100 WORDS OR LESS
of obvious characteristics needed “forAacouple CFO are intellectual curiosity and agility. There will be many times that you will be presented with an opportunity outside of your comfort zone, and these two characteristics will help you adapt and thrive. Being able to summarize complex issues is another soughtafter skill. Boards appreciate a succinct, wellthought-out analysis. Lastly, I’d suggest a sense of humor. What you’re doing is most likely not life and death, so don’t get too intense about it. Clients and employees want to work for, and with, people they like.
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Kristie P. Paskvan, ’80 ACCY Chief Financial Officer, Mesirow Financial
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The most important characteristics would be honesty and integrity as these are cornerstones of building trust to lead a company. In addition, the ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing with all employees and financial stakeholders is crucial. Regarding skills, a CFO must have a broad set of knowledge—from corporate finance, accounting, legal, and insurance to employee benefits. He or she must be able to proactively identify and solve problems across the company in order to serve as a strategic advisor to the management team and help provide financial insight during the decisionmaking process.
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Jeff Wilhelm, ’01 ACCY Chief Financial Officer, Oberweis Dairy, Inc.
Honesty. Integrity. Competence. Confi“dence. Courage. Creativity. The best CFOs are ones that act as teachers, not watchdogs, developing a working knowledge of every aspect of the business. They transcend the ‘finance’ label and are integrated with the operations and strategies. They connect all the dots, see the big picture, and exude confidence without cockiness. The best CFOs are straightforward, down-to-earth people who engender trust amongst colleagues and the board. Organizations with great CFOs rarely get into trouble, and if they do, the CFO knows how to manage her way out of it. Their work includes effective risk management and compliance while delivering strategic growth and value.
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Janet C. Gibbs, ’10 EMBA Chief Financial Officer, Feeding America
ANNE GOECKNER
MARK HUSSEY
DAN DECANNIERE
JANET GIBBS
KRISTIE PASKVAN
JEFF WILHELM
WHAT SKILLS AND CHARACTERISTICS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO A CFO’S SUCCESS?
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Communication skills, integrity, and expectations management are three of the critical characteristics that CFOs need to survive. First, they must be able to master both verbal and written communications in a clear and concise manner. CEOs and Boards have very full agendas and limited time, so CFOs must be able to simplify complex issues to allow everyone to grasp the basics relatively quickly. Second, a CFO must be transparent, consistent in principles and actions, and beyond reproach. Third, it’s important that the CFO be on the same page as the CEO and senior management and be persuasive enough to help build consensus when challenging issues arise. Of course, there are also important foundational competencies, such as finance and accounting, that are needed to attain the role and achieve success.
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CFOs need an incredibly broad range of critical skills to be successful—from finance expert to great communicator. In addition to relevant industry experience, characteristics like leadership style, approach to decisionmaking, and a keen ability to hire and develop talent all strongly influence their success. Most importantly, all successful CFOs will be a perfect fit with the firm’s culture and values and will complement the strengths of the rest of the executive leadership team, while compensating for any gaps that may exist.
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Mark Hussey, ’84 ACCY Chief Financial Officer, Huron Consulting Group
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A successful CFO needs strong technical accounting skills but will also have strength in the management of time, staff, and company resources. The characteristics of a successful CFO include the ability to quickly and correctly assess business opportunities and present strategies that will result in appropriate business decisions. It is also very important to provide timely and meaningful information to your management team. In the past several years of economic downturn, the ability to understand and forecast the impact on the organization and suggest a course of action has been key to success.
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Anne Goeckner, ’85 ACCY Chief Financial Officer, Missouri Humane Society
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Perspectives SUMMER 2013
Dan DeCanniere, ’75 ACCY Chief Financial Officer, A.T. Kearney, Inc.
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