Guide to CFO Success: Leadership Strategies for Corporate Financial Professionals

Preface

WHO CARES ABOUT the Chief Financial Officer?

I do. And so should you.

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are cultural and business icons whose actions and decisions impact not only the companies they work for but nations. While the business media has been paying more attention to this Very Important Person over the past decade, general society has not given CFOs the attention they deserve. Our culture glamorizes other professions and business leaders without giving credit to the character that keeps businesses running and the cash flowing.

I do not expect this book to make a dent in the cultural status of the CFO. I do intend to inform CFOs themselves, as well as the people aiming to become CFOs, of their value and how they can take responsibility for their own success. I deal with CFOs every day. CFOs bring much more to the table than their technical expertise. There are books on leadership strategies for general business success. There are technical books aimed at CFOs. But I have not been able to find any leadership books for CFOs. I decided to write the first one.

I decided to write the first book dedicated to the success of the Chief Financial Officer because, based on my conversations with them as an executive recruiter and coach, I noticed that they need guidance. Senior finance executives are very talented individuals, yet I have found that many of them are either focused on their career or their employer at any given time. Only very successful CFOs understand that ...