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You are here: Home / Archives for CFO / CFO Consulting / Better CFO

October 11, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 3 Comments

Ask Samuel: Too many meetings, not enough time to work

Dear Samuel,

I have been following your advice saying that CFOs should build their relationships with the other executives in the company.

The problem is that I find myself in more meetings now than ever, and this is taking up so much of my time that I can’t get the work done that I am supposed to.

Do you have any advice on how to manage this better?

Flummoxed in Florida

Dear Flummoxed,

I’m glad that you have taken my advice about building your CFO Relationships. This certainly will help further develop your CFO value.

“Too many meetings” can be difficult to deal with. However, it is important to realize a couple of things as you build yourself into a Great CFO.

Meeting control. Part of your relationship building with other executives requires an honest discussion with them about the value they need from you to achieve their goals, as well as how you can help. Just attending meetings is not the answer. You need to be attending the right meetings, not all meetings. You need to guide the other executive to provide you with an agenda prior to the meeting, so you don’t have to be at the table for discussions that are not relevant.

Delegate. You brought up that you are too busy and cannot get your work done. Have you actually looked at the work you do to see if you cannot delegate some (or most) of this work? You need to assess how much of your work needs to be analytical and technical, how much of your effort needs to be ensuring that the work actually gets done, and how much of your time should be spent helping people in your organization make the best business decisions possible. What you shouldn’t be doing should be done by people on your team.

The CFOs that I coach come to me to help figure out these multi-layered challenges. I do realize that these two tidbits of advice are general in nature, and may not be able to completely solve your challenges.

Carry on asking yourself the right questions. Continuous self-improvement is the hallmark of a Great CFO. Never be satisfied. You can always do better.

Samuel

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Filed Under: CFO Relationships

October 4, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 2 Comments

Ask Samuel: Is every CFO coachable?

Note: This question was asked in the CFO Lounge. If you would like to know more about the CFO Lounge, I recommend that you read The Lonely CFO.

Dear Samuel,

I have read your blogs about coaching for CFOs, and agree that many of my fellow CFOs could benefit from getting guidance on how to be a better CFO.

One thing I have noticed, and you have not mentioned, is that some CFOs are not coachable – they just can’t change who they are.

What do you think about this Samuel?

Sincerely,

Philosopher in Philadelphia

Dear Philosopher

You bring up an interesting point – not all CFOs are coachable. They are like Freudian lightbulbs – they have to ‘want to change’.

A Number of CFOs are happy with how they are doing things, and don’t see the need to improve. They believe that what has got them to where they are will continue to help them to grow in their career.

Except…

You cannot believe the number of CFOs I speak with that find themselves in a job search that were totally blindsided by their need to find a new CFO role.

And a good number these CFOs will admit that they did not read the writing on the wall – that they did not see that ‘how it was always done’ wasn’t good enough.

My coaching program for CFOs – The Strong CFO Program (which you can read about here) works to coach CFOs, starting with their Strengths. On this blog page you can find a copy of my personal Strengthsfinder report, which is an example of the report used in my coaching program.

Funnily enough, most of the CFOs that I coach that come find me to help them grow have “Learner” as a strength. Learner is defined as…

“People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.”

That is not to say that CFOs that are not strong in “Learner” cannot benefit from coaching – it is just that they don’t go out of their way to continuously improve.

Samuel

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Filed Under: Ask Samuel, Ask Samuel, Financial Executive Coaching

September 15, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 1 Comment

7 Steps to Climb to Become CFO

Just because you have the skills to be a solid Controller, this does not mean you have the right stuff to become a Great CFO….

but it doesn’t mean you can’t become a Great CFO.

To become a Great CFO, one needs to be able to move beyond the technical of accounting and finance. Having great Excel skills, being a GAAP Geek or being able to add 100 numbers in your head within 60 seconds is not what a CFO does. If a CFO needs to these things, there is a good chance a CFO will hire you. That might be why you were hired, but these skills will not get you the CFO job.

So what do you need to work on to become a CFO?

Read my Guest Blog published on the Dubin & Lee Blog

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Filed Under: Build your Finance Team, Controller, Dubin & Lee, Finance Team, Finance Team, Great CFO, Great CFO, Guest Blog, On the Road to CFO, The Strong CFO, The Strong CFO, The Strong CFO

September 9, 2011 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

Become a Better CFO: Be on Trend. Create your own Luck.

I received this video in my email yesterday, and I wanted to share it with you. I was fortunate to be attending a conference in May 2010 where Mike Lipkin was the keynote speaker.

[Sidenote: I have always been skeptical of Motivational Speakers. It was never my style. But I ended up in a room with Mike Lipkin and he is one person I thank for making the changes in my life and career that has brought me here today].

If you are the kind of person that does not like motivational speakers – do not watch the video.

If you are the kind of person that likes to hear new ideas, be current, and are open to change and improvement, go ahead and listen.

Based on the research done by Mr. Lipkin’s company, Environics Lipkin, Mike explains these seven powerful and current trends that have the ability to make you a Better CFO.

    1. Instrospection and empathy.
    2. New social responsibility and community involvement
    3. Social learning and cultural fusion.
    4. Vitality and effort for health.
    5. Rejection of authority and support for government.
    6. Equality of the sexes.
    7. Pursuit of originality.

If any of these trends interest you and you would like to understand them better, watch the video.

Do any of these apply to you?

Can you be on Trend?

Will following any of these trends help make you a Better CFO?

As Mike says “You may be the one that others have been waiting for.”

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Filed Under: All of Samuel's Blogs, All of Samuel's Blogs, All of Samuel's Blogs, All of Samuel's Blogs, Board, CEO, CFO, CFO, CFO, CFO Coach, CFO Coach, CFO Coach, CFO Coach, CFO Coaching, CFO Coaching, CFO Coaching, CFO Coaching, CFO Consulting, CFO Consulting, CFO Consulting, Courage, Executive Coaching, Executive Coaching, Executive Coaching, Mike Lipkin, Motivation, Real CFO, Successful CFO, Successful CFO, Successful CFO, Successful CFO, Training and Development, Training and Development, Trends, Youtube

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