WEBVTT
1
00:00:07.590 --> 00:00:09.930
It sounds like you need to get conviction
2
00:00:09.930 --> 00:00:11.670
and almost say from day one, "Hey,
3
00:00:11.670 --> 00:00:13.620
we're going to be a leader in what's happening
4
00:00:13.620 --> 00:00:16.050
in this business transformation more broadly."
5
00:00:16.050 --> 00:00:18.030
When I became CFO, it was very clear
6
00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:19.560
that we had the tiger by the tail.
7
00:00:19.560 --> 00:00:22.200
The company was rapidly scaled from about 15 million
8
00:00:22.200 --> 00:00:25.200
of revenue a quarter up to over 700 million.
9
00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:27.660
We could keep growing at the pace we had been growing,
10
00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:30.300
only if finance really led the charge.
11
00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:32.550
You have to have your house in order.
12
00:00:32.550 --> 00:00:34.530
The finance foundation
13
00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:38.520
has to almost be operating at like an eight out of ten
14
00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:40.890
because when you challenge the business,
15
00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:42.450
some people will embrace it,
16
00:00:42.450 --> 00:00:44.460
some people will be defensive.
17
00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:46.110
The defensive people will look
18
00:00:46.110 --> 00:00:48.030
for any chink in finance's armor.
19
00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:49.530
We had to change.
20
00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:51.510
We had to be able to grow the team more efficiently.
21
00:00:51.510 --> 00:00:54.750
We had to embrace automation and really enable the change
22
00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.390
and drive the change throughout the organization.
23
00:00:57.390 --> 00:00:59.190
I think it's a very unique situation
24
00:00:59.190 --> 00:01:01.560
when transformation starts at the top
25
00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:02.940
and trickles its way down,
26
00:01:02.940 --> 00:01:04.680
that's not usually what happens, right?
27
00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:08.100
You need to figure out how to create that first push,
28
00:01:08.100 --> 00:01:10.470
and if you can't do it in in another area
29
00:01:10.470 --> 00:01:12.180
because they need the cost resizing
30
00:01:12.180 --> 00:01:15.810
or something like that, you've got to stand in as the CFO
31
00:01:15.810 --> 00:01:18.720
of the business and drive your own transformation.
32
00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:20.340
You're going to ask the organization to go
33
00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:23.250
through an enormous transformation no matter what industry
34
00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:25.860
or what function, being out in front
35
00:01:25.860 --> 00:01:29.328
and showing how you lead, how you set the vision,
36
00:01:29.328 --> 00:01:32.070
how you motivate, where you win,
37
00:01:32.070 --> 00:01:34.650
and where you've got opportunities that didn't work so well
38
00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:36.240
or to regroup a little bit.
39
00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:38.910
I think it's always helpful to have credibility,
40
00:01:38.910 --> 00:01:40.357
to be the first one out and saying,
41
00:01:40.357 --> 00:01:41.940
"Hey, I'm willing to take this
42
00:01:41.940 --> 00:01:44.400
and we're going to learn this together."
43
00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:46.800
Being the chief performance officer, you're going to have
44
00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:50.400
to push the other functions to a level of discomfort.
45
00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.510
That's your critical role.
46
00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:53.190
You can't know as much as they know,
47
00:01:53.190 --> 00:01:57.750
but you have to make sure that they're pushed to the point,
48
00:01:57.750 --> 00:02:00.510
right, where it benefits the shareholder
49
00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:02.280
because that's one of our primary jobs.
50
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.200
You need truth-tellers
51
00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:08.010
to tell you exactly what's going on, when to participate,
52
00:02:08.010 --> 00:02:09.930
what questions to ask, and what to press on.
53
00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:12.870
I found one of the best sources were the front line,
54
00:02:12.870 --> 00:02:15.240
staying in constant touch with the front line,
55
00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.010
whether it's within accounting or analytics,
56
00:02:17.010 --> 00:02:19.080
or more broadly within the operations,
57
00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.900
that front line is often the the best source for the insights
58
00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:24.120
of things that are working or not working.
59
00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:26.490
So many companies don't have
60
00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:29.310
what I call an operating mechanism.
61
00:02:29.310 --> 00:02:32.460
How do they come together and develop a strategy?
62
00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:35.280
How does that strategy turn into operations?
63
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.980
How does the operations turn into a budget?
64
00:02:37.980 --> 00:02:41.700
Those three very large things can be a catalyst
65
00:02:41.700 --> 00:02:43.530
for the finance team.
66
00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:46.980
You use those three very large business processes
67
00:02:46.980 --> 00:02:48.150
to your advantage.
68
00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:50.820
You can drive tremendous change.
69
00:02:50.820 --> 00:02:52.800
That transformation will then drive
70
00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:53.820
the rest of the business,
71
00:02:53.820 --> 00:02:55.560
and you will then become an expert
72
00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.740
in that area for the whole company.
73
00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:01.440
And that way you'll get the resources you need
74
00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:04.740
and the attention you'll get from the board will be
75
00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:07.540
the way you'll be able to drive the rest of the company.