Effective CFOs Know More Than Finance

Gaining experience in operations helps finance officers better understand problems in operations and better communicate in a language that resonates with operations employees, said Geoffrey Ryan, ’85, treasurer for ExxonMobil Gas & Power. “A large part of being an effective finance guy is figuring out how to talk to people in a way that makes sense to them,” Ryan said during the senior panel at the Road to the CFO Conference, sponsored by the student-led Financial Analysis and Treasury Group, at Hyatt Regency Chicago October 19.

Financial leaders must demonstrate business understanding, financial skills and aptitude, and “people skills,” said Byron Rader, ’97, finance business manager for sales, marketing, and services at Microsoft. “I think of the necessary strengths as those three pillars,” Rader said. “If you dig down into those skills as a finance leader, they address the whole part of business partnership, which is all about credibility. It depends on who you’re supporting, what organization you’re in, and how you build that credibility.”

Establishing credibility can take various forms, such as showing “analytical horsepower” in financial skills or carefully studying the business in night courses, he said. “Let’s say you’re supporting the server and tools division,” Rader said. “You’d really go deep in our internet strategy and understand that. You build credibility with a business partner.”

In a non-finance company such as Exxon-Mobil, it’s surprising how little the rest of the employees know about what finance officers do, Ryan said. “You can get to know other people and explain what you do on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “That turns out to be exceptionally effective. Networking helps to reduce the stress of problems.”

To be effective, finance officers must focus on more than finance, Ryan said. “The people who are effective are the ones who are doing things that are not defined in their roles,” he said. “Knowing what your role is and covering that is a bare minimum. Going beyond that  -  figuring out what you can do that may not be strictly a treasurer’s or a controller’s thing to help the business achieve its objectives  -  is essential.”

To help maintain an entrepreneurial spirit, Microsoft keeps employees aware of key financial functions such as business excellence and business insight, Rader said. “Excellence is sort of controls, compliance, reporting, budgeting, forecasting,” he said. “Insight could be strategy, analysis, and so forth. We’ve done a pretty good job of getting people pretty excited about seeing their job and career track. If they go into business excellence, that’s a foundation. But we’ll also move them into a business insight role if they do very well.”

Promoting entrepreneurial spirit is at least partly about defining success, said Gregory Taylor, ’81, senior vice president of corporate planning and analysis for United Airlines. “We’re looking for more than somebody who does a good job in their finance function,” Taylor said. “Success is really defined by whether you’re making a difference in the company. If you foster that kind of attitude, that says people are willing to get out of the box. That’s how you get recognition. That’s how we define success.”

- Phil Rockrohr