First100Handouts.pdf - Executive Finance

Your First 100

Days as CFODeveloping Financial

Leaders to Meet Modern

Demands

Blair Cook CPA, CA CPA (Ill) MBA

Jennifer Nicholson CPA, CA

To receive slides, workbooks, and competency map used in the this program:

Text “executive” to855-969-5300

6

…Sales, Trade allowance, Broker commissions, Inventory, Receivables,

Logistics, Decision analysis, People, Budgeting, Technology, Plant Reporting…

Course Roadmap

1. Assessing the Situation

2. Getting the People Right

3. Setting the Finance Mandate

4. Implementing Transformation

5. 10 New Skills You’ll Need

Your First 100

Days as CFO



Module 1:Assessing the Situation

A Maturity Model For Finance

Level 1: Compliance

Level 2: Centre of Excellence

Level 3: World Class Finance

Level 0: Failure

Level 1: Compliance

•

Clean up crew

Lagging decision making

Crisis management

Continuous negative surprises

More issues than resources

Limited reporting

Informal/ manual processes

Limited/ old system capability

Lots of HOPING and PRAYING

Level 2: Center of Excellence

•

Fully staffed

Technical competence

Formal processes

Self-sufficient

In the decision making loop

NO SURPRISES!

Capable systems

Multi-dimensional reporting

BUSINESS PARTNER

Level 3: World Class Finance

Creates and delivers value

STRATEGIC ADVISOR

Innovative in approach

Real-time reporting capability

Scalable systems/processes

Decision-directing

Outward looking orientation

Workshop Activity

• Reflect on your own finance organization – at

what level of maturity are you?

• Identify specific areas for improvement

across:

– PEOPLE

– PROCESS

– SYSTEMS

• At what level of maturity does your finance

organization need to perform?

A Maturity Model For Finance

How would you self-assess the current maturity level of the

Finance function in your organization? % of Responses Count of Responses

Compliance driven – focus on reporting transactions 46% 71

Execution driven – strong controls, strong reporting 32% 49

Survival driven – struggles to meet regular reporting 13% 20

Strategic driven – full integration, accurate forecasting 10% 15

Grand Total 100% 155

Marketplace

Organization

Finance Team

Self

Initiate strength from within and expand your sphere of influence outward…

Your First 100

Days as CFO



Module 2:Getting the Right People

97% of CEOs say that talent management is the most important factor in improving the finance function, yet only 33% give their CFO a passing grade in talent management.

KPMGThe View from the Top: CEOs see a powerful future for the CFO. Are CFOs ready for the challenge, 2015

The Office of the CFO

Informally by evaluating staff 46%

No training assessment 18%

Relying on staff to manage

themselves16%

Formal training

assessments16%

How do you manage your

employee training requirements?

Source: Illumeo PollN= 174

Heard of it, but never used it 46%

Somewhat familiar, used before 32%

Never hear of it before 13%

Strongly familiar

and using now 9%

Indicate your level of familiarity with

competency assessment frameworks?

Source: Illumeo PollN= 174

Company benefits from using a

company map framework

63% lower employee turnover

19% higher employee performance

12.5% increase in sales and profits

Source: Spencer, L M. in Cherniss, C. and D. Goleman, eds. (2001) “The economic value of emotional intelligence competencies and EIC-based HR programs”

Emphasize DO over KNOW

24

25

Competency defines

performance excellence

Knowledge

Personal

AttributesSkills

Competency

Performance improves by focusing

on competency development

Beginner

Expert

Knowledge acquisition

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Evaluation

Co

mp

eten

cy

Modern Competency Assessment Framework

Technical Competency Areas of Finance

Governance, risk management and internal control

Accounting, tax and statutory reporting

Treasury

Corporate development and strategic management

Financial planning, analysis and internal reporting

Specific competencies for each area


Performance management systems

Management reporting

Expense/cost management

Financial analysis

Budgeting, forecasting and planning

Competency descriptions

“Financial analysis uses ratios, trends, and comparisons against relevant internal or external benchmarks. These findings help to identify strengths and weaknesses in the organization against internal standards and when compared against peers.”

Financial analysis


Competency is more than technical!

Enabling competencies augment performance

Personal productivity and core skills

General business knowledge

Problem solving and decision making


“Critical thinking uses a disciplined process for conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information to guide belief and management action.”

Problem solving and decision making

Leadership competencies facilitate

competency development

Building and managing an effective team

Leadership, influence and advocacy

Coaching and mentoring


• Working with staff in a non-managerial context

• Improve performance and help with achieving career goals

• Involves actively listening and responding with interest, empathy, and sound advice

• Giving feedback to gain or renew commitment and encourage continuous improvement

Coaching and mentoring

The map defines the mandate

Job Profiles divide up the

competency map to individuals

A language that defines performance

Proficiency = level of competency

Undersupervision

Performindependently

ResidentExpert

Defining different levels of proficiency

General awareness

Developing Intermediate Advanced Expert

NO AWARENESS

Level 1: General Awareness

• Proficiency Expectation

–Detect

–Identify

–Bring to someone else’s attention

GeneralAwareness


Level 2: Developing


–Partially analyze

–Estimate

–Perform under supervision

GeneralAwareness


Level 3: Intermediate


–Understand and discuss the

application and implication of

changes to processes, policies, and

procedures

GeneralAwareness


Level 4: Advanced

• Proficiency expectation

–Fully analyze

–Resolve

–Perform independently

GeneralAwareness


Level 5: Expert


–Design

–Build competency in others

–Provide expert advice

GeneralAwareness


Competency

Proficiency

Evaluate competency using

Assessment

Do we measure up?

3 Approaches to Competency Assessment

51

Use assessment aids and cues to help

with determining your level of proficiency

Proficiency must be demonstrated

and observable

• Past assignments

• Past roles

• Previous jobs

• Simulated experience in education and training

• Volunteer roles

Benchmarking proficiency against

the job profile

Proficiency ExpectationSet by the Job Profile

Proficiency AssessmentDetermined from assessment

Gaps get flagged as weaknesses



Weakness

Excesses get flagged as strengths



Strength

Assessment findings guide

conversations about competence

Seek these outcomes from

competency assessment

1. Understand strengths and weaknesses in the current role

2. Establish a well-defined development plan with immediately actionable steps

3. Discuss career paths for future roles

Functional strengths and weaknesses

59

• Trigger discussion points

Competency assessment feeds into

an overall assessment of Finance

MaturityMATURITYLEVEL

Perception Metrics Informationorientation

Processes Staff

1. COMPLIANCE DRIVEN

FINANCIAL REPORTING

Cost center Financial Past Informal and Ad hoc

A few key individuals, with gaps

2. CENTER OF EXCELLANCE

OPERATIONAL EXECUTION

Profit manager

Financial and non-financial

Past + Reactive Present + Stable Future

Formalized withSomeintegration

Full compliment of competentstaff

3. WORLD CLASS FINANCE

STRATEGIC GROWTH

Value creationcenter

Real time and predicting

Past + Proactive Present + Potential Future

Automated &Full integration

Financial and business acumen

Workshop Activity:

Your First 100

Days as CFO



Module 3:Setting the Finance Mandate

64

My Operating Principles

1. Work should be fun

2. People should learn

3. Flawless execution

Core Values Words/Phrases

• Entrepreneurial

• Innovative

• Intuitive risk takers

• Initiative

• Concern for the collective

• Good People, Strong Team

• Stewards/Accountability

• Sense of ownership/alignment

of interests

• Leadership

• Diversity of skill and thought

• Ethics/Integrity/Do what is right

• Value focused

• Do it ourselves, don’t outsource

• Real time business

• Honest/blunt

• Speed of decision making and

execution

• Anti-red tape/anti-bull shit

• Empowerment of the individual

to make decisions

• Learning and development

• Stretching people

• Fearless of failure

• Pride/admiration

• Silent stalkers

• Actions speak louder than

words

• Long term perspective/patience

• Manage details

• Just do it

• Open door

Core Value Themes

• Entrepreneurial

– Intuitive risk takers with a

higher than average risk

tolerance

– Aggressive

– Anti-bull shit

– Speed of decision making an

execution

– Keeping it simple- “we play

checkers not chess”

– Element of surprise

• Learning and development

– Stretching people

– Fearless of failure

– Continuous/constant

improvement

– Diversity of skills and

thought

• Ownership

– Do it ourselves

– Manage costs aggressively

– Value focused

– Efficiency

– Take responsibility to manage the details

– Personal accountable• Don’t assume someone will clean

up behind us or catch our errors

– Empowerment of the individual to make decisions

Core Values

We are Entrepreneurial

We are intuitive risk takers that use ingenuity and innovation as an impetus for change, driven by shareholder value creation. We surprise in our speed of decision making, simplicity in structure, directness of communication and efficiency of execution.

We Learn by Doing

We have the opportunity to perform work that stretches our ability. We are fearless of failure and constantly strive for continuous improvement. We seek to become financial leaders with multi-competency proficiency that enable us to bring a complete and insightful perspective to our users who own, operate and invest in diverse businesses.

This is Our Company

We hold ourselves personally accountable for our work and take full responsibility for the information we produce individually and as a team. We don’t delegate or engage others unless absolutely necessary. We are empowered to make decisions for which we have been assigned authority being ever mindful of cost, value, and efficiency.

A Mission Statement for the Finance Team

1. To provide relevant users with credible, timely, and insightful financial information

2. With exacting accuracy, to report the financial results from the business in a format that enables understanding of the performance drivers

3. To assist the decision makers of the organization in making well supported decisions

4. To ensure that the entity complies with and is incessantly mindful of all legal, regulatory and statutory requirements, but through ingenuityand thoughtful planning structure the business and transactions to optimize returns

5. To ensure the assets of the company are protected and safeguardedthrough the implementation of sufficient internal control and risk management practices

6. To provide our people and attract others to an organization with a renowned reputation for providing individuals with opportunities to develop world class professional financial and leadership competence

Mantras

• A group of words believed to have

psychological and spiritual power.

– 3 to 4 words that encapsulate the mission

statement

70

“Peace of mind”“Enriching women’s lives”“Democratizing ecommerce”

Goal: To have the employees (one and all) understand true purpose

Mission

Statement

Current

Assessment GAP

“Simplify, Centralize and Standardize”

Workshop Activity

• What is the mandate of your finance function

• Craft a mission statement

• Identify the core values of your finance

function

• Do you have a Mantra? What would it be?

Your First 100

Days as CFO



Module 4:Implementing Transformation

Current Assessment Future StateTransition

State

70%of change initiatives fail

Increase Urgency

Build the Guiding Team

Get the Vision Right

Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And

When You Get to the Top

Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Adapted from Leading Change (John Kotter, www.kotterinternational.com)

50%fail in Step 1

8 Steps to Transformation

76

http://www.kotterinternational.com/

Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8



77


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8



78


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8


“The goal is to induce understanding, develop a gut-level commitment, and liberate more energy from a critical mass of people.”

-The Heart of Change, Kotter & Cohen


79


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8


Preparing the organization to accept change

Implementing change


80


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8



81


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8



82


Increase Urgency



Spread the

Message

Empower Action

Make Change Stick

Don’t Stop

Until You Get to

the Top, And


Don’t Stop

Score First

Downs

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8



83


Workshop Activity

• Using your self-assessment of maturity level,

identify opportunities for improvement across

– PEOPLE

– PROCESS

– SYSTEMS

• How will you get it done?

• What challenges do you face?

Your First 100

Days as CFO



Module 5:10 New Skills You’ll Need

What are CEOs and

Boards of Directors

looking for in the CFO

that gets hired today?

What was the CEO and the Board at

Suncor looking for in their next CFO?

This is a portion of the publically available video from the 2015 FEI Annual Conference held in Winnipeg Manitoba.

You can follow the URL above to view the entirety of this presentation.

Alister Cowan, CFO Suncor Energy (North America’s 7th Largest Integrated Oil Company)




It’s table stakes that you understand and are competent in reporting, controls, accounting, treasury, and operations. That just gets you to the table.






Business acumen…Communication…Relationship building…Team building…



Technical

“Professional”

Skills

Non-Technical

“Executive”

Skills

Source: FEI Canada: Branding the CFO

Source: FEI Canada: Beyond the numbers: the evolving leadership role of the CFO

The leap from [financial reporting, budgeting, and control] to becoming the so-called strategic advisor is a big chasm… the CFO mandate is typically much broader.

Bob McFarlane – Former CFO, Telus Corp.

As your career is starting, you’re generally very technical resulting in your early promotion being primarily due to your technical strength. As you move into more senior roles, like CFO, leadership skills take on more and more prominence.

Rod Ancrum – CFO, Credential Financial Inc.

92

Name a non-technical skill which is important for any CFO to drive success?

1

2

3

4

5

6

Leadership skills (survey asked to identify top 3) 70%

Strategic capabilities 52%

Communication skills 47%

Big picture perspective 42%

Industry knowledge 30%

Change management skills 22%

Source: Adapted from: FEI Canada:

Branding the CFO

Provides accurate

& timely financials

Analyzes

performance

Manages

risk

Long-term

strategic

focus

Drives insights

across the

entity

Measures &

monitors

performance

Leadership

Communication

Integration

Strategic capabilities

Industry knowledge

CFO Trust Pyramid


Strong Finance Capabilities

Knowledge of the Business

Reliability of Financial Reporting

Promote Ethical Business Practices

Offering Solutions to the Business

Add Value to the Organization

Drive Future Business Performance

Communicate Strategic Direction

Strategic AdvisorLEADERSHIP

Maps out company’s future strategy

FACILITATIONHelps deliver the

business plan

UNDERSTANDINGMonitors & reports the

numbers

Clarity o

f the C

FO R

ole

Infl

uen

ce o

f th

e C

FO

Finance’s Evil Master Plan

1. Business acumen


A good CFO knows enough to walk the floor. By the time you look at the numbers, they are old. Better to talk to a sales guy and see what’s coming down the pipe so you can prepare.

Tim Zalavich – CFO, St. Joseph Communications

Understanding the business beyond the numbers is the only way CFOs can truly understand an organization’s economic model.

FEI Canada Study: The Evolving Leadership Role of the CFO

Source: Merryck & Co

“I’m willing to do my day job at night in order to

attend wide ranging meetings during the day”

2. Communication skills


Source: E&Y: Finance Forte: The future of finance leadership

If there were a single personality trait that I find sometimes missing from the CFO, it is communication skills. There is a huge premium in somebody who can simplify and bring it down to the core truth.

Pierre Matuszewski – CEO, Societe Generale

CFOs who do not have [communication] skills but excel in the traditional aspects of finance are now regarded as rather quaint and antiquated.

John Cryan, Group CFO, UBS

3. Relationship Building Skills


Proactivity is the key – CFOs need to get the conversation going with the CEO; then CEOs can become better educated on what value they bring.

Sofia Theodorous – VP, HR, The Loyalty Group

CFOs who can budget the time to seek out peers, team members, and employees will have a much stronger sense of the operational aspects of the business.


The ABCD Trust Model

Source: Ken Blanchard, Trust Works!

ABLEDemonstrate competence

BELIEVABLEAct with integrity

CONNECTEDCare about others

DEPENDABLEMaintain reliability

4. Team building skills


CFOs should be able to build a great team that can deal with various compliance issues, but equally if not more importantly they should actively participate in developing and implementing strategy.

Atul Mahajan – President and CEO, Oshawa Power and Utilities Corp.

CFOs will need to help their team better understand the business so they have a better enterprise-wide view which will enhance the strategic value add of the finance team, not just the CFO.


5. Executive presence and influence

Does what you say, hold sway?

105

Identify a major barrier a CFO might face in attaining the ideal level of influence?

1

2

3

4

5

Company culture (asked to choose three barriers) 51%

No finance integration/Silo organizational structure 49%

CEO controls everything 29%

No understanding of the skills of the CFO 24%

Lack of credibility beyond finance 19%

Source: Adapted from FEI Canada:

Beyond the numbers: the evolving

leadership role of the CFO

6. Facilitator & business partner


The CFO, in my opinion, is probably the most knowledgeable person in the company. A good CFO is not a number cruncher. A good CFO knows how the business is run.

Paul Godfrey – President and CEO, Postmedia Network Inc.

You’ve got your own function and obligations to look after and so learning the rest of the business, being able to partner with your colleagues to be able to help them drive their businesses forward takes time.

Laurie Tugman – Chairman, Nexterra Systems Corp.

Perspectives offered by the CFO

1. Objective, risk management, devil’s advocate

2. Cross functional, entity wide, bigger picture

3. Financial, bottom line, funding feasibility

7. Ability to innovate


Source: FEI Spring 2015 Issue, Financial Executive

Historically the role of the CFO has been to identify problems and issues, but now they must be innovative and create solutions to those problems.

Ted Singeris – President, Mercer Canada

Our strategic objective was to revamp our systems to be able to have real-time data, which we will get with our ERP and planning and budgeting cloud solution. I’m going to be able to change my people from score-keepers to valued business partners…

Keith Kravcik, EVP and CFO, Ovation Brands

What is innovation?

Source: FEI Canada: The Funding of Innovation in Canada

Continuously reviews its organization and processes 54%

Promotes creativity on the job 49%

Creates a breakthrough in its market 29%

Invests in R&D 19%

More competitive than peers 16%

Uses new technologies 14%

Introduces new products 14%

8. Strategic capabilities


Source: IBM: institute for Business Value

The most important thing I count on my CFO to do it to think about what the rest of the organization is not thinking about; to be not at the horizon but actually over the horizon.

Ian Smith – President and CEO, Clearwater Seafoods Ltd.

Involvement in organization’s business strategy

CFO 72%

CMO 63%

CIO 42%

Areas where CFOs believe they play a

leading role in corporate strategy

Source: Adapted from E&Y: The DNA of the CFO: A toolkit for the aspiring CFO

(57%) Providing insight and analysis to support CEO/other senior managers’ strategic planning

(49%) Leading key initiative in finance that support the overall strategic goals

(49%) Ensuring business decisions are grounded in sound financial criteria

(39%) Funding, enabling and executing strategy set by CEO

(35%) Developing and defining the overall strategy for the organization

9. Change management skills

It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it’s the place in between that we fear…like being between trapezes.

Marilyn Ferguson, Futurist

People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking, more often it’s because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings.

Kotter & Cohen, The Heart of Change

Change management approaches make a

HUGE difference to the outcome

Source: Prosci 2012 Best Practices in Change Management Benchmarking Report

10. Credible leader

Source: FEI Canada: Branding the CFO; Source: Kouzes & Posner, Credible

We need somebody who understands that the role of the CFO is leadership, not number crunching. Your job as CFO is to help others do their job and lead us to our strategic goals.

Sue Paish, President and CEO of LifeLabs

4 traits of a credible leader

HonestForward looking

Competent Inspirational

Technical competencies✓ Financial reporting (GAAP)

✓ Management accounting/ reporting✓ Internal control and fraud

prevention✓ Treasury management

✓ Information systems✓ Process execution efficiency✓ Tax compliance, planning, and

advisory✓ Financial planning and analysis✓ Expense/cost management✓ Corporate finance✓ Working capital management✓ Hedging instruments

Enabling competencies✓ Excel and spreadsheets✓ Supervisory skills✓ Writing skills✓ Project management✓ Personal ethical intelligence✓ Performance measurement✓ Career management✓ Data analysis✓ Personal leadership and

development

Professional Competencies

Executive CompetenciesTechnical competencies✓ Strategic management and

visioning✓ Insurance✓ Governance and internal audit✓ Enterprise risk management

✓ Merger and acquisitions✓ Business process improvement✓ Financing strategy and capital

raises

Enabling competencies✓ Personal branding✓ Confidence✓ Resilience✓ Relationship building✓ Staff planning✓ Performance management✓ Team leadership and development✓ Coaching & mentoring✓ Emotional intelligence✓ Cultural ethical intelligence✓ Presentation skills✓ Communication skills✓ Strategic thinking and innovation✓ Business acumen✓ Industry acumen✓ Change management✓ Negotiation skills✓ Legal principles✓ Securities regulations✓ Technology trends and adoption strategies

To receive the CFO competency map:

Text “executive” to855-969-5300

Workshop Activity

• Self-assess your own areas of strengths and

weaknesses as a financial leader

119

DOUBLE

Which skill does a senior financial executive need to develop the most?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Communication skills 32.3%

Influencing skills 32.2%

Relationship building skills 32.1%

Presentation skills 27.2%

Business acumen 27.1%

Change/project management skills 22.2%

Strategic capabilities 22.1%

People management skills 21.0%

Source: Adapted from E&Y: The DNA

of the CFO: A toolkit for the aspiring

CFO

3 action items for existing CFOs

1. High grade your talent pool

2. Spend more time with customers and

operations

3. Spend more time with business unit leaders

working on strategic management issues

Your First 100

Days as CFO



BONUS MATERIALS101 Ideas for Differentiating Yourself

1. Business acumen

1. Ask a lot of dumb questions

2. Listen, listen, listen

3. Get out and see/feel the business for yourself

4. Read your competitors’ public filings

5. Read a textbook on your industry

6. Seek out opportunities to work in operations

7. Go to a trade show

8. Google your business, your industry, your competitors

9. Ask your external auditors/investment bankers to provide you with their thought leadership of your industry

10.Build relationships with those working in operations

2. Communication skills

11.Tailor your message for your audience

12.Communicate using the rule of 3’s

13.Add value to any information circulated by adding a short commentary

14.Standardize the look and feel of reports

15.Identify 5 key business drivers, devise 5 metrics to measure status

16.Round your numbers to the level you want your audience thinking/discussing the business

17.What’s self-evident to you, is not to anyone else

18.Silence doesn’t mean understanding or acceptance

19.Use stories to help improve audience retention

20.Pictures with words/number engages BOTH sides of the brain

Must read:Made to Stick - Chip and Dan Heath

3. Relationship building skills

21.Get involved in your community

22.Be an interesting person

23.Traits of real relationship: authenticity, confidentiality, generosity, humility, vulnerability, humor, empathy, curiosity, gratitude

24.Return on Relationships is just as important as ROI, in fact, the ROR can determine ROI

25.Make introductions for people

26.Hand write thank you notes to people (it’s charming)

27.Maintain personal details along with contact information about the person

28.Call important contacts on their birthday (do not email or text)

29.Maintain and build trust by focusing on the ABCD Trust model

30.Be a relationship giver, not a relationship taker

Must read:It’s more than who you know - Tommy Spaulding

4. Team building skills31.Really appreciate diversity… of representation, of thought…

32.Forming a team is easy, performing as a team is incredibly hard

33.Between forming and performing comes storming and norming

34.Storming is unproductive, but necessary as this is the most creative period of team formation

35.Ensure everyone walks away from the team experience with the feeling they played a part in something special

36.The question is not what went wrong, rather ask what went well and what makes us proud

37.If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. (African Proverb)

38.Explaining “Why” is a powerful motivator to get what you want.

39.Trust your people to do the hard stuff

40.Set expectations and hold them accountable, don’t micromanage

5. Executive presence and influence

41.Know your stuff

42.Share like a thought-leader

43.Dress the part

44.Over prepare for important executive/board meetings

45.Always have the detail in your back pocket

46.Control communications from finance to the executive/board

47.Avoid making hasty judgements

48.Use language that everyone can understand and relate to

49.Give summarized, concise and clear information to the CEO that he can use to formulate his own speaking points

50.Principles of persuasion remind you that credibility and emotional connection outweigh logical argument when you are making a case. Don’t forget to consider these.

6. Facilitator/business partner

51.Make “What do you think?” a part of your management style.

52.Use breakout groups to look at an issue from all different perspectives

53.Facilitators don’t give answers, they help the group discover answers for themselves.

54.Participate in as many management meets as you can

55.Identify opportunities for operational improvement and cooperate with the manager to bring forward a case for change.

56.Give everyone an opportunity to comment

57.Ask department managers, “How can I help you?”

58.Work with department managers to monitor performance results

59.Assess technology and processes for effectiveness and efficiency

60.Look to establish formal/informal relationships between various business functions and finance (establish cross functional teams)

7. Ability to innovate61.Use multifunctional teams to take ideas from cradle to

grave

62.Ideas come to you when your brain isn’t consumed with work – take a walk, take a vacation, get a good night of sleep

63.Brainstorming requires crazy ridiculous free flowing thoughts

64.Innovation begat innovation – look to put innovation assets together in one place

65.Advance multiple projects simultaneously

66.Read often, read broadly – unrelated topics can yield relevant insights

67.Never focus on just one idea

68.Think incremental innovation, not giant step innovation

69.Get all employees involved

70.Reward the attempt at innovation just as much as the successful results of innovation

8. Strategist capabilities71.Strategy gets developed through a blend of insight, planning, and

response – all three are important and one can’t be over or under emphasized

72.Insight comes from raising your awareness to identify and act on connections, inconsistencies, curiosities, and breaking established rules

73.Defining purpose can create a point of competitive advantage when its universally adopted with passion by all employees

74.Strategy statements – write it down and share broadly

75.Facilitating a SWOT analysis – holistically evaluate are S>W? O>T?

76.Strategy formulation: divergent thinking expand the options, don’t narrow

77.It’s all about the upper right (quadrant) [insert management consultant matrix X here]

78.Create a 3-4 word mantra in place of a long-winded mission statement

79.Separately create a “growth budget” from the operating budget to track resources and progress on the growth agenda

80.Allocate resources disproportionately to your most successful projects

Must read:Seeing what others don’t – Gary Klein

9. Change management81.It’s about the people

82.70% of change initiative fail, this won’t be easy

83.50% of change initiative fail because they fail to generate urgency, this is step 1

84.REMEMBER: See Feel Change; NOT: Analyze Think Change

85.Project management is a solution that is effectively designed, developed, and delivered

86.Change management is a solution that is embraced, adopted, and used

87.More important than change is figuring out what works and why

88.Unless the pain of the status quo is greater than the pain of transformation, change will not occur

89.Expect and anticipate over-reaction and resistance

90.Create a compelling vision; “I have a dream” NOT: “I have a plan”

10. Credible Leader

91.Establish and protect your credibility as your most valuable asset

92.Establish your principles, live by them visibly

93.Give the credit, take the blame

94.A leader’s job is to make your employees successful

95.Leadership is situation specific, there isn’t one style

96.It’s okay to disagree, just do so in a respectful way

97.Save the surprises for birthday parties, never in finance

98.Know when to lead from the front and when to lead from the rear

99.Mark my words, you’ll regret any short-cuts you take in life

100. Be the first to apologize, even if you were “less” wrong

101.

Nassim Taleb – Antifragile[which was really in reference to risk management, but I think has broader application]

Never stop [Don’t stop until you get to the top and when you get to the top, don’t stop]

Things want to be born of practice, not theory. Experimentation makes people more careful than theory.

Documents

First100Handouts.pdf - Executive Finance