• Learn the importance of supporting your CFO's continuous growth
• Help them create opportunities to feel challenged and stretched
• Discover how to get the upside of a world-class CFO without de-stabilising your business
Over the last two weeks, you've heard me talk about the fable of the monkey who reaches into the jar for a banana and finds himself feeling 'stuck'.
For a CFO who finds themselves stagnating in their career, they might feel a bit like the monkey, faced with a binary decision. Stay and coast, or take the leap and look elsewhere.
But what if there was a third option? A way for your CFO to feel challenged and stretched, and for the business to get the upside of a world-class CFO without the cost of lost corporate memory, broken relationships and staff turnover?
In the final installment of this 3 part series, I'm going to discuss the benefits of 'growing in place'.
Growing in Place
If you believe your CFO has the potential to be truly world class, there are some simple ways to help them grow in place that you can encourage internally.
Some of the specific actions I see make the biggest difference for CFOs at this stage include:
When you need external help
The reality is that it's almost impossible to give your CFO all the opportunities they need to become world-class, internally.
In my experience, they need peers to challenge their thinking, tools to help them think differently and new standards of excellence. The CFO Boardroom provides the environment that allows for that stretch without internal constraints and politics.
For your CFO, they'll feel seen, engaged and valued. For you and your business, the results will be even more tangible. Creating a world-class CFO means creating value and efficiency. It raises the standards of the finance team and the rest of the SLT. And it does all this without de-stabilising your business.
World-class CFOs know that when they start to feel hemmed in, the solution is not to let go of the banana. It's to grow the size of the jar. If the monkey could talk, I'm sure he'd tell you it was a win-win.
As this series draws to a close, I'll leave you with one final reflection:
"What is the true potential of your CFO if you helped introduce deliberate opportunities for growth?"
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
This is the trusted guide for CFOs to lead with IMPACT and create VALUE.
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