letters from our community

The first time I managed staff, I was keen to do a good job, and deliver on my team’s projects to a high standard. I had a member of staff whose work wasn’t where I wanted to it be. He often came in late and blew through deadlines. I wanted to be taken seriously, so I brought him into a meeting and detailed all the problems with his work, telling him that I needed him to improve his performance.  

The next day, this staff member asked for some of my time, and told me he’d found our meeting the previous day really hard. The reason he was coming in late and struggling to hit his deadlines was that his mental health was suffering - indeed he’d been thinking about whether he needed time off with it - and the meeting we had just confirmed all his worst fears about himself. He’d had a think, and wondered if the office had any resources to support with mental health, and whether now he’d disclosed his condition we could work on any reasonable adjustments together.  

I felt dreadful. It was incredibly brave of that staff member to disclose his illness to me after I had been so punitive in my approach. I realised that, especially as an initial approach, I could have been much more curious and open. My own anxiety and determination to be ‘authoritative’ meant I was unsympathetic and a bad manager in that moment. I let my own feelings about my job and my role get in the way of meeting my staff where they needed me.  

I investigated the options available and was able to work with the employee to put proper support in place. With that support he became a top performer: his issues were entirely illness related, not about his attitude or abilities at all. I was also able to refer him to caba, and I know they were really helpful. 

Had I been more engaged with caba’s work on personal development, and maybe if I’d sought help with my own discomfort with aspects of leadership, I think I would have done a much better job in that situation. From then on, i’ve made it my first principle of leadership to listen and be generous. You always get better results and better relationships that way. 

From a friend in the industry 

Hi there, 

If you are reading this letter, there is a good chance that you are neck-deep in crisis and trapped trying to balance exams, work, and your social life. The process is designed to be CRUSHING, but that does not mean you can’t take a moment to hit pause. The ACA process is rigorous and intensive so that it can bring the brightest diamonds from the pack.  

Diamonds are made under pressure. 

However, there is a fine line between the pressure being stimulating and over-burden. You know your boundary; you know when it’s time to reach out for support. The way I deal with stress is by sharing the load and by going out and speaking to other accounting students, I can see first-hand that we’re all in the same rocky boat.  

My biggest tip for the exams is looking at the bigger picture. There is no need to get bogged down in the details, as accountants, we’re used to having threshold, but we always know that the accounts are never going to balance. Perfection doesn’t exist. Your job is to navigate your way to the end, picking up as many marks and experiences as you can. 

Your job as an ACA trainee is to gain a breadth of experience and to be well-rounded. If you’re a perfect accountant now, then you have nothing to work for. 

From  

A friend in the industry