Kedrick: 1 - Lessons of the Professional World

Lessons of the Professional World

Hello everybody! I'll start with a brief background about myself. My name is Kedrick Mir, and I am the eldest of the Mir children. I'll be turning 30 on July 17th of this year. I've always enjoyed creative writing in my spare time, most recently in the form of fairly detailed "power rankings" for our family's fantasy football league and the occasional 800-word Letterboxd review. Through a lot of practice, I now consider myself to be an above-average writer (of course, though, I am the worst I'll ever be). Writing not only gives me a creative outlet but also helps me pass the time while sitting in my cubicle, a space in which I've been spending an increasing amount of time over the past few years. As for blog topics, my notes app currently has a few ideas. If any of them stick out, let me know, and I'll prioritize them: personal finance lessons, photography introductory lessons, travel blogs with photography samples, and detailed film reviews. For now, I'll focus on a few lessons you can use in the professional world.

Professionally, I am a Certified Public Accountant in the great state of Georgia (CPA037854; feel free to verify at cpaverify.org), and I have lived in Atlanta since graduating from the University of Florida with my Masters in Accounting in 2018. I began my career at Ernst & Young, where I worked until September 2020. I am now an accounting manager at an international wholesaler owned by Home Depot. Through my almost 7 years in the corporate world, I have learned a great deal not only about accounting & SEC reporting but also about myself and my work preferences. I found that I am intrinsically motivated and work best when given "free rein" to take ownership of areas, which is an important strength in the professional world. My other biggest strength is my lack of resistance to change and ability to navigate through uncertainty, to which I can credit my generally calm demeanor. That's not to say I lack stress or anxiety. I've been officially diagnosed with anxiety and taken medication for over a decade now, but that results from external stressors (primarily heights), while fast-paced and uncertain environments do not raise my heart rate one iota.

What is my biggest weakness? My fondness for a strong work-life balance. This not only closes the door to several roles that would otherwise interest me but also prevents me from leaving my cushy position in the private accounting world (private means working for a corporation as opposed to the public accounting world, which primarily involves auditing large companies and other forms of client service). If I wasn't so afraid of losing the many benefits available to me now, such as unlimited PTO, good coworkers, and a role that allows me to stroll into work at 9:30 and leave at 4:30 as long as I get my work done, then I may be inclined to climb the corporate ladder at a faster pace. But I've learned that's OK. In a world where people swap companies and roles every year, constantly searching for happiness in their 40 hours per week, I have found that being in the same place while steadily climbing can be just as good. But that's enough about me; let's get into what this blog was actually meant to be about before I started rambling!

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a company's (you may be able to guess which) annual conference. When the boys and I were growing up, our parents would leave us for one week every February for this same conference, so it was surreal being able to experience it firsthand alongside my beautiful wife and my long-tenured father. I had originally planned on writing a few lessons from each keynote speaker, but my preamble ran a little long, so I'll instead discuss two of my favorites.

The first speaker that resonated with me was James Clear, best-selling author of Atomic Habits. He spoke about a fascinating subject: the aggregation of marginal improvements. For those unfamiliar with big words, it is best explained as a story. In the early 2000s, the British cycling team was an international joke. In the 110-year history of the Tour de France, no Brit had ever come close to winning it. From 1908 to 2003, the UK won one cycling gold medal at the Olympics. The situation was so dire that one of the top European bike manufacturers refused to supply the team, deeming British riders a brand risk. One hire in 2003 changed this team forever; his name was Dave Brailsford. He implemented the philosophy of marginal gains. The improvements were in the hundreds and spanned changes from improved handlebar comfort to using the most effective pillows for each individual rider. By 2008, at the Olympics in Beijing, the UK took home 60% of the available gold medals for cycling. By 2012, Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. By 2017, British cyclists had won five Tour de Frances in six years. This is just one example of the power of tiny gains, and I'd encourage everyone reading to look for small improvements when trying to accomplish big things. You can read James's full article about the British cycling team here.

The second speaker came to the stage soon after James, and his grand presence was immediately felt throughout the crowd of over 9,000 people. In the lead-up to his talk, his name was consistently highlighted as one that people were most excited for. His name was Jocko Willink, and he was an ex-Navy SEAL and the best-selling author of Extreme Ownership. Jocko told many stories that were some of the most engaging of the entire conference, but I found one of his stories especially powerful. It was a specific example of his extreme ownership ethos. He described the difference in responses during debrief sessions after failed training missions with new Navy SEAL groups. Though the results of the missions were both tremendous failures, the responses from each team leader couldn't have been more different. When the first leader was brought to the front of the room and asked what went wrong, he explained that the extract vehicle driver was in the wrong place and the sniper team got lost. This led to the driver and sniper team leader getting defensive and blaming different members of their own teams until everyone was pointing fingers at someone else. No real progress was made. When the second leader was asked to explain his team's failures, he explained that he did not properly brief the extract team on where to be and did not do enough check-ins with the sniper team to make sure he knew exactly where they were. The responses of the extract and sniper teams were much different. Instead of pointing fingers at others, they also took ownership and explained things like "I didn't pay attention to the extract point in the meeting" or "I'll be honest, I got lost." This led to actual improvements and plans for the next mission rather than a finger-pointing competition amongst the entire team. Good leaders always take ownership of their failures.

That concludes my first entry into the Companion Chronicles blog. I hope everyone that read to this point learned something, and I look forward to reading and writing more content in the coming weeks!