Want to be CFO? Know your strenghts
At the Treasury 360 Oslo conference, CFO recruiter Line Heje Brekke gave her best tips to treasurers who aspire to that climb.
Results are not just in numbers. When you seek a job promotion, think through what you are personally most proud of from the last three years. Could it be the way you interacted with your staff in building your team?
Line Heje Brekke, consultant at the Oslo office of professional recruitment firm Egon Zehnder, urged potential job-seekers to think broadly about their competence.
Know your strenghts – and more
“Knowing what you’re strong at is important – because it motivates you,” she said. Yet at the same time it is important to have an idea of where complement is needed.
A way to get all aspects on the map is to see three aspects of leadership: thought leadership, people leadership (getting people from different places to collaborate and be motivated) and business leadership (setting goals and deliver relentlessly on them).
Transformation is in demand
According to Line Heje Brekke, there is a great demand today for CFOs who have a strong drive for operational transformation across their groups. This requires a deep understanding of operations. From case to case, however, some companies have clear needs for different profiles: the corporate strategist, the captal markets-oriented CFO or the accounting expert who can restore trust in companies that have been through problems.
“The CFO is often a hub in change programs, and the best CFOs are great at getting different functions and business areas to pull in the same directions,” says Line Heje Brekke.
”The very best CFOs we know are the ones who always work to do things a little better. But they are also the ones who know the business details best. Otherwise you can not be the one who knocks the sales manager in the head saying ’you ought to raise prices 2 percent’.