Why I'm Happy I Began My Career In Accounting Instead Of Psychology

When you think of "Leadership" what comes to mind?

Many people go to Leadership Skills.

Emotional Intelligence.

Psychology.

All for good Reasons.

These tend to be what is Focused on when it comes to Leadership.

But you know what people usually Do Not talk about?

Accounting.

Now, Do Not Worry - This is "Not" going to be about Math, or Profits and Losses.

There's a Reason I'm "Not" in Accounting any more these days.

But let me take you back to High School.

In High School, you always Know "Exactly" what you're going to do with the Entirety of the Rest of Your Life...

Wait, that wasn't your Experience?

That's ok, it wasn't mine either!

But it "Felt" like I had a lot figured out in High School.

I was Wrong.

When I was Graduating, I Knew I Wanted to Help People.

There was only "One" Career that I Knew would allow me to Accomplish that.

Counseling Psychology.

However, I was extremely "Brilliant" in High School and Chose my University Based on My Desired Career Path...

Oh wait...

No I didn't...

I chose my University based on my Desire to play Lacrosse.

Silly Me!

Obviously I made "Great" Life Choices when Younger.

Ironically though, despite the Questionable Choices, it's worked out Very Well.

So, what does this have to do with Accounting?

I went to University to become a Counseling Psychologist, right?

... Right?...

Well, that was the Original Intention.

The Problem, of course, was that my University did not "Have" a Counseling Psychology Program.

Only a Research-Based Psychology Program.

Think of "Here's the Experimental Hypothesis. Here's What we Did. Here's the Results."

Very Valuable and Needed Work, but something I was Not Interested In.

So, I did what Everyone who has No Clue what to do ends up Doing as a College Degree.

Business!

At least you know it's a "Safe Bet".

So, as I was going through classes, I ended up discovering Accounting!

The Theory of the Class made the work seem like a Puzzle, and I enjoy Puzzles.

I was Great at the Classes, and I even ended up Surprising my Professor.

He thought I'd Fail Out... mostly based on my Sports Sweats, Baseball Cap, and the fact that I always sat at the Back of the Room.

I can't blame him - that "does" sound like the "type" to fail Accounting Classes.

He ended up writing me a Letter of Recommendation.

When I Graduated, I began working in Accounting.

Which the Next Question becomes, how did I get into Leadership?

Well, I quickly discovered that the "Theory" of Accounting was not as much Fun as the "Reality" of Accounting, and I still had a Deep Desire to Help People more Personably.

I didn't want to go "Back" to University because it was Expensive, so I had to Discover Another Path.

Which brought me to Leadership Development!

After a bit of time within the Industry though, I began to see "Glaring" Problems that leads to Billions of Dollars Wasted Every Year.

That then led me to working on something New and Different which I call Leadership Cultivation.

Now, you might think that my Career may have been better served going into Psychology instead of Accounting.

In many ways, I do a lot of Research "in" Psychology Today.

However, I was Significantly Better Served having Started in Accounting.

Why?

Well, I was Reading a book today that really "Hit Home" why "Not" Going into Psychology may have been a Blessing in Disguise.

The book is called, "The Genie in Your Genes" by Dawson Church and looks at the Scientific Research behind Epigenetics.

Specifically the section I was reading was discussing how Psychologists and Biologists see "Disease" Differently.

"Psychology has made an art of identifying and differentiating psychological conditions. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), notes hundreds of classifications of distinct emotional maladies, from "vascular dementia with delirium" (290.41) to "factitious disorder with predominantly psychological signs and symptoms (300.16)" (Pg. 320, Kindle Edition)

Essentially, what they are getting at is that Psychologists tend to be "Reductionistic" and Chase "Symptoms" of Problems.

But Biologists?

"Yet the body seems to interpret them all as similar epigenetic stress signals" (Pg. 320, Kindle Edition)

Essentially, all the "Symptoms" Stem from the Same Place.

Now, from an Accounting Perspective, when you look at a Company's "Books", you actually tend to find something Similar.

All the Accounting Numbers you find are "Symptoms" of something "Upstream" Happening.

The "Numbers" are Never the Problem.

If you want to Fix your Accounting Problems, you often have to Find "Where" Upstream the Problems Stem from.

So, even "Before" I got into Leadership, I had this Mindset.

The Problem You See Is Rarely the "Problem".

There is Something that "Causes" the Problem, and you have to Find It.

Often "Many" Problems are All Caused by the Same Upstream Occurrence.

My work in Accounting "Trained" my Mind to Seek the Root Causes of Problems instead of Chasing Symptoms.

Which has been Tremendously Helpful in my Career in Leadership.

It helped me Identify the Root Causes of what made Leadership Development "Completely Fail" 80% of the Time.

It's how I Changed Course and went into Creating Leadership Cultivation instead, as well as Legendary Leadership, and Regenerative Legacy Design.

It allowed me to See "Past" Client's Immediate Problems to find the Root Causes that were their "Real" Challenges.

Where they had Struggled Before, they Now Had "Real" Solutions.

Frequently we Solve Multiple Problems Simultaneously by Discovering the Upstream Issue.

This same Mindset, which got Forged into me from my work in Accounting, allowed me to help Clients get Results that have Eluded them, sometimes for Decades.

But if I had gone into a Career in Psychology, that Mindset may "Never" have been Gained.

I might Still be Chasing Symptoms to this day!

It's Funny how, even though my Life seemed to go on a "Crazy Off-Course" Adventure, I find myself today Accomplishing the Goal I Originally Set Out To Do.

Helping People.

It's Slightly Different than I Imagined, but it's also Significantly Better than I Could Have Possibly Imagined Back Then.