Significant Career Lesson from a Finance Manager at Microsoft
Andrew, a Finance Manager at Microsoft, emphasizes "ruthless prioritization" as a key lesson, explaining that while a job description may be narrow, the reality involves numerous tasks; thus, quickly assessing materiality and understanding leadership's priorities – such as tackling a "$100 million problem versus a $50 million problem" – allows one to maximize impact and focus on what is most important.
Prioritization, Leadership, Finance, Problem Solving, Impact
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
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Traits
Andrew Sullivan
Finance Manager
Microsoft
Wake Forest University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Finance
Technology
Finance
Honors Student, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Ruthless prioritization is key to success due to the numerous tasks and projects in finance, requiring the ability to discern what leadership wants and what is most important.
2. Understanding materiality, such as prioritizing a $100 million problem over a $50 million problem, allows for focusing on opportunities with the greatest impact.
3. Quickly assessing and 't-shirt sizing' tasks helps identify opportunities for significant impact and aligns with leadership's priorities, particularly in cost-saving initiatives.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you've learned that has proven significant in your career?
Number one is ruthless prioritization. There are always more tasks and projects than can be done.
Your normal job as a finance person involves pulling numbers, forecasting, and budgeting monthly. However, you also do many other things daily to manage gross margin strategy and respond to engineering teams' requests.
Being able to ruthlessly prioritize what you will do first is key to success. This includes understanding what leadership wants to see and what is more important than other things.
Learning to identify materiality is huge. If you have a hundred million dollar problem versus a fifty million dollar problem, you should probably tackle the hundred million dollar one first. "T-shirt sizing" everything quickly helps identify opportunities where you can make the most impact.
This also applies to where leadership will likely want to see the larger cost-saving initiative done first before the smaller one. It's critical to understand what is more important from a leadership standpoint, or from a money-saving or spending standpoint.
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