Hi everybody, I’m Mike Staver. This is Mondays with Mike, a weekly video series where I answer questions from people just like you. Here’s this week’s question:
I just unexpectedly took over running a company. I’ve been in the succession plan for some time but due to some unexpected events, I find myself in this role earlier than expected. I’m very good at what I’m very good at. I’m not very good at certain things this role requires. One of those things is finance. What is the best way to ramp up skill and knowledge quickly in the area where I’m weak? I am really good at the manufacturing side of our business, but in finance I’m not and this is an important part of our business.
That’s a really good question, because a lot of people just charge into that senior role and fake it, which would be terrible. So you have to know your limitations, well done. I am a big fan of Coursera. It’s an online learning platform where you can buy individual courses on things you’re not very skilled at. I find it to be very practical, very helpful, very useful. So go there! You can go to a seminar if you want, but you might want to do it in the privacy of your own space if you have some embarrassment about it. But there are a lot of online courses, and I find Coursera to be the great aggregator of those. There are a lot of people here at Lightspeed VT that have great content around areas like that that could be helpful as well.
But get busy. Whatever you do, don’t fake it! Especially if finance is an area that is weak for you.
That’s my answer for that! I hope it was helpful. I’m Mike Staver, this is Mondays with Mike. Take care.
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