Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer, Wesco Intl
Search every verified Matthew Kulasa interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2022 discussion on organizational readiness for business disruption, Matthew Kulasa, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer at Wesco Intl, spoke about navigating change and fostering agility within a controllership team. He described change as "difficult" and "a leap into the unknown," but emphasized the importance of "being comfortable with being uncomfortable" to lay groundwork for team development. Kulasa stated that support from the team is essential, adding that he views himself as "in it with the team" rather than an outside sponsor. Kulasa also discussed the value of proactive planning, recalling a former CFO who advocated "peeking around the corner" to anticipate future steps and maintain agility in response to market shifts. He acknowledged that failure is part of the process, advising that teams should "fail fast, move forward with that and be able to learn from it to get to a better decision moving forward."
“I look at change and this is nothing new, it’s difficult, a leap into the unknown which makes some people uncomfortable. But being comfortable with being uncomfortable and stepping out of your comfort zone really helps lay the groundwork for who we are going to be as controllership team members going forward.”
“You need the support of your team during this; this is not a one person can do all and direct it. Everyone’s in it together. I don’t see myself as necessarily an outside sponsor of this from a controllership but in it with the team.”
“I think about really not being promised that next step whether it’s in your role or your company overall and how do you stay in front of things and making sure that even if you’re not planning for it or putting it in place and enacting it, you’re always planning for it to keep you one step ahead.”
“A former CFO I used to work with always talked about peeking around the corner, always trying to get around that next step and planning for it and putting those alternatives on the table. I look at that as really agility and making sure you have an organization that is really agile enough to change and to move as the m...”
Is your organization prepared to adapt to a rapidly changing business landscape, such as market disruption and corporate growth ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Matthew Kulasa.