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AIA

The bumpy road from FD to chief executive

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18th May 2012
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Finance directors are more important than ever, but the transition to getting involved in strategy and taking the top job is not an easy ride.

Speaking at the Charity Finance Group’s (CFG) annual conference in London professor Paul Palmer of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School said you’ve got to have a desire to really want to do it.

“Be prepared for a bumpy role – are you happy to be out of your comfort zone?” he asked.

Essential skills of an effective CEO:

·Vision and strategic change maker

·Getting the best out of others

·Experience in the field/values

·Effective governance

·Leader and communicator

·Multi-tasking

·Profound understanding of the sector

FDs in the charitable sector need to really focus on their personal development, thinking more holistically and committing to an MBA to “embed your learning”.

Palmer touched on perception issues on how trustees see your strategic and leadership skills, and whether you “walk the talk”.

He pointed out that when business schools were set up in London in the mid-1960s chief executives were seen as “born” to lead, but now there is a greater emphasis on learning and personal development. Doing a wider management course shows a commitment and could be the clincher in the selection process when the top job comes up.

Palmer mentioned how his Yahoo account was suspended after he called for the chief executive of Yahoo to resign after he had falsely claimed on his CV to be an accountant. Shortly after this he stepped down and Palmer’s Yahoo account was reactivated. He said this revealed two things about the chief executive: one that he showed a side of his character where if he lied about this he’s probably lied about things; and secondly it defamed accountants that bothered to get the qualification.

There are a number of other things you can do if you’re looking to increase your influence in an organisation, such as changing your job title to “Deputy Chief Executive” of “Resources Director” without having to take on many additional responsibilities.

It’s also important to take on special project roles and being able to multi-task, and increasingly these days being more involved in marketing.

Finally Palmer suggested being a trustee elsewhere, but not an honourable treasurer - “don’t be pigeon holed!” he added.

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