GrowCFO Show

Are you in control of your own life, or are the demands of all the other things around you taking over? Too much pressure at work to have a personal life? Perhaps you aren't feeling fulfilled? If any of that describes you then it's time to take control back and make decisions that benefit you and not just your organisation. In this episode, Catherine Clark joins us to talk about the importance of making the right decisions for your own wellbeing. She draws on both her own personal experience as a CFO and the situations she comes across every week when she is mentoring other finance leaders.

If you aren't happy with where you are right now it's time to do something about it and take action. Catherine has some great advice to offer about how to find out what you really want and then take the right steps to get there. We talk about the importance of having the right mindset, and the importance of stepping forward even when there might be fear and uncertainty.

This is the third episode in a mini-series looking at your well-being. In the previous two episodes, we've looked at resilience with Leanne Spencer and self-awareness with Susana Serrano-Davey.

Links

Mentoring at GrowCFO with Catherine Clark

Catherine Clark on LinkedIn

Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn

Susan Jeffers - Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: How to Turn Your Fear and Indecision into Confidence and Action on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Timestamps

01:50 Are you feeling dissatisfied?

03:14 Getting in touch with your feelings

04:00 Go with your gut and your subconscious mind

06:03 Having the right people around you to support you

08:40 Some examples of situations people find themselves in

10:17 The decision isn't about moving on and changing job

12:01 The mindset shift that's needed

14:52 The fear of change, doing things differently, making a mistake

15:50 What do you need to stop doing? start doing? continue doing?

16:15 What do you want?

17:16 Overwhelm

18:12 Feel the fear and do it anyway

20:33 Where do you want to be in 3 years' time?

23:15 Do you stay? Do you move on?

24:50 You can't lose, just make a decision!

27:06 What do you do after you make a decision?

29:32 Some practical exercises you can do right now

Self-awareness is key for well-being. When you know yourself well, you can make better decisions and thrive in all areas of your life - including your career. As a finance leader, it's important to be self-aware so that you can set realistic goals and healthily manage stress. In this episode, Susana Serrano-Davey, our very own Executive Coach & Mentor at GrowCFO joins Kevin Appleby once again to discuss the importance of self-awareness as a cornerstone for wellbeing. We discuss the importance of self-awareness and how it can help you achieve success both professionally and personally. Susana gives some great advice on some practical things you can do to be more self-aware

Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and understand your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It's an important part of well-being because it allows you to make healthy choices, set realistic goals, and healthily manage stress. When you're self-aware, you're more likely to achieve your goals and be successful in all areas of your life.

There are many benefits of self-awareness, but here are a few key ones:

When you're self-aware, you can make better decisions. You know your strengths and weaknesses, so you can make choices that are in line with your values and goals.

When you're self-aware, you're more resilient. You know your triggers and how to manage them, so you're less likely to be derailed by setbacks.

When you're self-aware, you have a better understanding of other people. You can see things from their perspective and build relationships that are based on trust and mutual respect.

Self-awareness is an important part of well-being, and it's something that you can work on every day. Susana gives us some practical strategies:

Get feedback, how do people perceive you?

Understand your feelings, and why you feel a certain way

Learn more about your personality

Make sure you meet your own needs before others

Listen to the full episode to find out more.

Links

Mentoring at GrowCFO with Susana Serrano-Davey

Susana Serrano-Davey on LinkedIn

Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn

Episode 93 with Leanne Spencer on Well-being

Episode 74 Personality types with Merrick Rosenberg

Episode 71 Strengthsfinder with Jim Brophy

168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Timestamps

00:41 The previous episode with Leanne Spencer about well-being and beating burnout

01:15 No point in achieving your goals and being unhappy

03:37 You really need to know more about yourself

05:22 How others perceive us

10:03 Getting feedback from others

13:45 Becoming aware of your personality type

16:47 Using personality profiling tests (we referenced DISC and Strengthsfinder tests covered in previous episodes with Merrick Rosenberg and Jim Brophy)

19:16 Connect with your feelings

21:43 The link between a crisis and becoming depressed

23:04 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

24:34 Understand your needs

28:04 Dealing with recurring issues and problems

30:33 Making time and space for yourself

34:01 Susana's book

CFOs and finance leaders are under more pressure than ever before. They are responsible for ensuring the financial stability of their company, and often have to make tough decisions that can impact the bottom line. This high level of responsibility can take a toll, and many CFOs and finance leaders find themselves struggling with burnout. In this episode, Leanne Spencer, an award-winning entrepreneur and a key-note wellbeing speaker and burnout prevention expert joins Kevin Appleby to discuss how to better manage stress, prioritize recovery and ultimately reduce the risk of burnout.

Burnout can have a significant impact on CFOs and finance leaders. When individuals are burned out, they may feel exhausted, both physically and emotionally. They may also feel cynical or negative about their work and may have difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Burnout can lead to absenteeism, staff turnover, and a decrease in productivity. It can also adversely affect an individual's health. But what action can you take to protect yourself? Leanne has plenty of answers!

You need to increase your resilience. But what does that actually mean in practice? Lots of people talk about being more resilient, but few people have their own practical strategies to make it happen. Leanne talks about giving yourself slivers of recovery. Time for yourself every single day. A small part of your overall bandwidth. These slivers can have a very significant impact on your overall wellbeing

Links

Leanne Spencer on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedInCadence: the secret to beating burnout and performing in life and work on Amazon UK and Amazon USRise and Shine: Recover from burnout and get back to your best on Amazon UK and Amazon USMentoring at GrowCFO

Timestamps

00:39 About Leanne Spencer and Bear Grylls

01:24 Remember what is first for you

02:34 How does this apply to finance leaders?

05:20 Slivers of recovery

07:20 Learning from elite athletes

10:28 How do you recover when there's always something else to do?

11:30 The golden hour before sleep

16:30 Turn off notifications

18:41 Simple things done every day

23:00 Decompress at the end of the day

24:17 Alchohol, good or bad?

25:26 Cadence, the overall message in the book

27:44 A business book needs to be short and easily digestible

29:24 Cadence: the secret to beating burnout and performing in life and work

As a CFO in a fast-growing business, you have a lot on your plate. You are responsible for ensuring that the company is making money and growing at a healthy rate. But what if you could take your career to the next level by having a mentor? A mentor can help you learn new skills, make important connections, and give you guidance when it comes to difficult decisions. Ian Simpkin specialises in mentoring CFOs who find themselves in that exact situation.

Ian Simpkin is one of GrowCFO's experienced CFO mentors. In this episode, he joins Kevin Appleby to discuss how he mentors CFOs in fast-growing businesses. We talk about his career and experiences and how this impacts his approach to mentoring.

Ian, a Chartered Accountant (FCA), qualified with KPMG and trained at Insead in their International Executive Program. He has over 25 years of finance director experience and was European CFO of a Nasdaq 100 multinational during rapid growth from $20 to $450m.

Ian has a great practical understanding of driving business growth, fundraising, acquisitions and exit planning. Besides mentoring new CFOs, he advises SMEs on financial strategies to help grow their businesses. He is passionate about helping his mentees develop their skills and expertise to realise their potential and provide Board level strategic advice.

Links

Mentoring at GrowCFO Meet the GrowCFO mentorsThe CFO Competency frameworkIan Simpkin on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedIn

Timestamps

00:57 Introducing Ian Simpkin

02:00 Growing a company from $20m to $400m

03:11 Making acquisitions to grow

04:20 What challenges do you deal with day to day as a mentor and portfolio CFO?

05:28 How do you approach mentoring?

06:52 What are the biggest issues you find with CFOs in their first role?

07:57 The CFO competency framework

10:00 The CFO as a strategic business partner

11:48 Ian Simpkin outside the office

13:16 Why choose Ian as a mentor?

One of the biggest challenges of financial modelling is creating models that are accurate and realistic. Financial modellers need to have a good understanding of all of the different formulas and functions in order to create an accurate model. Many people, even experienced modellers, use less than 5% of the functions available. Excel models need to be properly structured too so that others can easily validate them, and they can be checked for errors. There are lots to learn about, and many tips and tricks that can make your life much easier. That's why Myles Arnott and Giles Male set up Full Stack Modeller.

In this episode, Kevin Appleby chats to Miles and Giles to discover more about the challenges of building great financial models in Excel and how the Full Stack Modeller training and community of members can help you.

We teach financial modelling basics in GrowCFO's finance team training, but if you want to develop really deep specialist modelling skills Full Stack is the place to go. If you want to join Full Stack Modeller's next cohort this coupon code will give you 15% off: GROWCFO15AUG. Registration opens on 8th August.

Full Stack Modeller will give you:

Excel Mastery. From core function knowledge and confident use of Excel Tables and Pivot Tables, to a truly unique way to develop your shortcut and navigation skill mastery. the major modelling standards, setting you up for more advanced modelling exercises to come further on in your journey.Advanced Financial Modelling. Covering the fundamentals of three statement modelling, valuations, scenarios & sensitivities, and more. Data Visualisation & Analytics. How to use Power BI to analyse data, and we help you understand how best to share your insights with others. These are skills that are rare to find, even amongst very talented and experienced modellers.

Listen to the full episode to find out more.

Links

Giles Male on LinkedInMyles Arnott on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedInGrowCFO for Finance TeamsFind out more about Full Stack Modeller (use coupon code GROWCFO15AUG to get 15% off at checkout)

Timestamps

01:04 About Full Stack Modeller

03:37 What are financial models used for?

04:50 Don't most people teach themselves how to use Excel?

07:30 Power Query

09:48 What about apps that replace Excel?

11:40 What bad habits do self-taught experienced modellers generally have?

13:12 The problem of too much data

15:05 Data visualisation

18:55 How do you teach modelling when there are so many different applications of models?

20:40 Trapping errors in models

26:34 What are the 5 or 6 key things we really need to know?

29:11 The danger of a single Excel guru in a company

It's no secret that boardroom experience is important for aspiring CFOs. But what happens when you don't have access to boardrooms? How can you overcome this obstacle and get the experience you need? In this episode Dan Wells, founder and CEO of GrowCFO, joins Kevin Appleby to discuss the launch of GrowCFO's Virtual Boardroom.

Over 80% of aspiring and first-time finance leaders have little or no boardroom experience. Very few have conquered the most common challenges regularly faced by CFOs during board meetings. This lack of exposure can easily prevent you from landing your dream CFO role, or negatively affect your performance during difficult boardroom situations within your existing finance role. GrowCFO’s Virtual Boardroom provides you with essential first-hand experience of dealing with real-life boardroom challenges that most CFOs encounter early on in their finance leader career.

If you're serious about becoming a CFO, don't let a lack of boardroom experience hold you back. There are plenty of ways to gain the experience you need, even if you don't have direct access to boardrooms. The GrowCFO Virtual Boardroom can help you get the confidence you need in the boardroom. In addition you should seek out opportunities to present to boards. Get involved with organizations that focus on board governance, and network with experienced board members. With some effort and perseverance, you can overcome this obstacle and take your career to the next level.

Links

Dan Wells on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedInGrowCFO Virtual BoardroomFind out more about becoming a CFO

Timestamps

00:52 What is the Virtual Boardroom?

03:20 The CFO wears 2 hats in the boardroom

04:49 How does the Virtual Boardroom work?

06:08 Does it involve a lot of prep like a real board meeting?

08:52 Dealing with the different perspectives of individual board members

11:56 What time commitment do you need in order to participate?

14:04 The Virtual Boardroom is supported by online learning

16:16 The role of professional mentors in the Virtual Boardroom

17:39 How to find out more

As finance leaders, we are always looking for ways to help our businesses grow. But in order to grow, we need to have a clear strategy in place. Without a strategy, it's difficult to set goals and measure progress. And without communication, it's impossible to get everyone on the same page. That's where strategy software comes in. Strategy software helps you document your strategy and communicate it effectively to everyone involved. In this episode Tom Ricca-McCarthy, Co-Founder at Lucidity joins Kevin Appleby. We talk about how to build an effective strategy and how the Lucidity software app can support you in documenting and communicating the strategy.

There are many benefits of using strategy software. Perhaps the most important benefit is that it helps you document your strategy. This is crucial because a documented strategy gives you a roadmap to follow as you execute your growth plans. It also allows you to track your progress and make changes as needed.

Another important benefit of strategy software is that it helps you communicate your strategy effectively. This is essential because, without communication, it's impossible to get everyone on the same page. Strategy software makes it easy to share your strategy with your team or stakeholders and get their feedback. This way, you can ensure that everyone is on board with your growth plans.

Tom relates the story of needing to present the strategy for his own business and everything he needed was scattered across a whole collection of slide decks, spreadsheets and word documents. Lucidity was born out of the need to have a single place to document and then communicate everything to do with the strategic plan.

GrowCFO is running quarterly strategy bootcamps. In a series of workshops over the course of a week we help you get to grips with building a strategy for your business and documenting it using Lucidity. There's a link below if you want to find out more.

Links

Tom Ricca-McCarthy on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedInFind out more about Lucidity strategy softwareThe GrowCFO Strategy ProgrammeJoin a GrowCFO Strategy Bootcamp

Timestamps

01:23 About Tom Ricca-McCarthy

02:50 Putting a turnaround strategy in place in one of his former companies

04:12 The idea for Lucidity

05:44 Strategy is a broad activity using lots of different tools

08:30 Why you need everything in one place

10:18 SWOT, PESTLE, 5 Forces scattered across multiple documents

14:07 Its not just the analysis, it's about executing the plan too

14:31 Tracking the KPIs and milestones

16:30 Scenario planning

17:45 GrowCFO strategy bootcamp

23:17 The CFO strategy survey

25:30 The communication challenge

28:23 Stop Start Continue

30:06 A single source of the truth

34:21 What's next for Tom and Lucidity?

38:30 A balanced set of objectives and OKRs

44:48 The strategy execution gap

This equation is a simple but powerful way to think about success and how to achieve it. Julian uses P=P-I every day to get the best out of his finance team and others that work with him. We discuss the factors that contribute to interference and how you can eliminate them to reach your full potential.

Do you have a strategy? If so, congratulations – you're ahead of the curve. Many businesses don't take the time to develop a strategy, and as a result, they struggle to achieve their goals. But having a strategy is only half the battle; the other half is making sure that your strategy is executed properly. In this blog post, we'll talk about how to close the strategy execution gap and turn your plans into results!

Benjamin Wann is an expert at closing the strategy execution gap. He is a CPA and has written several books, including Getting Shit Done: The No-Nonsense Framework for Closing the Strategy Execution Gap which is the subject of this episode of The GrowCFO Show.

The strategy execution gap is the difference between where a company wants to be and where it actually is. This gap can be caused by a number of factors, including unclear goals, inadequate resources, and poor communication. But regardless of the cause, the result is always the same: Your company isn't achieving its full potential.

So how can you close the strategy execution gap?

Here are a few tips:

Define your goals clearly. If your employees don't know what they're supposed to be working towards, they can't possibly achieve it. Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).Allocate the necessary resources. Your strategy won't get very far if you don't have the people, money, and time to make it happen.Communicate, communicate, communicate. Make sure everyone involved in your strategy knows what their role is and what they're supposed to be doing. regular check-ins will help keep everyone on track.Be flexible. Things will inevitably change as you're trying to execute your strategy. Be prepared to make adjustments along the way.

Closing the strategy execution gap can be a challenge, but it's worth it. By taking the time to implement a solid strategy, you'll ensure that your business is able to achieve its full potential. Listen to the full episode. We dive deep into these points and many more.

Links

How GrowCFO can help you build and execute your strategyGetting Shit Done: The No-Nonsense Framework for Closing the Strategy Execution Gap on Amazon UK and Amazon USBenjamin Wann's other books on Amazon UK and Amazon US168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam on Amazon UK and Amazon USABenjamin Wann on LinkedInKevin Appleby on LinkedIn

Timestamps

01:02 Introducing Benjamin Wann

02:46 Everything in life is a project!

03:15 Ben's books

06:22 Getting Shit Done

08:15 You have designed the strategy. What comes next?

08:42 Many organisations don't actually have a strategy

10:57 In its most basic form, what is a business strategy?

12:09 The strategy execution gap

13:57 Who does what and by when?

16:39 Time is limited. How do you prioritise?

17:16 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam

19:47 Mindset for achieving the milestones you need to reach

23:10 Napoleon's army and empowerment

23:47 Strategy lessons from the US Civil War

24:54 The need for flexibility in the plan

26:48 What gets measured gets done

28:00 Rats in Hanoi: Why linking measurement to reward can be very dangerous

31:44 It's all about communicating effectively

35:00 Use e-mail properly

36:19 Create the right culture

40:00 The role of the CFO in strategy execution

Strategy is the backbone of any successful business. Without a strategy in place, it can be difficult to make decisions and achieve your goals. Many CEOs try to implement the strategy on their own, but this can be difficult if you don't have the right tools and resources. In this episode, we will discuss how to embed strategy in your business and make sure that it is a part of everything that you do!

The strategy should be embedded in every facet of your business, from the way you set goals to the way you communicate with customers. By embedding strategy into your business, you will be able to make better decisions, achieve your goals, and improve your overall performance. There are a few key steps that you can take to embed strategy in your business:

Define what strategy means for your business

Without a clear understanding of what strategy is, it can be difficult to implement it effectively. Take some time to sit down and define what strategy means for your company. What are your goals? What are the most important things that you want to achieve? Once you have a good understanding of what strategy is and what it means for your business, you will be able to start embedding it into your operations.

Make strategy a part of your decision-making process

One of the most important ways to embed strategy in your business is to make it a part of your decision-making process. Whenever you are faced with a decision, big or small, take some time to think about how it will impact your strategy. What are the risks and opportunities associated with this decision? By taking the time to consider these things, you will be able to make better decisions that align with your strategy.

Communicate your strategy to everyone in your company

It is important that everyone in your company is aware of your strategy and knows how it affects their day-to-day work. Hold strategy meetings, send out regular emails or memos, and post your strategy on your company's intranet. The more people that are aware of your strategy, the more likely they are to help you achieve it.

These are just a few of the ways that you can embed strategy in your business. We talk about much more in the episode, so listen in and find out more.

Susana Serrano-Davey is an experienced CFO and a member of the GrowCFO professional mentoring team. If you are interested in having Susana as a mentor then please get in touch using the link below.

Kevin Appleby is GrowCFO's business strategy mentor and runs the GrowCFO Strategy Programme.

Links

How GrowCFO can help you build and execute your strategy

Mentoring at GrowCFO with Susana Serrano-Davey

Susana Serrano-Davey on LinkedIn

Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn

Timestamps

01:30 What is strategy?

03:55 How do you go about building and deploying a strategy?

04:01 Three typical scenarios

05:28 What about the business that's in trouble and needs a turnaround strategy?

08:04 What does the CFO need from the strategy?

08:59 The objectives are clear, but how do we achieve them?

09:50 The power of a simple SWOT analysis

12:32 Achieving a balance between growing revenue and cutting cost

13:42 The role of the Zero-Based Budget

17:24 The need to be constantly aware of new challenges and adapt the strategy

19:34 The danger of not implementing change in the good times

21:53 The difficulty of restructuring when the business is losing money

24:34 Strategy and the high growth business

26:38 The CFO as the challenger of strategy

28:07 Measuring the right things and understanding cause and effect

30:02 What are the 3 or 4 most useful tools to use?