Archives for January 2013

January 31, 2013 By Samuel Dergel 13 Comments

Why do CFOs Leave?

What does it take for a CFO to move on in their career?

We asked this question to CFOs in January 2013 and had over 150 responses to this question.

The responses shown in the graph give a good indication why CFOs leave.

What I found more interesting (and personal) was the detailed reasons given below.

Board decided they wanted a different profile CFO
Corporate consolidation/restructuring
Board forced new CFO, CEO resisted then succumbed, I was hired as new CFO, CEO made life tough for me, I offered resignation after 2 years.
No more personal growth potential
I resigned due to a desire to relocate to another state
I was with my former employer for twelve years as their CFO. Owner’s son got married and needed a job. The owner decided to give my job to his son.
Company changed direction in terms of exit strategy.
unsustainable business model
It was apparent that the foreign founders wanted to re-domicile the company to their country of residence, so I began evaluating other opportunities.
Disagreement over revenue recognition policy
moved management positions to a different city
After selling controlling interest to PE I did not adapt fast enough to PE requirements vs. family owned prior to sale.
Left to start a consulting practice.
Retired
Sold the Company
No opportunity for equity
Company moved HO to another country.
Internal restructuring, consolidation of back office functions
Lead the restructuring process with CEO, which transformed the company to service a specific market, eliminated all C-Level positions.
Get bored quickly
Was resigning regardless of another opportunity.
It’s complicated – but in essence, I was no longer effective as CFO there.
I did the restructuring and elected to leave due to lack of opportunity and company prospects.
Poor fit
Disagreement with CEOs strategy or lack of it…
New CEO (2 responses)
The wife of the president was involved in the company. she often disagreed with the president’s decision
Controlling interest taken by Venture Capital Firm who in turn brought in new BOD and New Executive Team
One of the partners was creating major issues as he wanted to significantly modify the business model. His disagreements were also with our lender, which was creating cash flow issues.
Various reasons not listed above. No longer felt like it was a fit for me professionally.
Under resourced
Interim CFO role

Interesting food for thought, isn’t it?

What do you think about the results of this survey?

January 23, 2013 By Samuel Dergel 1 Comment

Do CFOs need to master IT to succeed?

As the person responsible for all things financial in an enterprise (of any size), the Chief Financial Officer needs to combine people, process and technology to drive results across the enterprise.

Solutions for organizations and finance departments that were best in class only a few years ago may well now be obsolete, and incapable of providing companies the functionality they need to succeed in today’s dynamic business world.

Does a CFO need to master Information Technology to succeed?

I asked this question to John Kogan, CEO at Proformative, an online community by and for Corporate Finance, Accounting and Treasury Professionals. Here is his response:

Master IT? No. Truly understand how IT can be used within their organizations and across the enterprise? Yes! CFOs can’t outsource their understanding of technology and its use within the enterprise. They need to embrace it in order to understand how it is being used and how it might be used to better advantage. Armed with such knowledge they can create a plan, with help from others in their organization as well as IT, and work to make whatever they do have better and more effective. This is a never-ending process.

I also asked John the following question:

Are CFOs afraid of IT?

I’m sure they are out there, but rare. I think it’s more common for some CFOs to be so busy doing all of the other things they are responsible for that IT may fall between the cracks or they outsource it to someone else internally. They may not realize they are doing this or they may not believe IT merits more of their time. Obviously they have a lot to do and there is never enough time to do it. However, this takes them out of a very important loop at their companies – the loop that provides data upon which their company makes decisions, for better and worse.

What can a CFO do to better understand IT?

Knowledge is power. CFOs may not need to be an IT master, but they certainly need to understand where IT is going, how it affects their business and how it impacts their finance team. Staying up to date and current in the fast paced changing world of IT can be difficult. It requires reading, speaking with peers, listening to vendors and industry experts.

How does a CFO find the time to stay on top of all things IT?

A CFO makes the time. Like most successful CFOs, they are efficient and effective in how they get the best value from their available time. Finding an excellent conference that can allow you to learn from experts and speak with your peers (with an additional benefit of finding time to network) can be a very effective solution.

So where does a CFO find an all-encompassing conference like this?

One conference that can meet a CFOs need for all things IT is PROFORMATECH 2013 on March 20, 2013 in San Francisco. This conference is geared for Senior Finance Professionals like yourself who need to stay on top all things IT.

Even if you’re not on the West Coast, I recommend you make the time to attend this conference. It will certainly be worth the cost, because the conference is FREE (which is the right price for most CFOs).

Don’t delay. Register today!

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Note: I am an Advisor with Proformative and a Topic Expert. There is no compensation for these roles, unless you consider that I usually win the $25 Amazon Gift certificate each month for most popular blog on the site. 🙂

January 16, 2013 By Samuel Dergel 17 Comments

CFOs: Do you want to become a Controller? This CFO did just that.

Non-CFOs might think that CFOs are people that look backwards, not forwards. I speak with Chief Financial Officers every day, and I can tell you that they look are interested in moving forward with their careers. They want to improve, grow and succeed. They want their next career opportunity to be bigger, better and have more responsibility. Many CFOs want to be able to grow into the CEO role, and as I report each Monday morning in my CFO Moves blog, a number of CFOs do just that.

Cindy Kraft wrote a blog just yesterday called CFOs Really Can Move On and Up! which deals with how a CFO can position themselves for the CEO role.

So this CFO Move last week really caught my attention.

Courtesy of Xerox Corporation

Luca Maestri, CFO of Xerox, let his company know that he would be taking a position with a new company. This is not an uncommon occurrence.

He also informed his employer that he will be taking on the role of Controller at his new employer. This does not happen often.

Now you need to keep in mind that the new employer is Apple. But it is not like he was working for a small company either as CFO. He was working for Xerox!

So why would a CFO at one company become a Controller at another company?

I have not had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Maestri about his decision. I’m sure he had good reasons. If Mr. Maestri was consulting with me about the move I would most probably tell him that I think it’s a great move.

However, most CFOs are so focused on moving forward in their career and getting promoted that they often lose sight that the best opportunities for them may require ‘stepping down’ a little.

Luca Maestri did just that.

As CFO, what can you learn from Luca Maestri?

January 9, 2013 By Samuel Dergel 5 Comments

Different companies need different CFOs

CFOs are capable people. Sometimes, when a CFO is actively looking for their next opportunity, they are less selective in the type of company or CFO role that they choose. When they make a career choice that is not appropriate for them, they can spend years trying to repair the choice they made.

2013 has just started, and already there is new CFO oriented research that can help CFOs and the companies that hire them. Today’s CFO: While profile best suits your company? (Note: there is no charge for the report, but registration is required to download) by McKinsey & Company, identifies four profiles of today’s CFO:

The finance expert
The generalist
The performance leader
The growth champion.

The McKinsey report, authored by Ankur Agrawal, John Goldie, and Bill Huyett, identifies which companies can best benefit from each of these profiles.

Agrawal et al. do realize that most CFOs do not fit precisely into each of these profiles, and have provided questions that CEOs and Boards should ask when beginning their search for their next Chief Financial Officer.

As an executive search specialist helping companies hire their next CFO, I find the report clear and concise. Reading this report can help CFOs better position themselves for the remainder of their career, and help CEOs and Boards hire the right person they need in the CFO chair.

What type of CFO are you?

January 4, 2013 By Samuel Dergel 3 Comments

Take time to think

We are all busy people. Running. Doing. Meeting. Analyzing. Reviewing. Managing. Are you stuck?

It’s nice to accomplish and get things done. But as many people have learned driving in winter conditions these past few weeks, spinning your wheels can only get you into a deeper rut.

If you don’t take the time to think and plan, your life and career will get away from you.

Thinking time is critical to plan your successes. Having a coach can certainly help you, but you can be your own coach too. You just need to take the time to think and plan.

I get my best thinking done driving alone in my car.

When do you get your thinking done?

Is it time to schedule some thinking time?

What do you need to think through?

Would a coach help?

Archives for January 2013

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