and professional development.

Thinking Differently

As a taster, let’s reflect this month on Thinking Differently. Try a little blue sky thinking, or thinking outside the box.

Consider routine. For dancers or ice-skaters, their routine is their success. For others, routine is an excuse: it’s far more comfortable than change.

But a third way of looking at routine says that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results... is the definition of madness (as attributed to dear old Albert Einstein).

So let’s think again about that workload that’s killing you. Do you always tackle it in the same way? Under the same conditions? In the same order?
And if so, why? And more importantly, why not try and make one small change this week?

You’ll find lots of ideas in the Time Management section at www.theaccountantscoach.com. But it really doesn’t have to be anything mega. Just start to move out of that groove by making one tiny change. Shift your order of play. Eliminate a task. Take an enforced lunch break.

Or email theaccountantscoach with your dilemma and I’ll answer it next month.

I’m here to help!

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