We publish the GrowCFO Show podcast every week, but its only a small part of GrowCFO. In this week's show we take a look at how you, the finance leader, can benefit from the wider CFO community.

Grow CFO is where Finance Leaders Grow Together. Join thousands of like-minded professionals using GrowCFO to access the combined knowledge and experience of the finance leader community

Being a successful CFO isn't easy

Becoming a successful CFO requires commitment and dedication towards delivering your full potential.

Securing the top CFO role is the ultimate aspiration for most ambitious finance leaders. When delivered effectively, it offers a lucrative career full of exciting challenges. Alongside this is the personal satisfaction of making a huge impact.

However, the constantly evolving role carries huge responsibility and significant pressure from ongoing urgent tasks. CFOs often feel overwhelmed and stressed out, leading to procrastination and struggling to see the bigger picture during decision-making. You may feel very self-reliant and exposed to others, creating a loss in confidence and imposter syndrome which can rapidly diminish performance levels.

The most successful CFOs possess a strong financial foundation, an integrated understanding of the role and high levels of gravitas around board members. They build trusted teams, implement robust integrated systems and generate confidence, whilst supporting senior management and driving decision-making.

Who is GrowCFO for?

Grow CFO is aimed at finance leaders. Its not just CFOs though. Finance leaders have many different job titles. You might be a finance director; a VP finance; or a head of finance. We think of CFO referring to the person who has the no 1 role in finance.

You may be a CFO already or you might have ambitions to take on that role in the near future. If you are looking to take on the role in the near future then the future CFO programme can give you the help you need. I discussed the programme with Dan Wells in episode 20

If you are a CFO, then you might be very experienced, or you might be new to the role. GrowCFO can help with the Finance Leader Programme and with mentoring. We talked about mentoring in episode 5 with Catherine Clark.

For experienced CFOs its a place to give back, and to encourage the next generation of finance leaders. Chances are the things they are struggling with are things you have already solved.

How did GrowCFO start?

Dan Wells started GrowCFO in January 2020. Prior to that he was a partner in KPMG. I first spoke to Dan in February, and he already had a thriving community of CFOs established. We met on linkedin, and quickly ended up in an extended phone conversation. The first of many. Soon after I invited Dan to be a guest on The Next 100 Days Podcast. The relationship grew from there.

That first phone call happened in Costa Coffee on the way home from my last face to face client meeting. Little did I know the next one would have to take place with us all working remotely. The next consulting project had been planned for ages too. It didn't happen. Welcome to Lockdown! Little did I know that my whole life had just changed.

Besides consulting, I also worked with IA seminars, delivering courses in the classroom to develop tomorrow's finance leaders. I focused on delivering classes that let people learn practical rather than theoretical skills in a safe space. I teach most of the skills you need to be a successful strategic business partner

Strategybusiness planningbudgets & rolling forecastsZBB & cost reductionUnderstanding the economic engine of the business with ABCKPIs, nonmembers financial reporting balanced scorecards

I added some free resources to Dan's website to help finance leaders who needed to replan quickly during lockdown. At the same time I was looking for ways to take the things I teach in the classroom into the online space.