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 ...