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Webinar – May 23, 2013 | CFO Succession: The Right Way to Grow your Company’s next CFO

Join me on May 23, 2013 as I present a Webinar on the following topic:Webinar - CFO Succession

CFO Succession: The Right Way to Grow your Company’s next CFO

This session is graciously hosted by Proformative, and there is no charge for attending this seminar. To sign up, please click on this link.

Overview

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) know that they will not stay in their current role with their current company forever. The CFO needs to ensure that his or her team has the right talent that can be called upon to replace them when they eventually leave the company (or the role of CFO). Strong CFOs also know that they are only as strong as the weakest leader on their team. This session will discuss the right way for the CFO to attract, retain and develop financial leadership talent for their team, while ensuring that they are setting the stage and preparing for their own eventual succession.

Learning Objectives

After attending this webinar you will be able to:

    • Understand why your success depends on having the best possible leadership talent in your finance team
    • Learn how to identify which areas to develop your finance leaders for future success
    • Become aware of the key components necessary to attract, retain and develop your company’s next CFO and other future finance leaders

CPE Credits are available for this session. For further information, please see details in the “CPE Info” tab on the sign up page.

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From Blogger to Author

I have been writing Samuel’s CFO Blog for the past year and half. The goal of my blog is to connect with and make a difference to CFOs, those on the path to CFO, as well as those that work with CFOs. I am grateful to have found an audience that appreciates and is interested in what I have to say and share on the topic of the Chief Financial Officer.

My Upcoming Book

Is ‘being CFO’ an art or a science?

I believe that ‘being CFO’ is more social science than pure science. Yes, math is a key part of the delivery of the finance group, but success at the financial leadership level is more about building successful relationships. Numbers that balance are a given. Getting things accomplished in a multi-stakeholder environment is what makes a successful CFO stand out from his or her peers.

I am about to embark on a project that will challenge me in ways I have never been challenged before.

I will be writing a book.

The book, unnamed as of yet, will focus on what it takes to become a successful CFO. The goal is that my upcoming book will benefit the CFO of today and tomorrow. CFOs who read my book will not only be able to become better CFOs for their current employer, it will help them with their career as well.

So, as I embark on this new and exciting project, I would like your input. I am writing this for you.

What would you like me to include in your new book?

Please email me and let me know what you would like to be included in your new CFO book.

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The Quick CFO Turnaround

This is not about a CFO turning a business around quickly.

This blog is about the Quick Hiring & Unhiring of a CFO.

As someone that tracks CFO Moves every week across the country, I see this too often. Every time I see it, it bothers me, especially when I know that it could have been avoided in many cases. Here is one recently reported example of one Quick CFO Turnaround – Ulta Beauty CFO out after 6 weeks on the job.

An outsider will never really know the reason a person leaves their position. Like a divorce, there is the official story, the company’s story, the employee’s story and the real story.

That being said, here are some things that can be done to ensure CFO hires are done well, and can be successful over the long term.

    • CFO Readiness: Previously I wrote Are you Ready for your First CFO? The same Readiness that applies for a company’s first CFO applies when a company has had a CFO for a very long time and needs to change.
    • Onboarding: CFOs need to plan their Onboarding. My take on Onboarding is in blog The First 90 Days of a New CFO. As one CFO who went through a Quick Hiring & Unhiring told me recently “I wish I read the book before I accepted the job”.

Hiring for any executive level position needs to be treated seriously. Unfortunately, in too many cases, companies that do not treat their executive level hiring needs with the proper attention and resources necessary. This can end up doing serious damage to their company.

Many executives that are approached for career opportunities rely on their own business acumen to assess and accept career positions. When executives, CFOs included, are looking at career opportunities for themselves, they should know that they are minimizing their own career risk when the company they are being considering by is working with a reputable Executive Search firm.

CFOs: Has being hired by a company that worked with an Executive Search firm make a difference to your career?

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4 Reasons you should use an Executive Search Firm when hiring your CFO

As CEO, Board Member, or VP of Human Resources of your organization, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to hire a CFO. Some companies take the decision to perform a search for their next CFO by themselves. This is a mistake. In past blog postings, I have detailed the reasons you cannot afford to hire the wrong CFO, asked if it’s time to replace your CFO and how do you replace your CFO?

When you do a search for a Chief Financial Officer on your own, it is a misnomer to call it ‘search’. What you are really performing is a ‘look’. To find a needle in a haystack, ‘looking’ will not suffice – you need to do a proper, methodical search. And just because you find a needle, it doesn’t mean that it will be the right needle you need to get the difficult job done.

Searching for your CFO requires that you have the resources, network and capabilities to succeed. An Executive Search Firm that specializes in the Chief Financial Officer,

• Understands what you need,

• Knows how to find the CFO you need,

• Actively engages in a methodical and detailed search,

• Has the experience necessary to get your next CFO interested in your opportunity,

• Is intimately aware of the market and ensures that negotiations are fair to both parties, and

• Works after your CFO is hired to ensure that they have the right support in place to succeed.

When you look to hire a CFO on your own,

• You have not done a proper Needs Assessment. Do you really know what knowledge, skills and abilities your next CFO needs? Are you making an assumption, or has an expert made you think more about what you really need?

• You are missing the best CFOs. CFOs that are happy in their job are too busy to be looking at job postings. Without an active search, done by people experienced in gaining the attention of a busy CFO, you are missing what could be the best candidates.

• You are tapping in to your network. This is a good thing. Except does your network really have access to the best CFO that you need? Can they attract the right CFO for your needs that is currently working and happy at another company?

• The CFO you hire will not be a match. You’ve hired a square peg CFO to fit your round hole.

If you have the important responsibility of being involved with hiring your organization’s next CFO, it is important to be honest with yourself. If you are not using a Search Firm for hiring your CFO, you are probably resigned to the fact that any CFO will do.

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“Get a CFO on board when you are ready to take on the world”

The title is a quote from Fred Wilson, a VC and Principal at Union Square Ventures, who recently wrote a blog titled “VP Finance vs CFO”.

It’s an interesting blog – you should read it. It certainly got a lot of attention in the social media space (CFO, Tech and VC subsector) in the time since it was published 72 hours ago.

I chose this quote to write my blog post on because it was the meatiest and juiciest for me to work with. In addition to my own direct take on the blog which I recently wrote – Does a Small yet Growing Business need a CFO? – I have written blogs that have touched this topic from different perspectives.

Let us count the ways.

1) CFO Readiness. When is a company really ready to take on the world? Are they really ready for a CFO?

2) Promoting the VP Finance to CFO. Fred says that a VP Finance is about “what happened” and a CFO is more about “What is happening right now”. I do agree with him. But that doesn’t mean the VP Finance cannot become a CFO. Here is how. And here is how as well.

3) The Successful CFO. How does a CFO become a successful? They prepare a plan, map out their relationships, get coaching, and build a strong team to support them.

4) Hiring your CFO. How do you hire them? Read this. How do you NOT hire a CFO? Read this.

Come to think of it, there are more than just these 4 ways.

Just read all my blogs.

And, to not miss any in the future, Click on the “Sign me up!” button on the right side of the blog.

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Does a Small yet Growing business need a CFO?

You might think that given what I do, I would say “of course”.

I recently read a great piece by Janine Popick in the Huffington Post called Small Business CFOs: Do You Need One? In this article, Janine discusses the personal story of the growth of her company, Vertical Response, the challenges they faced as they were growing, and not having the right finance resources when they needed it.

Janine’s honesty is refreshing. She mentions that there were numerous times she needed to take decisions to bring on the right finance resources, but her concerns of cost overrode her need to build value. She also admits there were things she did not know.

The fact is many entrepreneurs of growing companies face the same issues. And make the same mistakes. I highly recommend this article to any entrepreneur who is building a growing business.

So, does a small yet growing business need a CFO?

If the business is small, growing and simple, I would say no.

If the business is a complex business (where revenue is not a simple formula, where there is innovation in the product or service and where new investment is needed regularly to accomplish success) I would say yes.

My recommendation to entrepreneurs of growth companies is: If you’re not sure, there are people you can ask. You can approach an entrepreneur of a successful growth business (like Janice) for their input. You can seek advice from the people that have invested money in your business (or people you hope will invest money in your business) for input.

Or, as one entrepreneur did last week, you can ask me.

Related Blog Posts:
More companies are ready for their first Real CFO
CEO and Investors: Are you ready for your First CFO?
New CFOs and the Entrepreneurial CEO – How to make it work

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New CFOs and the Entrepreneurial CEO – How to make it work

I have been privy to viewing (from near and far) many successful entrepreneurial businesses over the last 20 years. I have always been fascinated by how one person (or a small group of people) can create an amazing business out of nothing. It takes a certain type of individual to have the motivation, drive and skills to be a successful entrepreneur.

I have also seen many entrepreneurial companies reach a ceiling on their growth potential. The management structure and style that has made them the success they have become can no longer support continued growth without a radical change in how the company is run.

This inflection point is where it can continue its growth and success.

Or it can all fall apart.

It is at this time that the Entrepreneurial CEO, driven by his or her own logic or by outside forces (usually external investors), understands that he or she needs to hire a Real CFO.

I have been called in to situations like this to help with the CFO Search. The biggest challenge CEOs face at this inflection point is emotional, not logical.

A recent article by Alix Stuart in CFO.com called How to Avoid Power-Hungry Bosses discusses this issue, and provides a 7 point check list on how to avoid a “Control Freak CEO.”

From my vantage point, the challenge for CFOs as they assess new and exciting opportunities is more than just avoiding difficult situations. The challenge is: How does a new CFO “make it work” with an Entrepreneurial CEO on the cusp of major change?

In essence, the company needs to be ready for a Real CFO. For an outside CFO candidate on the verge of accepting an offer from a growing company, this is difficult to assess.

The Question for the incoming CFO is: Are they ready for a Real CFO?

The Question for the Entrepreneurial CEO is: Are we ready for a Real CFO?

For companies facing this important point in their growth, I always recommend our CFO Readiness Program.

You can learn more about our CFO Readiness Program by reading our blog – CEO and Investors: Are you ready for your First CFO?

If you are a New CFO getting ready for (or having just started) a new role in a growth company with an Entrepreneurial CEO at the helm, you need to learn more about how this CFO Readiness Program will help you help your new company.

If you are an Entrepreneurial CEO that knows you will be facing an uphill battle in the move towards a more corporate structure, our CFO Readiness Program will equip you and your entire team to make the shift with more impact and less pain.

If you are an Investor in (or on the Board of) an Entrepreneurial Growth Company on the cusp of change, investing in CFO Readiness will take the guessing out of making the shift to the more corporate environment that will make you sleep better at night.

So, how does a New CFO “make it work” with an Entrepreneurial CEO on the cusp of major change? With the CFO Readiness Program.

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Top 5 Reasons a CFO Needs LinkedIn

This Blog was written by Saundra Lee of Dubin & Lee

Many CFOs I talk to as an Accounting & Finance Headhunter are under the impression that they don’t need LinkedIn or that LinkedIn is just for job seekers and neither of those is true.

The truth is that a C level professional, such as a CFO, needs LinkedIn more than they think.

Here Are the Top 5 Reasons CFOs Need LinkedIn.

1. It’s the “Golden Rolodex.” First, it is important to understand LinkedIn. LinkedIn is basically your “Golden Rolodex” on steroids! Picture every time one of the great contacts in your “Golden Rolodex” moved on that they could find you (because you’ve moved on too) and sneak into your office in the middle of the night and update their contact information.

2. Peer Group Discussions. What was once only possible at Roundtable Meetings or CPE seminars, can now can be done in real time with very specialized groups. LinkedIn is not a replacement for face to face meetings but you can get discussions going instantly which can be very time efficient for immediate feedback. Also, just like the face to face meetings, it is a great way to build your network.

3. Just because you are not a job seeker now does not mean you won’t be someday. Waiting until you need a network to start working on one (like the out of work job seeker hopping from networking event to networking event in hopes of running into that perfect contact that will set them up with an interview) is like waiting until your teenager starts applying to colleges to start saving money for college tuition…..it’s too late.

4. Finding Talent. Running a Staffing firm, I can tell you that middle management openings like Controllers and Managers of External Reporting are harder to fill than CFO roles as they fly a bit more under the radar and are not listed on company websites or 10Ks & 10Qs. Most likely there are several people that you have worked with before that you would like to work with again but it is too time consuming to find them. Using LinkedIn, it could take less than 10 minutes to pop off an email to several people in your network. Also, with just a few keyword searches you might even find someone new or you can pay an agency fee and they will do it for you.

5. Beating the “Dated” Stereotype. The most common complaint I here from a CFO that is on the job market is that they think they are experiencing age discrimination. I have to say, in over 20 years of recruiting, I have not seen age discrimination but I have seen people not get the job offer because they were not on the “cutting edge”, comfortable with change or a big fan of new tools. When I see a CFO that does not have a complete profile or only a few connections, my first impression is that this person either does not see how social media can be useful, does not value his or her network or just is not that into new tools. Of course, this may not be the case but to beat the “dated” stereotype, one must do everything one can to appear on the cutting edge.

I see 2 commonalities in all professionals that have the most marketability and longevity in their profession.

1. They understand of the importance of their professional network.

2. They place a high priority on new tools to help them stay on the cutting edge.

LinkedIn is a great place to work on both!

Interested in a LinkedIn workshop?

Click here for more blogs by Saundra Lee

Author: Saundra Lee, President, Dubin & Lee

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CEO and Investors: Are you ready for your First CFO?

Companies in growth mode face great challenges. One of the biggest challenges a growing company faces is bringing in their first Real CFO.

In a previous post we reviewed an article written by Emily Chasen in the WSJ CFO Journal about how More Companies are Ready for their First CFO.

A growing company built on entrepreneurial spirit can only continue to grow so far on that spirit alone. At a critical juncture in the life of a growing business, it needs to make a transition from decisions made by the entrepreneur alone to a dynamic team that works on a business model of delegation of responsibility and co-operation between interests within the company.

This is an inflection point for many successful growth companies — when a CFO is recruited because the management disciplines that grew the enterprise to its current state will not be enough to take it to the next level.

Intellectually, the CEO and other key managers may know things need to change.  But that doesn’t mean they’ll be comfortable with a CFO who asks tougher questions, instills new disciplines or has a fiduciary responsibility to the investors as well as a loyalty to the management team.

So, what is the answer?  How do you strengthen CFO readiness when the next level of success takes people out of their comfort zones?  Courage.

That’s why we developed our CFO Readiness Program in conjunction with Dr. Merom Klein & Dr. Louise Klein, leaders of the Courage Institute.

The Courage Institute wrote the book on The Courage to Act — about 5 Courage Factors that equip effective leaders to challenge the status quo, champion new possibilities and get traction on breakthrough ideas and improvements. This is the foundation of the CFO Readiness Program.

The CFO Readiness Program is an assessment, feedback and action planning program that works to equip  the entire executive team to:

    • Strengthen and align your veteran executives — so they have the courage to welcome new thought-leadership and collaboration
    • Clarify your wish-list of expectations and priorities for the new CFO
    • Prepare for healthy debates and challenges to “the way we have done things here” as the new CFO identifies new opportunities
    • Equip the new CFO to conduct an independent assessment of your enterprise’s infrastructure, financial well-being and resources
    • Ensure career paths and mentoring opportunities for the finance executives who brought the enterprise to its current level
    • Identify fears, sensitivities and bridge-building that the new CFO could face — and ways to build courage to lift performance
    • Lift courage to embrace and accelerate change to get traction on new metrics, new ways of working and new ways to ensure regulatory compliance and good investor/board relations
    • Identify debates, deferred decisions and risk factors that the new CFO will face — and the input desired from the new CFO
    • See how to move past rivalries, turf-issues, personality clashes and other fear-inducing courage inhibitors that can reduce luminary efficiency at the executive and middle management levels
    • Invite scrutiny and transparency to sharpen up team thinking
    • Navigate matrix structures, networks and alliances — where it is not clear “who is in charge” or “who settles which debates”
    • Overcome fear and reluctance — as veteran members of the executive team are asked for courage to share decision-making discretion and authority with a new CFO

To receive a copy of our brochure and find out more about how our CFO Readiness Program can help your company, please complete this form:

[contact-form subject=”CFO Readiness Program” to=”[email protected]”] [contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Position” type=”text” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Company” type=”text” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”City” type=”text” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”State / Province” type=”text” /] [contact-field label=”Country” type=”text” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Phone Number” type=”text” required=”true” /] [/contact-form]

Contact Information

You can reach Samuel by:

Telephone
San Francisco: +1 (415) 738-2070
Montreal: +1 (514) 907-0925

Email: [email protected]