Guide to CFO Success: Leadership Strategies for Corporate Financial Professionals

CHAPTER FIVE

The CFO in Transition

MOST CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS (CFOs) can expect that there will be times in their careers that they will be in between jobs. Following the strategies in this book will reduce your risk of unemployment, but will not eliminate the potential of this happening to you.

CFOs are generally not well prepared for the transition process. They are great at what they do, but when it comes to looking for a job, they find themselves in a job that they have not trained for. Not only are they not prepared to look for a job, they usually do not enjoy the process, which makes it even more difficult for the stressed, unemployed, former CFO.

Many senior corporate financial professionals have always been able to find work quickly in the first 15 or 20 years of their career. These people have never had to look for a job for an extended period in the past—the opportunity always found them. Then, one day in their 40s or 50s, they find themselves in a situation they never imagined: unemployed.

THE GRIEVING PROCESS

Becoming unemployed is a personal loss. This situation can have a real impact on the person's self-esteem in addition to creating financial concerns that need to be dealt with. In my experience, many if not most CFOs are not properly prepared for unemployment. The loss they feel may not be equivalent to that felt at the passing of a loved one, but it is still ...