How to handle difficult workplace relationships

What can chimpanzee social structures teach us about getting on with people at work?  In this new season of Career Hacks, we're exploring the human factor at work in the AI age — what it means to be human as technology reshapes how we work and connect.  This episode explores what chimpanzee social structures can reveal about human behaviour, why everyday conversation is more than a distraction, and how professional connections help people find information and get work done.  Key takeaways from this episode:  Why status, territorial behaviour and hierarchy can shape teams and organisational change.  How healthy small talk helps colleagues build and maintain relationships.  Why strong workplace connections help people find information, insight and support.  How finance professionals can explain data in plain English and connect reporting to business decisions.  How first impressions affect perceptions, and how to shape them through useful business conversations.  Why accepting feedback without defensiveness can support learning and career development.  The episode also considers how remote work and digital tools affect human connection, and why technology does not remove the need to build relationships consciously.  Listen now.  Host:  Jackie Blondell, editor, CPA Australia  Guest: Andrew O'Keeffe, author of Hardwired Humans, whose work draws on behavioural research as well as insights from the late primatologist Dr Jane Goodall.  You can learn more Andrew O'Keefe at the Hardwired Humans website.   Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

When was the last time you had a work disagreement? How was it for you?  How you handle workplace conflict can make or break a work relationship, a project, or a whole team's trust in each other.  In this episode, Genevieve Hawkins, Founder of Mentally at Work, unpacks what it means to disagree well at work.  She explains why assuming good intent is the first step to any productive disagreement, and why reframing conflict as curiosity (rather than a battle to be won) changes the outcome entirely.  You'll learn her expert insights on:  How to distinguish a disagreement from a fight driven by emotion  Why being convinced you are right can prevent you from hearing useful perspectives  How asking questions and listening can interrupt adversarial exchanges  Ways to address passive aggression by describing observable behaviour and inviting an explanation  When to pause, manage rising tension and return to a difficult discussion with a clearer perspective  How to prepare for uncomfortable conversations and disagree with a manager constructively  The central lesson is that understanding another person's perspective doesn't require you to abandon your own.  Listen now.  Host:  Tahn Sharpe, INTHEBLACK Editor  Guest: Genevieve Hawkins, Founder, Mentally at Work. She helps boards, executives and leadership teams navigate the conflicts, commercial pressures and cultural dynamics that typically derail transformations.  You can learn more about Genevieve at her website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

CFOs can learn a lot about pricing and leadership from Costco.  In this episode of How CFOs Think, the former Costco CFO Richard Galanti explains how Costco Wholesale – a multibillion-dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in 14 countries – has used pricing discipline, operational efficiency, transparency and long-term thinking to build customer loyalty and value.  Listeners will learn:  Why Costco maintains strict limits on product mark-ups  How operational efficiency helps protect customer value  Why Costco sometimes accepts lower short-term earnings  How transparency shapes relationships with investors and suppliers  What the CFO contributes to major capital and strategic decisions  Why monthly performance reviews support better decision-making  What new CFOs should focus on during their first 90 days  How long-term financial discipline can support shareholder returns  Tune in with special guest Richard Galanti, who will also be speaking at CPA Congress 2026.  Host: Ky Chow, media trainer, journalist, writer and presenter  Guest: Richard Galanti, who joined Costco in 1984 after helping raise the company's original outside capital as a banker and spent close to 40 years as its CFO.  Richard Galanti will appear at CPA Congress 2026.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

Technical expertise can produce exact numbers. However, communicating what those numbers mean is a different, but incredibly valuable, skill.  This episode explores why storytelling is becoming an increasingly important capability for accountants and finance professionals.  You will learn:  Why peer credibility matters alongside formal authority  How storytelling can help financial insights drive action  Why numbers can influence behaviour, not just describe performance  How technical professionals can develop their communication skills  How the TLC framework can structure thinking, presentation and communication  How to make financial recommendations stand out to busy decision-makers  Explore the story behind the numbers — and why narrative is becoming an essential finance discipline — with special guest AJ Kulatunga, a leadership keynote speaker who will be speaking at CPA Congress 2026.  Host:  Jackie Blondell, Editor, CPA Australia  Guest: AJ Kulatunga,  a leadership keynote speaker specialising in execution intelligence for CFOs  AJ Kulatunga is speaking at CPA Congress 2026.   You can learn more about him at his website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

Change is the one constant in today's work landscape.  This episode sparks fresh ideas on leading people through change without losing their trust or buy-in.  Expert guest Richard Gerver – who has worked with Google and Deloitte and will speak on Leading Humans Through Continuous Change at CPA Congress 2026 – looks at why restructures so often fail on the human side, not the technical one.  He explains why:  Asking questions beats presenting answers  Change works better when people have ownership of it  Organisations need to move from "managing change" to becoming comfortable with continuous change  Leaders should unlock the ideas and potential already inside their organisation  Psychological safety and leader vulnerability are essential to innovation  Resilience isn't about asking people to cope with more, it's something leaders help build  If you're leading a team through a restructure, a system migration or AI adoption, this conversation reframes resilience as something you build deliberately, not something people simply have or don't.  Give it a listen this week.  Host Tahn Sharpe, INTHEBLACK Editor, CPA Australia  Guest: Richard Gerver, award-winning change and leadership speaker with a background in education, innovation and human potential  For more information on Richard Gerver, head online to his international speakers bureau page.  Richard will speak at CPA Congress 2026.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@CPAaustralia/podcasts  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance and accounting:   With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/excel-tips   Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]  Chapters: 00:00 Richard Gerver on leadership vulnerability and empowering teams 00:29 Introduction to Richard Gerver, change leadership expert and educator 01:27 How Richard Gerver transformed a failing school through empowerment 04:54 Employee empowerment vs top-down change management 06:15 Why continuous change is the new normal for leaders 10:51 How to get employee buy-in for organisational change 13:00 Leadership, psychological safety and encouraging innovation 16:58 Resilience, failure and learning in a changing workplace 20:29 Leading humans through change, AI adoption and ERP transformation 22:25 Richard Gerver's advice for finance leaders managing major change projects 23:41 Key takeaways and CPA Australia Congress 2026 preview

What does responsible leadership look like when short-term performance still matters?  This episode explores stewardship as a practical approach to balancing profit, purpose, stakeholder interests and long-term value.  Key learnings include:  What stewardship means in today's leadership environment  Why organisations are shifting from short-term thinking to long-term value creation  The connection between purpose, values and leadership effectiveness  How leaders can build cultures of accountability and responsibility  Balancing stakeholder expectations in a complex world  Practical actions individuals can take to become better stewards in their own roles  This podcast aims to help leaders understand how a stewardship mindset can drive both sustainable business success and meaningful societal impact.   Tune in now.  Host: Patrick Viljoen, ESG Lead, CPA Australia  Guest: Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of Steward Leadership Institute and an internationally recognised author, speaker and leadership expert whose work has challenged executives around the world to rethink the purpose of leadership and the role of values in driving sustainable success.  You can find more about Steward Leadership Institute on LinkedIn.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.  Additionally, INTHEBLACK online has stories on everyday ethics issues.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]   Email the podcast team at [email protected]  

Growth is not the problem. Undisciplined growth is.  Does revenue growth without financial discipline create value or destroy is the question at the centre of this expert-led episode.  The 2025 Australian Accounting Awards CFO of the Year Priyan Fernando explains why revenue growth can mask falling margins, tightening cash flow and weakening financial discipline.  Listeners will learn:  Why growth does not necessarily create profitability or value  Where profit commonly disappears as businesses scale up  How cash flow differs from profit  Which KPIs growing SMEs often overlook  What a fractional CFO looks at first when entering a business  How dashboards can improve financial visibility  How finance leaders can challenge the assumption that growth always equals success  Where to start when a fast-growing business has weak financial discipline  For SME owners, CFOs and senior finance professionals, the discussion offers a practical perspective on financial controls and questions that matter as a business scales up.  Tune in now.  Host: Ky Chow. Ky is a business journalist, media trainer, writer and presenter.  Guest: Priyan Fernando. Priyan is a CPA and founder of fractional CFO practice Metrix Advisory. He is also the 2025 Australian Accounting Awards CFO of the Year.  Learn more about Metrix Advisory at its website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.  Additionally, INTHEBLACK online has stories on everyday ethics issues.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

Salary still matters.  However, it is no longer enough to attract and retain accounting and finance professionals.  In this episode, explore how the Australian employment market is changing and what workers want from their careers today.  The 2026/27 Hays Salary Guide answers questions you've been asking about career progression, flexibility, skills development and AI.  For employers, the challenge now is building a proposition that goes beyond just pay.  In the Hays Salary Guide for financial year 2026/27, you'll hear expert insights on:  How salary is no longer the only factor when people change jobs  How AI adoption is changing the way businesses hire and grow  The key skills in demand and what can help you stand out  Why career progression is becoming almost as important as salary  Why flexibility has shifted from a differentiator to an expectation  Where are the accounting and finance skills shortages  Why technical accounting expertise still matters  How accountants can move closer to commercial decision-making  What recently qualified, mid-career and senior professionals can do to stay competitive  Why employers need to combine remuneration with progression, flexibility and wellbeing  Tune in now.  Host: Adrienne Biscontin, external affairs adviser, CPA Australia  Guest: John Summers, Hays business director for accountancy and finance  You can read the Salary Guide Australia FY26/27 at the Hays website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And, of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.   Additionally, INTHEBLACK online has stories on everyday ethics issues.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]  Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:21 Hays Salary Guide 2026: Key labour market trends in Australia 01:15 Why career progression rivals salary for employee retention 03:27 Hybrid work expectations and talent attraction strategies 05:03 Career development plans that improve employee retention 06:05 AI adoption in accounting and finance: Training gap revealed 07:39 Accounting and finance skills shortages in Australia 2026 09:07 CPA qualification, technical accounting skills and salary growth 10:05 Employer of choice strategy: Salary, flexibility, AI and benefits 11:38 How AI and automation are changing accounting careers 12:43 Career advice for accountants: Commercial skills and decision-making 13:44 Early-career and mid-career accounting growth opportunities 15:14 CFOs, finance leaders and leading AI-driven change 15:45 Salary pressure, cost of living and retention risks in 2026 16:26 Key takeaways for employers and accounting professionals 17:03 Accessing the Hays Salary Guide 2026 and final thoughts

(This is an encore presentation of this INTHEBLACK podcast episode, first published on February 3, 2026)  Cognitive bias. It quietly shapes many of the decisions made in accounting and finance – often without you realising it.  This unintended bias can become a risk if left unchecked – especially in professions built on precision, trust and ethical responsibility.  Drawing on real-world examples, this episode explores the diverse types of cognitive bias, and how they can impact accounting and finance professionals in our day-to-day work.  Key learnings include:  Why cognitive bias exists and when it becomes a professional risk  How common biases affect financial judgement  The ethical consequences of bias in accounting and finance  How organisational culture can reduce or reinforce biased thinking  Practical steps individuals can take to challenge assumptions and improve decisions  How the rise of AI and automation adds a new layer of complexity to decision-making  The discussion also shows how biases such as confirmation bias, anchoring and overconfidence quietly influence decisions, often without conscious awareness.  Host: Tahn Sharpe, Editor, CPA Australia  Guest: Dr Victor Goh Weng Yew, a PhD in applied psychology and Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at HELP University in Malaysia, where he is also the acting dean.  For more, head to HELP University online and to its page on LinkedIn.  And there is a CPA PD course on AI and Ethics in Malaysia featuring expert local speakers, case studies and examples.   Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:   With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]  

Every workplace has them – the colleague whose communication style grates on you, the team member whose approach seems to undermine everything you're trying to do, or the manager you simply can't read.  In finance and corporate environments, where pressure is high and collaboration is non-negotiable, navigating these relationships isn't optional.  In this episode of the INTHEBLACK podcast, experts discuss the reality of working with people you don't like.  They explore why tension in teams can actually be a competitive advantage, how to tell the difference between a personality clash and a systemic problem, and what self-awareness really demands of us when conflict arises.  Practical, honest and occasionally confronting, this is a conversation every professional needs – not because you'll always like your colleagues, but because you have to work with them anyway.  Tune in now.  Host: Tahn Sharpe, Editor, CPA Australia  Guests: Tammy Tansley, consultant, Leadership and Workplace Culture, and Paula Brough, director, Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University  Want to learn more about this episode's guests?  Head to Tammy Tansley's website and Paula Brough's experts page on the Griffith University website.  And the INTHEBLACK website has articles on today's episode subject and more for finance and business professionals.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]