The Lonely CFO - Samuel's CFO Website

January 26, 2016 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

A Solution for Lonely CFOs

Being CFO is a challenge.

CFOs are expected to be key contributors to the success of a company. They are regularly are called upon to make tough decisions, at times without the support of a sounding board.

Being CFO can be lonely but it doesn’t have to be.

Last year we launched a CFO Peer Group. CFOs from across North America meet in person and virtually. They have regular conference calls and spontaneous one-on-ones. In November they all convened for a day in Chicago. These CFOs found a comfortable setting in which to learn and share together with their peers.

In 2016, we are expanding our group. Members of this exclusive CFO Peer Group will have access to:

Annual in-person one day meeting in November 2016. Our first in-person CFO Peer Group meeting in Chicago this past November was a great success. These CFOs took time out of their busy schedules, spending one full day out of the office to meet their peers and discuss issues that were top of mind while networking and learning from others (just like you).

Regularly scheduled phone calls (8 times / year) where you will have an opportunity to speak with, interact and network with fellow CFOs. The topic of conversation will be what interests you. You will have the opportunity to discuss the challenges you face as CFO with your peers, and to listen, learn and network.
CFO Questions Forum, where you will be able to submit questions to your peers at any time. This could be helpful when looking for a template, facing a challenging relationship situation in your business, or need assistance to access a referral. Your CFO Peers will help you and you will be there to support them.

The opportunity to reach out spontaneously and confidentially to peers who you will come to respect and trust.

Unlike other CFO-oriented programs you may have attended in the past that spoke to you from a podium and a PowerPoint, our CFO Peer Group allows you and your peers to discuss topics that interest you, that are current, immediate and relevant to you. You drive the conversation – our role is to facilitate.

You can learn more about Samuel’s CFO Peer Group here and here.

There are only a few spaces available.

Meetings start in February. If you are a CFO and this interests you, please email us.

July 14, 2015 By Samuel Dergel 1 Comment

The Challenges CFOs Face Alone (But They Don’t Have To)

CFO Peer Groups: A mid-year update

Since the release of my book, Guide to CFO Success in 2014, I have been reminding CFOs that they need to build and develop their relationships within their organization.

Last fall, when speaking with some of my key Chief Financial Officers that I keep in regular touch with, I was reminded that while CFOs are lonely, there is a solution to their loneliness. These conversations with my Chief Financial Officers led me to develop my CFO Peer Groups.

Starting this past winter, I created 3 groups of 10 CFOs from across the USA and Canada, with the express goal of getting them to talk, learn, share and network with each other. Each month we had scheduled conference calls, with questions from CFOs sent to the group in advance that prepared the group. These CFOs were able to call on their peers both during and outside of our meetings on the issues and challenges facing them.

This fall, we will have our first in-person meeting in Chicago. At this meeting we will take our phone conversations to the next level and set the stage for where we take this in 2016.

Here is a sample of some of the discussions we have had so far this year in CFO Peer Group.

Topic addressed	Question discussed
The ability to grow while stabilizing the core business.	How to grow while investing in the core and changing the culture?
Scaling the organization to handle growth efficiently and profitably.	What changes have you made both to the finance organization and encouraged throughout the organization to deal with top line growth year-over-year in the 20%+ range.
Having sufficient cash for all initiatives and not wasting time or money to get there.	What strategies have you used that have had success or failure? Why?
Integrating 4 recent acquisitions	How have you dealt with integration challenges? Staffing, IT, timelines, etc.
Scaling without rapidly increasing costs and maintaining quality	What systems, processes or frameworks have they utilized to be successful in the past?
Best practices for managing tight cash flow.	How do you redirect the culture of an organization to be conscience of tight cash flow when the CEO wont.
Describe your day to day activities and how this has changed over the course of your tenure	What are your thoughts on how the role of the CFO evolves over time and how do you build your team such that you focus on the highest priorities? What functions report to you?
Outsourcing of non-strategic functions	To what extent have you outsourced? What did you outsource? What was kept in house? Which outsource partners would you recommend?
Acquisition Process	Do any of you have a well defined non confidential process around acquisitions that cover everything from target evaluation, negotiations, financing, due diligence and all legal documentation through purchase? Or is it more ad hoc project planning as circumstances warrant? In either case are roles and responsibilities clear and what role does the CFO and his / her organization play?
The Finance Team	How do you ensure a strong, engaged team? How do you ensure they are treated with the respect they deserve by the non-finance departments? What are some good tips and tricks for finding and retaining a strong team? How do you prevent burnout and staff turnover? How to you create a culture that values the finance staff and the role that they play?
Building your Finance and Accounting team	Do you have separate Accounting and FP&A functions? Do you lead each of those functions or do you have a #2 Executive in your department that manages these functions (or others?) If so,
Business Unit Structure	Have you structured business units in a complex multi-product environment? If so, how did you do it and what worked well and what didn’t? Would also like to know how you structured the management of the business units
I am currently focused on CyberSecurity and efforts to be in front of the issue.	What best practices have you put in place recently? Have you reviewed insurance coverage for security breaches? Recommendations for Outsourced CTO services.
Asia expansion.	Anyone have experience with hiring/establishing a local presence in Asia?
Budget Planning	Has anyone used Zero Based Budgeting as a means to get deep into spending areas? If so, was it worth the time and how did the process
Internal Audit Process	Curious on rigor of Internal Audit Process and role of group within your company (financially vs. operationally focused, approach to audit planning, consultative vs. enforcers, etc.)?

These are only A FEW of the discussions we have had in CFO Peer Group so far in 2015.

As the year progresses, my CFOs will be sharing, learning, growing and networking, both in our continued conference calls, as well as at our first in-person meeting this November in Chicago.

My questions to you

As a CFO, wouldn’t you want to be able to share these types of questions with your peers?

As a CEO or Board member, aren’t these the types of things you want your CFO to have the support for?

There is help for the Lonely CFO.

Create your own CFO Peer Group. Or ask to join mine. I might be able to make room.

December 16, 2014 By Samuel Dergel 3 Comments

CFOs: Make 2015 the year you take your game to the next level

With 2015 approaching, many senior financial executives are thinking about what the new year will mean to their workload; deadlines, projects, bonuses (both to pay and to be received), staffing concerns and loads of other stresses. The thoughts are all about what needs to get done and what they are ultimately responsible for.

For the busy and stressed Chief Financial Officer with the weight of the world (or at least their company) on their shoulders, the approach of the holidays and the New Year should give you pause. Think about how to make things better.

There are 24 hours in a day, and, whether you plan for it or not, they will always be filled. As my CFOs told me when writing Guide to CFO Success, more than three-quarters of CFOs are putting in more than 110% of their effort into their role as senior financial executive in their organization.

CFOs are expected to accomplish more than just the day to day accounting and finance tasks. They are expected to be leaders. They need to lead their finance team, lead their colleagues at the executive table and lead the company as a whole. You need to remember that, as CFO, your input is needed to help the company make sound strategic and operational decisions.

As the noted in this 2014 study from American Express:

For eight out of ten respondents, the finance function is a strong, if not dominating, influence on strategic and operational decisions. (See Figure) The finance function is involved with strategic and operational decisions at nearly every company, and 80% of respondents say that the finance viewpoint is either an influential factor or the determining factor.

Amex 2014 study - Figure 7

The expectation is that, as leader of Finance, your opinion counts. What you have to say is influential within the company. Yet too many CFOs feel that they are getting stuck in the details.

How can a CFO get unstuck and take their game to the next level?

Formal training

As an experienced professional, you know you can benefit from continued education that makes a real difference to your career and your employer. Options that can benefit you while meeting your busy schedule can include:

An Executive MBA – This could be an excellent tool to move you beyond the technical you have relied upon to date. Many Executive MBA programs are tailored to the busy executive and should not impact your work schedule much.

CFO oriented Leadership Programs – An executive training program focused on taking a CFO to the next level might be ideal for the senior finance executive that either already has an MBA, or feels the need to build their career knowledge based with a group of similarly experienced individuals. Programs like the Queen’s CFO Leadership Beyond Finance Program, in partnership with FEI Canada, can be an ideal solution.

Online training – When you know what skills you need to improve on and which you need to learn for the first time, online courses can be an ideal solution. If your company has access to leadership and soft-skill courses, make sure that you take advantage of this opportunity. You could also look at service providers like Proformative Academy to give you a choice of options that will suit your training needs, as well as those of your finance team.

Peer Groups

Chief Financial Officers are positioned at the intersection of their finance team, their executive colleagues, and the CEO and the Board. Being at this junction in their organization can make it difficult for them to learn from and share with others. Many CFOs have told me that they feel lonely in their organization, and don’t have people to discuss their challenges with.

The solution to this loneliness can be being part of a group of CFO peers. I recently discussed C-Suite Peer Groups in a blog on BlueSteps. You can become part of an existing group, or create your own.

For 2015, I am creating CFO Peer Groups for a select group of CFOs across the USA and Canada. These selected Chief Financial Officers will commit to work together, learn, share and network with each other. I am excited to facilitate these groups in 2015. I expect that the participating CFOs will take their game up to the next level.

Executive Coaching

Each of the CFOs that I have worked with as their executive coach has been able to step up their game. Executive coaching for the CFO (or future CFO) can be very beneficial to the executive and the company they work for. It is my experience that, like athletes, CFOs perform better with a coach who is well suited for them.

As we approach 2015, it is time to take your game to the next level.

Whether you choose to take the formal approach to learning, get together with your peers to learn, share and network, or engage an executive coach, any step you take to improve yourself and your game is a good step.

What will you do to improve your game in 2015?

July 16, 2014 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

The Accidental CFO

I am very fortunate to be involved with the careers of senior finance executives, whether I’m hiring them for my clients, coaching current and future Chief Financial Officers, following their careers and sharing their moves with the world, or impacting people just like you with my blogs and my CFO book.

I see, speak with and come across many focused senior finance executives that plan and prepare their career to be in the right place at the right time who are ready to become CFO for the first time.

Yet a number of senior finance executives become CFOs by accident. A typical scenario I have seen is ‎where a company CFO leaves (this is usually unplanned for by the company), and the CEO and Board need to make a quick decision as to what to do to fill their CFO spot. In these situations, they decide (again, without much planning and foresight), to make one of their senior finance executives the new Chief Financial Officer.

As someone who helps companies hire the best CFO for their needs, my opinion is that this is not always the best solution for the company. However, these are companies that do not have a business relationship with me (yet), so they haven’t asked me for my opinion. I’m not saying that this is a bad solution. In fact, it could be a great solution for the company. I am saying that the probability is that if they haven’t done any proper succession planning for this important role, they may be making a strategic and costly error by hiring the wrong person as CFO.

Whatever the situation for the company, it is up to the newly promoted CFO to make sure that the company made the right choice, if only so that this new CFO can truly benefit from this unplanned career opportunity.

Here is some advice for the senior finance executive that finds themselves as a newly appointed, yet accidental, CFO.

[You will see links to previous blog posts that touch on these subjects. For a more comprehensive overview of how these subjects relate to the success of a CFO, I recommend reading my book, Guide to CFO Success]

Relationship Management – This is the biggest area of change for the new CFO. Whatever your role was prior to your ascension to the CFO throne, you now have to deal with new relationships.

Plan – Too many senior finance executives I have spoken with that have been promoted to the CFO chair, when asked how their role has changed since their promotion, tell me that their job hasn’t changed much. This people are missing a critical opportunity. You must plan for any new role as CFO. You also must know what is expected from a real CFO.

‎Lonely – Now that you’re finally CFO, you will understand what it means to be lonely at the top. You should prepare for it, and find ways of managing this new experience.

Development – You may not have planned to become CFO so soon, or at all. But now that you are CFO, what are you doing to further your development to become the best CFO you can be? In my book, I recommend that CFOs negotiate a Professional Development spending account that can allow them to pay for the courses, coaching and conferences they need to become a better and more productive CFO.

Coaching – I find that the Chief Financial Officers that I work with in executive coaching are motivated to become even better CFOs. I truly believe that most CFOs would benefit from having a confidential confidant and coach to help them better focus, improve and plan for their success. For a new CFO who didn’t plan to become one so quickly, if at all, having an executive coach can make a big difference on the way to become a successful CFO for the company your work for today, and to your future employers as well.

If you are an accidental CFO, or may find yourself in this position one day, take these recommendations to heart. You may be fortunate to find yourself in the CFO chair, but do not squander this wonderful opportunity.

November 15, 2011 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

Ask Samuel: How can I accomplish more and firefight less?

Dear Samuel,

I have been reading your blogs and been following your advice. I have laid out my Vision as to what I want to accomplish as CFO, identified the relationships I need to build, and prepared an action plan to accomplish my objectives. I have also started delegating more of my work to my team, and have implemented a development plan to make my team more effective.

Yet I still feel that overwhelmed.

How can I accomplish more and firefight less?

Overwhelmed in Overland

Dear Overwhelmed,

First of all, I want you to look in the mirror and congratulate yourself. You have accomplished a lot on the road to becoming a Better CFO.

I brought your question to the members of the CFO Lounge, a LinkedIn Group where CFOs like yourself can feel comfortable discussing concerns with peers in a relaxed environment. You can find out more about the CFO Lounge in my previous blog post – The Lonely CFO. I invite you to join the CFO Lounge to read what your peers had to say about your challenge.

You have done so much to move yourself forward. While you have done a lot to move yourself forward, I believe you could benefit from planning your days. Just like you’ve prepared an action plan, you need to plan your daily schedule. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Just because you’ve prepared a schedule, doesn’t mean that you cannot change it as needed. But before you do, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

1) Does this need to be in my schedule?

2) Does it need to be done by me? (Can someone else do it?)

3) Does it need to be done now?

Many times we are attracted to do the ‘easy’ work – when we look back at the end of the day we can say that we have accomplished. While you may have accomplished a number of (lower level) tasks, you may not have accomplished what you needed to. This is when your frustration will kick in.

Avoid frustration by spending time planning your day and your week. Block off the time to get things accomplished. If email or phone calls distract you, close your email and turn the ringer off on your phone (all your phones).

You have control over what you can accomplish. You need to take control of your work, rather than letting it take control of you.

Good luck,

Samuel

If you’d like to ask Samuel a question, click here.

September 27, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 1 Comment

Ask Samuel: How is the CFO job market?

Dear Samuel,

I’m a CFO that is considering looking for my next career opportunity. Business conditions seem tough, and I’m concerned that this is not a good time to look for a new CFO role.

How is the CFO job market?

Worried in Wichita

Dear Worried,

You ask a question that almost every CFO I speak with asks, whether they are actively looking for a new CFO role, or are just keeping an ear open to potential opportunities.

The short answer is: CFOs are getting new jobs, even in a difficult economy.

How do I know this? Simple. My firm tracks CFO Moves across the United States. As of last week, we started sharing this information with the public in our sister blog, CFO Moves. You can view our blog, which is updated every Monday with CFO Moves for the previous week. (If you want to get a weekly update on these CFO Moves, click on the “Sign me Up!” button on the right side of the blog).

So, to answer your question: How is the CFO job market? Good.

Can it be better? Absolutely.

What can you do about it? Be visible, build your CFO brand, network and smile (no one wants to hire a Grumpy CFO).

Samuel

If you would have a question to Ask Samuel, click here to send him your question.

September 16, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 2 Comments

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

September 1, 2011 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

The Jedi CFO

“Do, or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

Following an excellent exchange on a previous blog (The Lonely CFO) in a LinkedIn Group Discussion, the concept of the Jedi CFO was brought up by Joseph Duran.

And it got me thinking…

People who deal with the CFO (see Road Map to Successful CFO Relationships) expect the CFO to have Jedi-like qualities.

Let’s see if the Jedi Code applies to CFOs.

Jedi are the guardians of the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
Jedi respect all life in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

Replace “Jedi” with “CFO” and “galaxy” with “organization” and you too can be a Jedi.

Do you want to be a Jedi CFO? Coaching can help.

August 29, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 9 Comments

CFOs: 5 Reasons why you need an Executive Coach.

You want to be a Successful CFO. You’ve worked hard to get where you are, and you want to continue being the best CFO you can be.

If you are like most CFOs, you have never had a Coach before. Most likely, you’ve felt that you’ve never had a reason to. Your career success to date has been because of you have been good at applying and improving your knowledge, strengths and abilities.

Except…

The world is changing.

The business world is changing in front of your eyes faster than it has in your entire career. Markets and the economy are changing. Technology is changing. Customers and Suppliers are changing. The demands of your owners, board members, investors and regulators are changing.

Are you staying the same?

Now is the time to step up your game.

The good news is – most of your fellow CFOs are not stepping up their game. They are getting comfortable. They have finally achieved their career goal of becoming CFO and they feel it is time to coast.

They are coasting their way out of the CFO chair.

You, on the other hand, want to make sure that you become the most Successful CFO possible.

If you are ready to step up your game, get yourself an Executive Coach.

Why do you need a CFO Coach? Let’s take a look at the reasons why.

Plan – Do you go into the office every day and just fight fires? Or do you have a plan with long-term, medium-term and short-term objectives that will help you accomplish more with less fire-fighting. Failing to plan is planning to fail. (See our Blog – From CFO Vision to Action Plan)
It’s Lonely being a CFO – You need someone that will listen to you, provide you with advice, guide you, challenge you, and keep you at the top of your game. (See our Blog – The Lonely CFO)
Relationships – you are no longer an accountant. It’s no longer just about being technical. You need to manage your relationships. (See our Blog – Roadmap to Successful CFO Relationships)
Feedback – Now that you are at the top of the Finance Group in your company, do you really expect the people that work for you to provide you with objective feedback? You want someone candid and practical to give you the feedback you need.
Stress – remember the days when you left work at the office? If you do remember those days, I’m sure it is a long time ago. Managing the stress of being CFO is difficult, yet critical to your company as well as to yourself and your family. Expressing yourself and talking about what stresses you can go a long way to actively managing your stress, ensuring you get a better job done in less time.

Wouldn’t you love to…

have a plan?
be less lonely?
manage your relationships better?
get constructive feedback? and
be under less stress?

Email me to arrange your first Coaching session – FREE.

You have nothing to lose.

Let’s talk!

August 22, 2011 By Samuel Dergel 6 Comments

You’ve been promoted to CFO. Now what?

You’ve been in a senior financial role with the company for a while, and have been aiming for the CFO chair. One day, you get the call from the CEO (or the Chairman) and they offer you the CFO job.

Congratulations! You’ve been promoted to CFO. You have a new office, a new title, new business cards, and a better compensation package.

Except…

… You’re not exactly sure what to do as CFO.

Based on speaking with new CFOs in the same situation as you, you are not alone. When I speak with them and ask them if their job has changed since their promotion, they usually answer “Not really…”

As CFO, you should not be doing the same job you were doing before.

So now that you’ve been promoted to CFO, what can you do to ensure you become the best CFO you can be for your company?

1) Prepare a Plan

Your success as CFO depends on you having a plan for success. This requires that you be aware of the expectations the CEO and Board has from you, and putting in a plan to ensure you can deliver, and have a Strong Finance Team you support you in your goal to become a Successful CFO.

I recommend that this plan be completed within the first 100 days of your new tenure as CFO.

2) Get a Coach

If you ask your CEO, there is a good chance he or she has a Coach. It gets lonely at the top (see Lonely CFO). Being an Effective CFO requires someone that you can talk to that can guide you to make the right decisions and keep to your Plan.

Your success as CFO depends on your ability to deliver. Take responsibility for your new role. Make sure you have a Plan for your success, and have a Coach that ensure you keep to your Plan.

Being CFO is a challenge.

Being CFO can be lonely but it doesn’t have to be.

There are only a few spaces available.

Here Are the Top 5 Reasons CFOs Need LinkedIn.

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