Ep. 170: Alissa Vickery - Purpose Driven Leaders

Alissa Vickery, Chief Accounting Officer and Senior Vice
President of Accounting and Controls for FLEETCOR, joins Count Me
In to talk about purpose driven leaders. Alissa has oversight of
external reporting, technical accounting, and internal audit, and
her leadership has helped FLEETCOR join the Fortune 1000 list and
the S&P 500 Index. In this episode, she defines purpose
driven leadership, the benefits and outcomes of developing
purpose driven leaders, and why purpose is so valuable to the
accounting and finance team. Download and listen now!


Contact Alissa Vickery:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissa-vickery-67b3986/


References and Resources for Alissa Vickery and
Leadership:



https://accounting.cfotechoutlook.com/cxoinsights/how-being-a-purposedriven-leader-inspires-accounting-teams-nid-1672.html

https://womenworthwatching.com/alissa-vickery/

https://alumni.uga.edu/2018/09/24/meet-alissa-vickery/ 

https://alumni.uga.edu/40u40/2017-class/ 

https://alumni.uga.edu/networks/women-of-uga/ 


https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/07/12/see-who-made-the-university-of-georgias-40-under.html 

https://tenthousandreasons.org/ 

https://www.relayexchange.org/ 

https://www.fleetcor.com/company/leadership/ 




FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Adam: (00:05)
Welcome back to Count Me In, IMA's podcast about all things
affecting the accounting and finance world. This is your host,
Adam Larson, and we are now starting episode 170 of our series.
The guest speaker you will hear from today is Alissa Vickery.
Alissa is the Chief Accounting Officer for FLEETCOR, a leading
global provider of global business payment solutions,
headquartered in Atlanta. Alissa also serves as senior vice
president of accounting and controls where she has oversight over
external reporting, technical accounting and internal audit. Her
leadership has helped FLEETCOR join the fortune 1000 list and the
S&P 500 index. In this episode, she talks about purpose
driven leaders, Alissa shares, many of her personal experiences
and growth and development opportunities for aspiring leaders. So
to hear more, let's head over to the conversation now.
 
Mitch: (01:03)
So we were talking very briefly before we started recording here
a little bit about leadership and there's, you know, a particular
topic that we're going to focus on in today's conversation. I
first want to start off by asking you who are purpose driven
leaders?
 
Alissa: (01:17)
Well, I mean, I think perhaps everybody has a different opinion
here, but for me, purpose driven leaders are leaders who are
really interested in powering productivity, both for the company
as well as the growth of the employee. So, you know, everybody
has a benefit from it, but I think if you can execute as a
purpose driven leader, then you can ultimately transform some
competent employees into super high performing stars of your
management team and perhaps warrant their, their next progression
into leadership, whether it it's at your company or into their
next role.
 
Mitch: (01:56)
So as far as what those individuals need, you know, I think a lot
of people are always as working on their own leadership
development, those who obviously want to climb the ladder, but as
far as skills or key activities, that purpose driven leaders
really partake in, what are some of the things that you recommend
or you often see?
 
Alissa: (02:14)
So, I mean, for me personally, I think it's been a bit of a
journey, purpose driven leadership isn't on accident. It, you
have to be the very conscientious of how the words that you use
and the behaviors that you exhibit then drive behavior of your
team. And I don't just mean sending an email, you know, 10
o'clock at night. I mean truly taking an interest in those
individuals and their career progression as well as what's
happening with them personally, because it is the whole person
and remembering that these individuals, they are human beings,
they have lives. And I think if the current environment has
taught us anything, it's that it's not a one sided story, right?
I think in the time of the great resignation, we, as leaders have
been pushed harder than we probably have, in the history of our
careers to try and make sure we engage at a level that's
meaningful, that's personal, while not forgetting that
individuals still want the progression, regardless of whether
we're sitting in the office together, or we're still sitting, in
our home offices trying to muddle through and get it done.
 
Mitch: (03:28)
You know, that's a great point because leadership, and I've had a
few of these conversations over the last, going on two years now,
but leadership itself has changed right? Based on the work
environment, everything else that we've experienced. You know, my
next question, it could be a little bit more historical as far as
traditional purpose driven leadership, as you've said, getting to
know people face to face maybe a little bit more from the virtual
component now, depending on your experiences over the last couple
years, but when people are conscious and they are purpose driven
leaders and they're in these efforts, what are some of the
outcomes, you know, tangible or intangible, that, you know, the
organizations that they're working for can really expect to see
as more leaders are empowered?
 
Alissa: (04:12)
Yeah, I mean, I think from, from my experience, it drives a
culture where you have excellence, intentionality and discipline,
and ultimately...