My colleague Andy Schell recently presented the MBA Accounting and Finance Conference and, on the Nov. 23 episode of my Lykken on Lending podcast, we had the opportunity to interview him about the event. According to Andy, one of the most crucial challenges facing accountants in the mortgage business is communicating difficult concepts to the CEO and board. Accountants have the tendency to talk like accountants and, therefore, much of the information often falls on deaf ears.
When you go to a nice place to eat, the staff typically pays very close attention to how the food is placed on your plate. They don't just dump it all onto the plate, letting it land haphazardly wherever it goes. The placement is meticulous, so that all of the colors and textures pop when you see your meal. Why do they do this? Because in the culinary arts, they know something that we in business sometimes forget: Presentation is everything.
If we want people to listen to us, we've got to be able to communicate in a way that holds their attention. Accountants in the mortgage industry can't speak in numbers; they've got to communicate in visuals. More than anything, people who work in accounting need to learn how to use flow charts, graphs, and other visuals to communicate the information in a way that is easier to grasp. Leaders in the mortgage industry need to have the information distilled into simpler, more actionable forms. The only way to achieve this is through refined presentation. Presentation is everything.
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
