3 keys to building a strong team: Partnerships, people, goal alignment

When Rand Greenblatt, PA, assumed the role as CFO of Elixir Solutions in early 2022, he set out to improve finance operations while empowering team members. He said that seeing direct reports improve through taking on stretch roles is a key part of talent development – and something that’s gratifying to him.

Greenblatt shared what it’s like to manage a team that’s fully remote, why he considers that setup “a boon to the organization,” and more in this episode of the JofA podcast.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Rand Greenblatt’s background writing for a newsletter tied to the JofA.
• Greenblatt’s new role and more about his job priorities.
• Three areas of focus for improving his organization’s finance function.
• The “huge selling point” – and other benefits – of being a fully remote company.
• What Greenblatt considers the most rewarding part of his job.

Play the episode below or read the edited transcript:

To comment on this episode or to suggest an idea for another episode, contact Neil Amato at Neil.Amato@aicpa-cima.com.

Transcript

Neil Amato: Hello, listeners. This is Neil Amato with the Journal of Accountancy. It’s nearly September, I’m taking a last-gasp-of-summer vacation, but that doesn’t mean the JofA podcast is taking a break this week.

Our episode with a finance leader in the corporate world is coming up shortly, but first here’s news of a major milestone. Thanks to you, the JofA podcast has now surpassed 1 million episode downloads. One million: That’s a big number. We appreciate you for continuing to listen. And I’d like to thank all the people who make this show work behind the scenes: supplying episode titles, editing and mixing the sound, or filling in as a host. You know who you are. Onward to 2 million downloads.

Now, here’s a word from our sponsor.

Amato: Welcome back to the Journal of Accountancy podcast. Our next guest is Rand Greenblatt. He’s a Philadelphia-area CPA who was about a decade ago, one of the first writers I worked with on the now-retired newsletter called the Corporate Finance Insider. That name, corporate finance insider, certainly fits Rand, as he’s worked for multiple companies in his career, helping to improve the corporate finance operations not only related to fiscal performance, but also through guiding finance down the path of becoming a true business partner. Rand, first, welcome to the Journal of Accountancy podcast.

Rand Greenblatt: Thank you, Neil. It’s great to be here.

Amato: This topic we’re going to get into today could be looked at, I think, in several ways. It’s a leadership angle, a change management angle, a talent development angle. These are all key areas for those in CFO-type roles. First, tell people about what you’re doing today at a company called Elixir.

Greenblatt: Thank you. By way of background, Elixir is a middle-market PBM. I joined Elixir as the CFO in January of 2022 to help effectuate both a turnaround and a growth opportunity for the company. My organization includes your traditional finance areas like FP&A and underwriting, as well as two critical operations that deliver economic value to our clients at Elixir.

We’ve really been laser-focused over the last year and a half on improving both fiscal and business performance. We’ve really had a focus on a wide array of things, some big hitters. First, we had to implement a really strong management process, which included developing KPIs that mattered most to the organization’s success. We’ve significantly improved our cost competitiveness and our overall service to customers, and we’ve worked very, very hard to turn finance into a business decision support function, to improve the business and fiscal acumen in the organization as we had many big decisions that we had to make. Then lastly, most critical was just enhancing and cultivating our talent and shaping our culture across the organization.

Amato: Can you briefly explain, you use that acronym PBM, what that stands for?

Greenblatt: Sure. Pharmacy benefit manager. A lot like you have health care coverage, you have drug coverage. We provide the drug coverage piece.

Amato: Great. Now when you’re given the assignment, “Improve the operations, finance and otherwise, of the organization,” where would you say are two to three places to start?

Greenblatt: I can only pick two to three places? I think partnerships, people, and alignment around goals are our most critical. First, you really have to forge strong partnerships with leaders to build out your sphere of influence.

You need to ensure that you have the right people with the right skills. You know, when you’re making a lot of change, a whole lot of intestinal fortitude is equally as important. You also need to ensure that people are positioned for success. You have to do a lot of listening as to what they need. Also, I think you need to do a lot of communicating to the team so that they know you’re genuinely invested in their success and growth.

The last thing I’d just add is, while it’s so simple, it’s missing in many environments, you have to really ensure that people are clear on measurable goals that matter most to the organization. That really gets people aligned and understanding purpose.

Amato: Now you’re working in an organization that is basically 100% remote, so how do you manage some of the organizational aspects of that?

Greenblatt: Actually, Neil, it’s very interesting. First, being remote is actually a huge selling point for candidates. It’s really expanded our pool of talent and also allowed for just an enormous amount of diversity. Whether it’s location, industry, social and ethnic backgrounds, skills, or even just diversity of thought, it’s been a boon to the organization.

I think there are some things that you have to be very deliberate about as you build a community. One, you need a very strong engagement with the team as a whole and individually. You’re not in each other’s backyards, so you have to be engaging given the remote environment. We have town halls, we have one-on-ones with both direct reports, and people do a lot of skip level one-on-ones. We have team-building events – we do it virtually. I also love when we have periodic in-person team meetings, usually once a quarter. It’s a real treat to get everyone together and connect on a live basis.

There are also a couple of other things I think are really important in a remote environment. One, you need to make sure that you have very frequent and consistent communications about your vision, your priorities, and your goals. Then having people you know you can trust and operate independently because you’re not in each other’s backyard, like I mentioned before, but they also need to know you’re in a safe environment where they could raise their hand and ask for help.

Then lastly, and this was just such, I think, a huge lesson learned by all employers during the pandemic, you have to be flexible as to their home life, because the line between office and home is just really a few feet away.

Amato: Exactly. You’re the one in charge over all of the change management; it’s why you were brought in. But tell me some about what it means to you and how fulfilling it can be to see an employee take on a stretch role. They’re making contributions that not only maybe the employee didn’t think were possible, but also truly helped the organization improve.

Greenblatt: I consider that the most rewarding part of my job is building teams and cultivating talent. I take great pride in empowering team members to provide strategic support to make pivotal decisions that really shape a company’s culture and performance, especially during times of change. I would say my favorite moments are when you see team pulse surveys show a dramatic improvement in how employees, for example, view their ability to impact the company, maybe the department, and even contribute to their career growth.

It’s great when someone tells you how your coaching or your mentoring has had a significant impact on their career, and when you see them progress because of the feedback that you’ve given them, it’s really cool when people come with you to different companies as you progress through your career.

I would say that the best, though, is really when your business partners view finance as a place to breed talent, and then they start recruiting them into parts of their organization. That really allows a company to spread the wealth that you bring with some of the disciplines from a finance organization.

Amato: Now you mentioned something in a preliminary call we had about “sphere of influence.” When it comes to finance transformation, what does that phrase, “sphere of influence,” mean for you?

Greenblatt: Well, in a corporation there are very few situations where you could do it all yourself. Companies are highly matrixed, and driving results is heavily, heavily dependent upon others, and they may not even report to you. As you progress in your career, you deal with greater complexities, your command and your ability to work through others must expand because your control actually decreases.

You really have to work hard to build very, very strong collaborative partnerships, and then you really have to employ skills like influencing and negotiation to make things happen through others. You have to work through more complex systems and you have to be able to influence people who may or may not necessarily report to you. That’s how you get things done in an organization.

Amato: In an interview I read – an interview of you – you had used the phrase “cultivate strong teams.” I think different people might have different definitions of what that means, but what to you are two or three pieces of advice for people who are seeking to cultivate strong finance teams?

Greenblatt: You keep limiting me to two to three pieces of advice. There is so much to say. No, in all seriousness, I think it’s important to have good, trustworthy people and to empower them. You have to let them fail fast and learn those valuable lessons that shape how they approach things moving forward. That makes people better.

You always have to ensure that they have what they need to be successful. You have to ask and you have to do a lot of listening. Then you also have to keep your team skills sharp by expanding their horizons and cultivating them. As finance is a service function and a strategic partner, it’s imperative that you re-evaluate your organization and demonstrate the value that they bring to your partners.

You really have to stay very, very connected to your partners to understand the most critical issues, how you can play a role in shaping those strategic decisions with your partners and then matching up many of those goals to stretch assignments for people so that they fulfill their objectives as well. When you do that, the tide rises and everybody really wins.

Amato: Let’s hit on that stretch goal part just a little bit more. What do you do if an employee is like, “Gosh, I’m not sure I can handle this”?

Greenblatt: Well, like I mentioned before, you have to do a lot of listening. And as you hear what their concerns are, I mean, it is important. Some people may be very self-aware, so you want to make sure they’re not getting ahead of their skis, if you will. But also, you’re there to stretch them and challenge them. As you listen to them, you might detect that they don’t have something they need and if they got it, suddenly they would be successful.

Again, it’s really doing a lot of assessing. You assess talent, you assess the capabilities, you assess circumstances, and you really understand what it is they need and provide that match. To the degree that you can do something to help enhance them, you’ve now got a pretty powerful opportunity for someone to actually achieve their potential, surprise themselves, and build confidence in their abilities while raising the bar on what it is you’re trying to accomplish for the organization. That’s a great outcome.

Amato: I appreciate you going into a little more detail on that topic. Obviously, there’s plenty more things we could say, but anything you’d like to add as a closing thought, Rand?

Greenblatt: One, I just wanted to thank you again for having me. It’s a great opportunity to be able to share some experience. I would just say I spent the better part of my career problem-solving and building teams to do that. It really is a great thing when you see an organization get to a next level because you’ve helped people get to a next level. You’ve solved problems that nobody ever imagined you can solve, and you’ve shaped direction as you move forward.

As people move through their careers, thinking about the role that they can play and how empowered they should be is one thing I would leave people with as something to think about. There’s so much opportunity in corporate America. All these opportunities are there for the taking, so good luck, everybody.

Amato: Rand Greenblatt, thank you very much.

Greenblatt: Thank you.