CFOs Need to be Problem Solvers

Interesting article from CFO magazine about role of CFO as leader and problem solver

By David McCann

For finance chiefs with designs on the chief executive's chair, serving a stint in operations is often a prerequisite. But the lack of an important quality may be blocking many CFOs from successfully doing so, in the view of one former CFO-turned-CEO.

That quality is empathy for customers, and for the employees who serve them, says Cary McMillan, a onetime Sara Lee CFO who now runs tax-advisory firm True Partners. While it's become a cliché for CEOs to say they want a finance leader who can act as a business partner, failing to understand customer behavior and wishes may be a significant handicap in performing that role, he says.
 

Finance chiefs "tend to be supersmart people who don't always help solve problems," asserts McMillan, who left his CFO post in 2002 to become CEO of Sara Lee's then-huge apparel business. And when it comes to being a business partner, he adds, problem solving is "a million times more valuable than being technically correct on every finance issue."

Putting the highest priority on always being right from a technical standpoint is a habit that's difficult for CFOs to kick, McMillan acknowledges, since that's how they're trained. But in the end, he says, that is a "me" mind-set, whereas a "we" mentality is what pushes companies forward.

McMillan developed an appreciation for the "we" approach during 19 years at Arthur Andersen, where he rose to become head of the firm's audit practice and managing partner of the Chicago headquarters office. "I was one of the few line partners who were actually interested in how the firm was run," he recalls. "Almost everybody else — because this is how we trained them — was interested only in their own activities. I got involved in management by throwing myself in there."
Cary McMillan, True Partners

That facility for stepping out of the box clinched Sara Lee's decision to offer him the CFO job, says McMillan. "They could see me as more than just a client-service provider; as somebody who was interested in working on the entire entity, not just one part of it."

It was a heady role for a career audit-firm partner, with Sara Lee sometimes mentioned in the same breath as such finance-professional incubators as PepsiCo, General Electric, Kraft, and Johnson & Johnson. The conglomerate's highly decentralized structure put finance executives in the spotlight, says McMillan, with sales, marketing, purchasing, and supply-chain functions all pushed out to the many business units.

Indeed, he took the job worrying whether he was qualified to be CFO. He had never had to deal with treasury matters or investor relations, for example. "I thought I only had about half the experience I really needed," he says. "But I found that the half I had, in accounting and internal controls, was helpful with the other side."

He earned some treasury chops by helping to arrange hedges on the company's receivables with Kmart in advance of the retail giant's bankruptcy. Although Sara Lee Branded Apparel was one of Kmart's largest creditors, "we didn't lose a penny," says McMillan. And the passage of Regulation FD during his first year on the job turned out to be blessedly timed, because everyone was in the same boat grappling with the transition to a new mandate for disclosure to investors.

to read full article please visit http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14544598/c_14545252

Linkedin Important CFO Strategy For Advancement

This was an excellent article on the importance of LinkedIn for CFOs. For more information please visit www.cfo-coach.com

As social media tools continue to be a critical piece of an overall corporate recruiting strategy, CFOs and senior finance executives will want to leverage powerful positioning on Linked In. How your profile is perceived by recruiters is paramount to getting a second look or, even better, a call on a first look.

Five key areas to pay attention to include ...

-- A Powerful Branded Summary

This is not your daddy’s boring bio either. This summary, limited by 2,000 characters, is your opportunity to showcase how you do what you do (your brand) that is different and unique from others who do the same or similar things.

This limited summary section forces you to concentrate on the value you offer and deliver it succinctly. The process of unearthing and condensing down your marketable value proposition into a clear and compelling accomplishment statement is one of “the” most valuable things you can do for yourself.

Ignoring the summary section relegates you, by omission, to commodity status. Do what others are NOT doing and get noticed!

-- Complete Experience Section

It is great to have your employers and job titles, past and present, listed as part of your profile. But that is not enough. In the world of key searches, more is better. The amount of information online acts as a pre–qualifier and gives both you and a prospect a framework to begin establishing a relationship.

-- Vanity URL

Grab your vanity URL to increase your Google rankings and add branded consistency to your online presence.

-- Join Groups

Within the 60 million Linked In ocean of users, you are a mere bait fish. By joining groups, the size of the pond shrinks and your presence grows exponentially. Joining groups allows you to mingle with like–minded folks, gain access to their contact information ... even if the person is not a 1st degree contact in your network, and become even more visible to recruiters.

-- Get Recommended

Third party recommendations are extremely important on Linked In. These are very powerful endorsements that add credibility to the statements in your profile and employment history, and are critical to your positioning.

What does your Linked In profile say about you? Do you stand out from the other Chief Financial Officers who have done the same or similar things as you ... or are have you relegated yourself to commodity status?

If you're a Chief Financial Officer and you're on Linked In, please consider connecting with me and joining our CFO Careers group.
Posted by Cindy Kraft, the CFO-Coach on March 18, 2010 at 09:21 AM | Permalink