The CFO'S Perspective

Among a CFO’s many duties is selecting and managing the company’s key vendors. Typically, these include banks and other capital providers, investment advisors, key software vendors, insurers, benefits and retirement services brokers, HR/payroll service providers, and audit and tax experts. Other than client relationships, these are often among a company’s most important business relationships. How does a CFO look at these key business partners, and how does he decide whether and when to make a change?

According to news reports, Tesla’s CFO, Zachary Kirkhorn, has unexpectedly stepped down after 13 years with the company. This came as a shock to many because he was widely viewed as a possible successor to Elon Musk for the CEO role. He announced that he will remain on until the end of the year to help with the transition, but that the company’s Head of Accounting would replace him within the week in an interim capacity.

What happened? And could this happen to you as well? Let’s dig in to understand more.

I've been pondering the narrative around an economic recession for this entire year, along with many of you. Candidly, the discussion reaches back into 2022. Economists were wrestling with whether the consequence of the US Fed's economic tightening would lead to a recession. Or if the economy had so much momentum, while economic activity would slow, we wouldn't enter a technical recession.

(Ed: I won't spend much time offering technical rationale in this post. Ultimately, it's not the point I'm discussing. However, to frame the article, I'll define an economic recession as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP growth.) 

Flash forward to the end of Q2 2023, and I'd offer a recession is likely, though probably not declared until Q1 2024.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mean many things to people. For me, it has a personal meaning that goes beyond the workplace. When you see me, you see my Norwegian Mother, but you don't see my story and how I came to see how bias can profoundly affect a person's ability to pursue a better life for themselves and their families. I don't share many personal details on social media and am careful with what I put out in the world.

How I feel about this is still evolving and will continue to evolve, but as I co-chair our DEI committee at CFO Selections, I am thinking more about how sometimes support can come in the form of understanding.  

As a finance team professional with years of experience navigating office politics, human relationships and life in general, I have the need to successfully complete difficult conversations every day. It is a skill that one acquires over time, especially after learning that it’s better to face problems head on.

It's easy to avoid the problems, bury your head in the sand, or pretend things are peachy, especially at work or in a new relationship. Avoidance only makes it worse for you and everyone around you - but mainly for you. When you go along because you're afraid of making it worse, you will slowly resent it and may leave your job or relationship because of it.

What if, instead, you faced these problems head-on, resulting in more positive working relationships and maybe even happier clients?

Nonprofit organizations are champions of challenge. They are inherently designed to recognize, address, and overcome challenges of all kinds. And while there has been a tremendous amount of buzz over the last two years about the kinds of social and political challenges that nonprofits across the country have been taking aim at, very few people have talked about the kinds of fundamental organizational challenges that are keeping nonprofit leaders up at night. These kinds of challenges are not newsworthy or exciting, because despite everything else that has changed in this post-pandemic society we are living in, these challenges have remained the same.

Yes, today’s top nonprofit leadership challenges are yesterday’s challenges continued. Every organization regardless of size, location, or focus area has the same core hurdles that their leadership team needs to address. And how leadership handles these challenges can make the difference between whether an organization thrives or closes its doors.

It's hard to believe 20 years has gone by since CFO Selections was founded! It has been 16 years since merging a small search practice with CFO Selections. Time has gone by so quickly! It has been gratifying to make great friendships within the community, including my partners, consultants, clients, and fantastic trusted advisor community. To this day, I still get a thrill reading the business section of various publications and finding a company mentioned we assisted at some point in their growth.

Today I am sharing lessons learned as both a partner of CFO Selections as well as in the business development role. These are the keys to success I encourage all business owners and entrepreneurs to leverage on their business journey.

Is your organization positioned to navigate the unique strategic and financial challenges inherent in nonprofit settings? As a nonprofit leader, do you need more financial expertise but don’t know if you can afford it?