FLP, the Finance Leadership Podcast

Latest Episodes:

"Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies and Remittances" with Maxine Ryan, COO of BitSpark (Hong Kong, China). Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

"Have grit and persevere, no matter WHAT happens, because you are so intrigued and attached to an idea."

March's special Women's History Month content series continues. Mballa Mendouga (AICPA & CIMA, Durham, USA) talks to a Hong Kong-born tech disruptor who dropped out of University in her early 20s to launch a multi-million dollar startup called BitSpark. Based in Hong Kong, Bitspark is a remittance platform operating out of Hong Kong which uses blockchain for users to send cash overseas faster at lower exchange rates. It's expanding in traditionally unbanked populations and markets, and also operates a virtual platform for crypto-currency and Bitcoin trading.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH:

Throughout March we'll feature a special selection of interviews with women who've become movers and shakers in the accounting, finance and business professional sphere. There'll be episodes every Wednesday as usual, with 'Friday Focus' episodes for some extra weekend inspiration.

OUR GUEST

Maxine Ryan's passion is freedom of financial services for people. In 2014, she co-founded Bitspark, the world's first cash in, cash out blockchain money transfer platformfor Money Transfer Operators which helps business owners send money better via cryptocurrency solutions world wide. She often speaks at tech and finance events, appears on Bloomberg Live and was selected for Forbes 2018 "30 Under 30". Follow her on Twitter via @MaxieRyan and @BitsparksLtd

LINKS:

Visiting the Chicago area this Spring? Join us on the ground or online for the AICPA & CIMA "CFO Conference" in Chicago this April 24-26th 2019.
Connect with Maxine Ryan via LinkedIn and at www.bitspark.io
Find out more about blockchain, cryptocurrency and financial inclusion with our related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST:

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

GLOBAL VOICES. Interviews with our international experts are recorded by different members of the AICPA & CIMA team from our offices around the world. While the sound quality may vary, the insights will always be consistently useful.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow Maxine on Twitter via @MaxieRyan and @BitsparksLtd

"Reinventing You" with Dorie Clark of Duke University (New York, USA) Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

"What I like to tell people - part of my methodology - is that you have no more, no more, than TWO professional goals at a time."

We begin our month-long special content series for Women's History Month by talking to author, academic and marketing and strategy consultant Dorie Clark.

A frequent contributor to the likes of the Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur and Forbes, she consults and speaks to a diverse range of clients, including Google, the World Bank, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley. In this conversation with Heather O'Connor, Senior Communications Manager for AICPA & CIMA in Durham, USA, Dorie illuminates the topics of personal, professional and organisational reinvention that lie at the core of her best-selling business books.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH:

OUR GUEST

According to the New York Times, Dorle Clark is "...an expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives." She is also an adjunct professor of business administration at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Dorie is the author of best-sellers "Entrepreneurial You"(named One Of The Top 5 Business Books Of The Year by Forbes), "Reinventing You", and "Stand Out" (Named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc, Magazine).

LINKS:

Visiting the Chicago area this Spring? Join us on the ground or online for the AICPA & CIMA "CFO Conference" in Chicago this April 24-26th 2019.
Connect with Dorie Clark via LinkedIn or Dorie Clark.com
Find out more about strategies for organisational, personal and professional reinvention with related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST:

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow @DorieClark, #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News.

"Tech Trends To Watch" with Areiel Wolanow, MD of Finserv Experts (Bristol, UK) Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

"Buzzwords are about the things that are coming, not the things we already have"

Joining us during a business visit to China, Areiel Wolanow is an experienced business leader and former CPA with over 25 years spent working with leading corporations, central banks and financial regulators around the world. He was one of IBM's key thought leaders in blockchain, machine learning, and financial inclusion, a topic particularly close to his heart. Currently serving as insurance industry advisor for the UK Parliament's working group on blockchain, his long experience enables him to shake up perceptions and provide disruptive insights borne of his work at all levels of the profession - as we'll hear in his conversation with AICPA & CIMA's Zinaida Mahmutefendic.

WE DISCUSS:

Digital transformation of business and organisational activities.
AI & RPA and whether they're really as progressive and innovative as we might think.
Tactical advantages.
Blockchain.
Financial Inclusion.
RegTech and other buzzwords - GDPR/AI.
The other IOT. Is it "Internet of Things" or "Intelligence of things"?

OUR GUEST:

A US citizen and UK permanent resident, Areiel Wolanow is the managing director of Finserv Experts. With deep experience leading large, globally distributed teams he has led programs of over 100 people through the full delivery life cycle. He's managed budgets in the tens of millions of dollars and delivered projects in over 40 countries around the globe. He is an experienced business leader with over 25 years of experience in business transformation solutions, sales, and execution. He served as one of IBM's key thought leaders in blockchain, machine learning, and financial inclusion. Areiel has deep experience leading large, globally distributed teams; he has led programs of over 100 people through the full delivery life cycle and has managed budgets in the tens of millions of dollars.

LINKS:

Visiting the Chicago area this Spring? Join us on the ground or online for the AICPA & CIMA "CFO Conference" in Chicago this April 24-26th 2019.
Connect with Areiel via LinkedIn or Finserv Experts.
Find out more about Tech Trends in the accounting profession with related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST:

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow @FinservExperts, #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News.

"Performance-Management Nirvana" with Andy Carfax, MD of LucaNet (London, UK) Feb 20, 2019

Show notes

"The biggest mistake at CFO level is not focusing on the boring stuff, the stuff that their finance team's getting frustrated by, that's making things inefficient".

Andy Carfax became a qualified CMA over two decades ago and previously headed up KPMG's technical EPM delivery team. He now specialises in Enterprise Performance Management as MD of LucaNet UK which provides software that enables Group Consolidated Reporting. Andy talks to Kyle Hannan (AICPA & CIMA, UK) about how CFOs can optimise processes to help mid-tier companies rise above the 'spreadsheet trap'.

OUR GUEST:

Andy Carfax is the author of several White Papers such as "Report visualisation: From Concept to Deployment" and "From Spreadsheets to Systems". As a consultant, he has worked for Paramount, Shell, and many other well-known names. He specialises in Enterprise Performance Management with a focus on Consolidated Reporting, Finance & Operational Planning, and Business Intelligence.

WE DISCUSS:

the 'Excel trap' (other brands of spreadsheets are available).
how companies make the mistake of spending longer producing than analysing.
the origins of the misconceptions that they need to spend millions on innovative solutions to their challenges.
how "the niche has become the norm".
reducing the potential for a CFO's biggest mistake.
how finance and accounting professionals are well-suited to the new ICT-heavy demands of the work they do.

LINKS:

Visiting the Chicago area this Spring? Join us on the ground or online for the AICPA & CIMA "CFO Conference" in Chicago this April 24-26th 2019
Connect with Andy Carfax via LinkedIn or LucaNet.co.uk
Find out more about Enterprise Performance Management with related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST:

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

"Adaptive Leadership" with Dr. Jeremy Lurey (Chicago, USA). Feb 13, 2019

Show notes

"Make sure you engage any resisters in your change process as if they're there to help...but they just don't know how yet"

A speaker at AICPA & CIMA's forthcoming "CFO 2019" Conference in Chicago, Dr. Jeremy Lurey is an internationally-respected organisational consultant who has worked at both PWC and Andersen Consulting. Now President & CEO of Los Angeles-based Plus Delta Consulting and Practice Lead for SingerLewak's People & Change Management Advisory Services, he tells Kyle Hannan (AICPA & CIMA, London) how he partners with clients to improve performance and drive adoption of change.

TALKING POINTS:

The crucial elements of transformation.
Change-management.
The importance of communications.
Delivering successful transformation across the organisation, and that includes the C-Suite.
Supporting people to adopt change.
Working with those that resist it.
Getting projects back on track.

OUR GUEST:

Before establishing Plus Delta and joining SingerLewak, Dr. Lurey has worked with CBS, Disney, Global Cold Chain Alliance, Health Net, Hulu, Marriott, Midwest Refrigerated, Minnesota Freezer, Mozilla, MTC Logistics, Nestlé, Novartis, Pioneer, Raytheon, Red Bull, Ritz-Carlton, Southern California Edison & St. Joseph Health System.

Dr. Lurey has particular expertise in change-management, talent management, technology adoption, process improvement, strategic planning, and leadership and team development. In addition to his work as a consultant, he regularly presents at professional conferences and seminars. He has also authored several publications on change management, organisation-development, succession-planning, leadership excellence, and family business.

RESOURCES AND LINKS:

The AICPA & CIMA "CFO 2019" Conference
books on change management & resistance to change include William Bridges on Managing Transitions.
Connect with Dr. Lurey on LinkedIn.
Blog posts and videos at www.plusdelta.net.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

FRIDAY FOCUS. "How Digital Disruption is Transforming Finance" with Dr. Noel Tagoe (London, UK). Feb 08, 2019

Show notes

On 31 January 2019, the Association launched the 2019 CIMA Professional Qualification and the updated CGMA Competency Framework. These are designed to help Management Accountants and their employers understand the knowledge required and skills needed for current and desired roles.

This was a core element of the very well-attended Future Of Finance Festival in London, which also featured several keynotes and panel discussions from leading finance and accounting thought-leaders.

Among these, which were webcast live on the day, was a forward-looking and revealing presentation which we're now making available in this special bonus episode of our podcast.

Dr. Noel Tagoe is AICPA & CIMA's Executive Vice-President of Management Accounting, Research and Curricula. Hear his illuminating presentation on "How Digital Disruption is Driving Radical Transformation of the Finance Function".

Get more information and download the white paper "Reinventing Finance for a Digital World" at www.cimaglobal.com/future.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST.

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

"Wellbeing In The Workplace" with Lauren Gasser (London, UK). Feb 06, 2019

Show notes

"The more that we talk about mental health in the workplace, the more employers and organisations need to be prepared for that"

New ways that organisations can build employee resilience and create environments which strike a better balance between the 9-to-5 and what makes them thrive. UK-based Lauren Gasser shares her deeply honest and personal journey as she changed tack from working inside the AICPA & CIMA to becoming a yoga teacher, mindfulness coach and podcaster.

TALKING POINTS:

How to introduce 'mindfulness' into a corporate environment.
Safe spaces.
Mental Health: honesty and transparency.
Yoga and mindfulness for professionals in a corporate environment.
Practical ways for a business to enable and prioritise wellbeing in the workplace

OUR GUEST:

Lauren Gasser is an Oxford-educated Content and Creative strategist, Yoga teacher and podcaster. She is Senior Social Campaigns Manager for Time to Change, an anti-discrimination campaign run by Rethink Mental Illness and Mind. Lauren has also previously worked for The Law Society, Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity), and AICPA & CIMA.

RESOURCES:

Lauren Gasser on LinkedIn and via her Yoga website
AICPA & CIMA resource on what companies can do to improve mental health in the workplace.

== MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST ==

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on the media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

===CAN'T SEE THE LINKS? TRY THESE===

Connect with Lauren Gasser on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-gasser-bb231356 .

Discover AICPA & CIMA articles about how companies can help employees address mental health issues in the workplace. https://hbr.org/2018/12/what-companies-can-do-to-help-employees-address-mental-health-issues.

See the Go Beyond Disruption homepage at https://www.aicpa-cima.com/disruption.html.

Skill up with our AICPA Store at https://www.aicpastore.com/GoBeyondDisruption.

See resources available via the CGMA Store at https://www.cgmastore.com/products/disruption?utm_source=dis

"More than Just Data-Analytics" with Pieter de Wit of Afrimat Ltd (Cape Town, RSA). Jan 30, 2019

Show notes

"Financial figures are the results of decisions, and you need to be involved in the decisions if you want to influence the financial figures".

Data is vital. So vital that, when there's no data network infrastructure where your business is based, you have to get it built yourself. This relies on relationships, partnering with mobile phone companies and local government to get it done. Cape Town-based Pieter de Wit is CFO of Afrimat South Africa, a leading black-empowered open pit mining company providing industrial minerals and construction materials. He spoke to AICPA & CIMA's Kyle Hannan shortly before presenting at the late 2018 AICPA 'Finance Transformation' conference in Johannesburg.

TALKING POINTS

Getting more data and using it better
paying attention to the legislative landscape that underpins the business
relationships and partnering via a team
consolidating ERP systems process by process
Change-management.
Business dashboards using near to real-time information.
Some of the social, political and economic factors unique to the requirements of doing business in South Africa.
Transformation.
Sustainability.
Mining and construction.

OUR GUEST

Afrimat Limited CFO Pieter de Wit is an experienced Financial Director with over 16 years in senior roles at PWC. He then worked in the mining & metals industry, joining his current company in 2008. Skilled in negotiation, business-planning, internal audit, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). He also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) (cum laude) focused in General Business Administration and Management from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

RESOURCES

Afrimat Limited is a leading black empowered open pit mining company providing industrial minerals and construction
Connect with Pieter de Wit on LinkedIn

== MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST ==

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on the media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

===CAN'T SEE THE LINKS? TRY THESE===

* Connect with Pieter de Wit on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pieter-de-wit-4619b210

* See the Go Beyond Disruption homepage at https://www.aicpa-cima.com/disruption.html.

* Skill up with our AICPA Store at https://www.aicpastore.com/GoBeyondDisruption

* See resources available via the CGMA Store at https://www.cgmastore.com/products/disruption?utm_source=dis

"From The Couch To The Corporation" with Sarah Niblock, CEO of UKCP (London, UK) GBD36 Jan 23, 2019

Show notes

"Most common organisational issues could be solved if we had a better understanding of how individuals and groups operate, and of how those forces impact upon organisations"

Author, journalist and researcher Sarah Niblock is Chief Executive of the UKCP, the country's leading body for research, innovation, education and regulation working to advance psychotherapies for the benefit of all. She tells AICPA & CIMA's Kymberley McAdam about the psychotherapist's message of hope and its relevance as a powerful path to organisational transformation for 21st Century business-leaders.

TALKING POINTS.

What needs to change in the way senior management balances wellbeing with workplace efficiency?
How does the pace of change today really impact on modern business executives?
What are the gaps in the ways they educate themselves professionally?
How do the 19th-century behavioural theories of Freud & co. still offer such powerful potential in the 21st-century workplace?
What are the mistakes that corporates make when training and enabling their employees for the realities of today's high-tech, high-efficiency jobs?

OUR GUEST.

Sarah joined UKCP from the University Of Westminster's School of Media, Arts and Design where she was Associate Dean (Undergraduate). She has a PhD is in psychoanalytic theory/female identity and is an author, journalist and broadcaster who has trained a number of award-winning journalists. She is also an Academic Fellow of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University – and blogs on media ethics, specifically trauma and journalism, for a range of outlets including the BBC. Connect with her on Twitter as @SarahN1block and via LinkedIn.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST.

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on the media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social.

===CAN'T SEE THE LINKS? TRY THESE===

* Connect with Sarah Niblock on LinkedIn at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sarah-niblock-790b147

* See the Go Beyond Disruption homepage at https://www.aicpa-cima.com/disruption.html.

* Skill up with our AICPA Store at https://www.aicpastore.com/GoBeyondDisruption

* See resources available via the CGMA Store at https://www.cgmastore.com/products/disruption?utm_source=dis

"Unconscious Bias" with Khalil Smith of the NeuroLeadership Institute (New York, USA). GBD35 Jan 16, 2019

Show notes

"The things that come to us easily tend to be the nature of our bias"

Khalil Smith is Head of Diversity and Inclusion Practice at the NeuroLeadership Institute (North Carolina, USA). He talks to Kim Drumgo, Director of Diversity and Inclusion (AICPA & CIMA, USA) about the unconscious brain dynamics that feed into biases and assumptions. He reveals how it impacts our work relationships and explains what we can do about it.

TALKING POINTS

What is Unconscious bias?
Who has it?
What triggers it?
Why do we have it in the first place?
What are some simple ways we can start a dialogue about it in the workplace?
How it impacts our work relationships and explains what we can do about it.

OUR GUEST

Khalil brings over 20 years of business experience: from specialising in creating a culture of learning and inspiration at Apple Inc., and demystifying group dynamics through the lens of social science as a consultant. Connect with him as @khalilsmith_ and via LinkedIn.

MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST.

DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on the media player.

TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store.

STAY CONNECTED. Follow #GoBeyondDisruption, @AICPANews and @CIMA_News on social."

===CAN'T SEE THE LINKS? TRY THESE===

* Connect with Khalil Smith at https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalilsmith

* See the Go Beyond Disruption homepage at https://www.aicpa-cima.com/disruption.html.

* Skill up with our AICPA Store at https://www.aicpastore.com/GoBeyondDisruption

* See resources available via the CGMA Store at https://www.cgmastore.com/products/disruption?utm_source=dis