Ep. 11: John Garrett - Creating Unique Cultures That Attract and Retain Top Talent

John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejohngarrett/
Meet John: https://therecoveringcpa.com/meet-john/

What's Your "And"? Podcast: https://therecoveringcpa.com/episode-200-whats-your-and/

The Recovering CPA: https://therecoveringcpa.com/
John's Message: https://youtu.be/YNs0BS0pjCc

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Music: (00:00)

Adam: (00:04)
Welcome back to count me in. IMA's podcast about all things affecting the accounting and finance world. I'm Adam Larsen and with me as always is my cohost Mitch Roshong. Today I know you can count on another great episode. We were joined by the host of the, what's your and podcast keynote speaker and MC John Garrett. John is an engaging motivator who looks to shatter accounting stereotypes and encourages everyone to develop stronger relationships with colleagues and clients. Tell us, Mitch, what was John's message throughout your conversation?

Mitch: (00:35)
John is referred to as the CPA turned catalysts for culture change and his message is all about the future of professionalism. He has done extensive research on how people's hobbies and passions impact their careers and in turn create a stronger workplace culture. On his podcast, he talks to accountants, consultants, lawyers, and other professionals about all the things they do outside the office. His emphasis is on identifying how these interests positively impact the work they do for our podcast. He shared some of his background and gave us a few interesting examples from his former guests to help explain the value of recognizing and calling on an individual's passion.With an accounting background and a unique perspective on workplace relationships. John explains how and why organizations can and should create cultures that attract and retain top talent.

Music: (01:31)

Mitch: (01:33)
I want to hear a little bit about your journey and how did you become, what you call the recovering CPA?

John: (01:38)
Yeah, so I, graduated from the university of Notre Dame and then started at a PriceWaterhouseCoopersand I did that for three and a half, almost four years. And then in the meantime, I was at a training? One of my first trainings was in LA, and so I took a, there were four or five of us that every way was like a three or four week training. And, we would drive down on Thursdays to the improv in Hollywood and watch whose line is in any way would tape in the studio and then they would come to the improv and do an uncensored show, in the middle of standup comedians before and after. And it was amazing. You're hanging out with Drew Carey and Collin Mockery and Ryan Styles and all these, and then comedians, Adam Stanley would drop in. And, you know, It was just like nuts. And and so, you know, you see these standups in Hollywood and you're like, well, I can be as funny as some of these people. And yeah. And so I just started to do stand up for fun, just as a hobby. It was clearly the exact opposite of, doing internal audit and mergers and acquisition work. And it was, you know, just a creative outlet. And, yeah. And then over time, I accidentally got really good and you know, I started to take vacation to go, do it. And then I left public accounting and went into industry, so that then I could, you know, have a little more of a regular schedule and, yeah, I just kept pursuing it. And then in may of 2005 left altogether to do a stand up full time, although I don't ever advocate that anyone does anything that ridiculous. Like it's insane. It's insane. Don't quit your job, keep it as a hobby. Like it's nuts and, yeah. And then about four or five years ago, kind of married those two lives together and bringing some engagement and a unique thought to corporate events. you know, all staff meetings, partner retreats, executive, new manager training type things or even just as an emcee and hosting panels. Because let's face it, I've been in the audience for a lot of these and, they are not, stimulating, I guess is the nicest way to say it.

Mitch: (03:45)
Very fair. Well, a definitely an interesting journey, you know, not one you hear too often from, from an accountant. But yeah, out there though, man. They're out there. They're, we're cool. Don't tell anybody. No, no, no. I, I really enjoy the stories. So yeah. Where are you are now how you married everything together? I guess in a nutshell, kinda tell me, you know, what, what's your vision? What's your goal? What are you doing here to help companies kind of recognize why their culture matters and, and what do you have to offer them?

John: (04:13)
Yeah. Well, the ultimate goal is that when a teacher asks a kid, Hey, what do you want to be when you grow it up? They say, I want to be an accountant. And instead of astronaut or fireman or whatever ridiculous other job, no, I'm just kidding, they're not ridiculous obviously, but, but yeah, I mean it would be just so cool if people just quit looking at us, and we quit looking at ourselves in this way and so I'm out there just shattering the stereotype of what people and, and the saddest thing to me is that I think the people that believe the stereotype the most are accountants themselves. And it's just trying to get them to see that, we all have a unique skill set and a unique talent that we bring to the office and that expertise isn't always in our degrees and letters after our name with certifications, sometimes this expertise is, outside of work passions and interests that we have, makes us better at our job. You know, it gives us unique skill and or, and makes us human and relatable to, good coworkers to people in other departments. And, and so it's been fascinating and about four years of research now that I've put in and just, just finding all kinds of examples, and , interviewing 'em over 200 people, and of all kinds and , just just finding out that, you know, hey, the stereotype is upside down. Actually the stereotypical professional is someone who has multiple dimensions to them and the sooner that, organizations accept this and celebrate this and shine a light on that, the better it is going to be for everyone, including your bottom lines. So, that's basically what I'm out there doing is yeah, just working that, shattering that stereotype.

Mitch: (05:57)
Well, I know here at IMA we've released our competency framework recently, you know, enhanced it with a couple revisions to it and one of the, you know, central elements is our leadership domain. So, you know, in talking with you a lot that you are sharing with organizations, I feel kind of fit into those competencies, you know, are very relevant to, the industry even though it is a little bit off kilter. You know, it's a little bit different perspective, but you know, how can you provide some highlights for our listeners on how important, you know, motivation, inspiring a lot of the key attributes of leadership apply to understanding who they are outside of the office.

John: (06:37)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I mean, because you can't really develop trust, with people if you're trying to be super manager, super accountant, super technical expertise person No one believes you. No one trusts you. That's very ...