People and money... building a good foundation.

PEOPLE and MONEY — It is, and always will be, about people and money.

Let's start with MONEY as most of us want it, like to spend it, and will leverage the perceptions of having it. When I say money I should point out I am actually referring to how you manage it, how you generate it, and how you effectively work it... as well as spend it, invest it, and control it — It is the fuel that runs everything. 

And if money is the fuel, then PEOPLE are the engine; nothing, simply nothing, runs, operates or gets done without people (Full stop).

If you watch successful leaders and managers they always have their Finance and HR partners very close at hand and they are ever present (sometimes commercial is included, but that is usually to remind them that revenue is not as much as it should be... a truism to be sure because you can always have more revenue). The effective management of people and money is the foundation for any business success. 

I had once "acquired" an assignment which I will say was a "category five shit storm"  and within the first two days I was asking for my HR and Finance partners. They worked with me to understand our bench strength of people, the structure we were working with, and our financial health. In the end, finances were put in order with established controls, people and structure was "righted", and as a result, activities that were in-line with our objectives started to take shape... and success starting to take hold.   

People and Money, like the engine and fuel, are the fundamentals of a "vehicle" that will take you anywhere and allow you to do anything. It's important to get good at driving —

• Know your HR and Financial partners; meet with them regularly.
• Involve your HR and Financial partners in your team meetings and activities.
• Ensure you have personal HR and Finance development objectives as part of your annual goals.
• Ask leaders you respect about their philosophies regarding people and money management.
• Develop a lead and lag indicator dashboard that highlight your people and money goals.
• You want individual contributors to be well versed with people and money because it strengthens the bench, increases engagement, understanding, and optimizes execution.
• Elicit constructive feedback and be open to it.
• Don't underestimate how complex and complicated people and money can get, particularly in times of rapid growth and expansion. 

It's best to build a good People and Money foundation and stay on the move.

iamgpe