executive team

Lessons from Leaders

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One of the most interesting panels at the recent CFO Core Concerns conference was the one offering lessons from some of the country’s most fascinating, and perhaps less known, leaders.

Take Jackie Berry, for instance. She is the CFO / COO of Zorch, a rapidly-growing, tech-enabled, branded merchandise agency. How rapidly growing? How does 20,000% over the last four years sound? And yes, 20,000 – it’s not a typo.

Her energy and enthusiasm were contagious throughout the room. Jackie says the focus on brand protection is a top priority and a key focus, and her company executes a continuous interviewing process. While they are not always hiring, they are very transparent about where Zorch is in the hiring process. The “always interviewing” strategy allows them to bring on top talent within 2-3 weeks when necessary, and a vibrant training & development program follows each new hire.

Another unknown – at least to me – was Ted Vincent, Vice Chair and CFO of FordDirect. He, too, advocates continuous interviewing as “the” way to ensure you have the right people in your network when it comes time to hire. He indicated the “entire executive team needs to be a part of the recruiting process.” I totally agree!

Harold Earley is the EVP and CFO of Foamex Innovations. Another fast-growing and, as the name implies, innovative company. They make foam, which is everywhere, and apparently, Foamex is the industry leader.  Sadly, according to Earley, great finance talent is absent from the Philadelphia area.

The lack of top finance talent statement reminded me of the Duke University / CFO.com study results that indicated 21% of companies are in hiring mode; 16% would like to hire but don’t have the resources to do so; and 9.3% can’t find qualified employees. That 9.3% stat is telling. The question is, how do we bridge the gap?

CFO Resumes … More than just pretty

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One of Matt Bud’s recent editorials in the FENG (Financial Executives Networking Group) newsletter was entitled, “Paint a Pretty Picture". He was primarily talking about resume aesthetics but he also said this, which is my point.

“… it breaks my heart at times when I review a resume and just know that the person behind the paper in front of me is so much better than how he/she appears.”

It is critical that who you are in person is the same person you appear to be on paper. If you meet someone at a networking event or you receive a warm lead, recommendation, and introduction to an opportunity and you follow up with an executive resume that falls short of who they believed you to be … in all likelihood, you just lost an opportunity.

Conversely, if you have a resume that is not written in your voice, with your words, and which accurately reflects who you are but instead creates a facade, meeting you in person will most certainly doom you to failure. 

Effective personal marketing documents (resume, leadership addendum, executive profile) for a Chief Financial Officer or Corporate Finance Executive are so much more than aesthetics. While I agree with Matt that “pretty” matters … no white space, grammatical and spelling errors, poor paper quality … the prettiest resume in the world won’t matter if it …

— positions you as a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none;

— is a responsibility-oriented historical novel;

— does not meet the Blackberry principle;

— doesn’t answer the question a company is asking … what do you bring to the table that makes it worth my while to pay you to join the executive team?

Pretty matters. But it is much, much more than just pretty. It’s very much about value. Yours. The clearer you are about your value, the stronger your positioning … on paper and in person!

CFOs, Gen Y’s, and SMAGs

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There’s a fascinating (well at least I thought so) post on Antisocial Recruiter Networking by Michael Goldberg, a talent acquisition leader. His article is based on a New York Times article on the effects of social media on our kids.

What in the world does that have to do with you? Stay with me for a moment.

Last week’s poll in SmartBrief for CFOs was around using social media in the workplace. There was a 50 / 50 split between those who had a social media policy in place or were investigating one and those who had a firewall prohibiting it or were just clueless. 

There is so much to lose on both a personal and professional level for executives who choose not to embrace the power of Web 2.0 technology. Social media is here and it’s trending north. 

When kids get cell phones at the age of 8 and spend all day texting and FBing friends … recognize they are your potential hires when they graduate from college. Young adults are, and will be, more tech-savvy than any of us old-timers can ever hope to be. Will they want to work for an executive team that has a strict anti-social networking policy in place or is clueless about what engaging with the public and customers or clients through social media can do for the business? If you did manage to hire them, would you expect them to stay in a culture of dinosaurs for long? Recruiting is expensive. Recruiting top talent … and keeping them … is painful.

And for finance executives who still have years left to contribute to a brilliant career … will you ever be able to compete with a social media savvy 45-year old finance executive candidate when you are 55? I hear “age discrimination” bandied about frequently. No question it exists. Some of it though is brought about by a defiance around change. It’s not how I got to the top and I have no intention of learning/using/participating now. 

Isn’t it great that we have free will and free choice … accompanied, of course, by taking responsibility for our decisions! 

BTW, SMAG = Social Media Age Group

CFOs, Social Media, and Email

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Remember when …

–The Post Office was actually relevant because all correspondence came through your mailbox?

–IBM Selectric typewriters and “White Out” transformed office environments?

–30-second jingles heard on TV were “the” advertising medium?

And then …

–Mail was first replaced by fax transmissions, and now email.

–Memory typewriters and gargantuan computers replaced electric typewriters. Does the product “White Out” even exist today?

–Thankfully, intrusive push advertising became easily handled with a push of the mute button.

And today …

–There’s a computer in almost every home; and

–According to an Internet trends report by Morgan Stanley, email usage is flattening out as social media usage is increasing. 

What does the SM trend mean for you as a Chief Financial Officer? Maybe nothing if you are one of the few CFOs embracing the power of Web 2.0 technology. If you’re not onboard, you might get run over because this train is coming … and coming at full speed.

Beyond the typical career strategies social media facilitates (Tweeting, Social Media Boat, Sequel), here are some ways you can begin easing into the new technology …

–Use a private or internal Twitter account to rapidly and transparently communicate with your entire finance or executive team and/or track high priority projects;

–Encourage your executive leadership team to get on Linked In with complete profiles to raise the visibility and credibility of your company;

–Make your loyal clients or customers feel exclusive and inclusive with a private group on Linked In or a Facebook fan page. (If you’re a CFO and would like to join my CFO Careers group on Linked In, please send me an email and I’ll send you an invitation to join … or follow my Facebook Business page.)

I’d love to hear how you, as the chief finance leader, are leveraging the power of social media either corporately or individually.