What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, by renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, holds up a vital mirror – not just for CFOs but all of us who lead finance teams, and for our colleagues in the C-suite.  Considered by many to be the preeminent expert on leadership and executive success,  Goldsmith’s list of 20 bad habits points to the root cause of why some of us lose our effectiveness. Variations of this are not uncommon in CFO leadership coaching circles.  Such behaviors may have helped us achieve promotions and accolades  in the past.  But, with expanded executive professional roles and broader responsibilities, those same approaches often become liabilities and hold us back from continued achievement and professional fulfillment.

The office of the Chief Financial Officer requires  confidence in your decision-making and authority.  By the time you’ve arrived, you have plenty of experience and know what works and what doesn’t.  However, that confidence and experience can actually work against you. As a CFO Coach and CFO Mentor, here’s 4 false beliefs we see CFOs give in to:

1. “The drive to win at any cost is vital to my success.”

If you believe “losing” is never an option, it becomes easier to convince yourself that you are always right.  And the smarter you are, the greater the temptation is to prove it to others:   regardless of the cost.  This can cause your intense confidence to force your agenda.

Lee was formerly a “deal guy” and had evaluated hundreds of potential transactions during his career.  As a result of that experience and his ability to quickly spot problems and opportunities, he had earned the respect of those around him which he parlayed into a powerful reputation, a stature that ultimately led him to be appointed as CFO.  His self confidence level was sky-high.  He had a great sense of what worked and what didn’t.

That knowledge encouraged him to use the power of his position and his forceful style to win all the time.  Whether it was an argument over the right course of action in a systems implementation, an immaterial comment on a board slide, or the placement of commas in a legal document– he was always right and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

It was this forcefulness that was ultimately Lee’s problem.  His style became viewed as pedantic and tiresome, and people started avoiding him and found ways to get things done without his involvement.  Without realizing it, he was eroding the source of truth that was necessary to keep making good decisions.  Many teammates stopped trying, and let the consequences unfold.

If you notice colleagues and direct reports increasingly working around you as Lee did, you’ll be well-served by carefully evaluating what’s really important. Is your force of will putting your colleagues off, and ultimately making you tough to be around?

CFO LEADERSHIP COACHING TIPS:  

• If you suspect you have an issue with winning too much, you probably do. Want to be sure? ASK 2 or 3 of your most trusted allies or friends. You likely have the same behaviors both at work and at home.

• ADMIT you have an issue: an overly developed need to be right and to get credit.

• IDENTIFY what this is costing you. If this behavior continues, what consequences might you face in 3 or 5 or 10 years?

• WHO are you willing to share this issue with, and to ask for “feed-forward.” (Not “feedback”!)

• APPLY the 80/20 rule: is the issue at hand part of the 20% of topics that are vital for you to win at, in order to drive or sustain success? If not, what are you willing to do, to let it go? How can you reduce the cost to you, to allow the other person to win more often? Not everything can be a win-win. Sometimes letting the other person win this one is a wiser approach for your desired end-game.

2. “Damn the torpedoes, I’ve gotta be ME.”

Being unapologetic about who you are can be an asset, and a boon to self-confidence. But when it comes to some bad habits, telling yourself that other people just need to deal with it, because you’re in a C-suite office and have a lot of responsibility is a trap that emerges as we rise in scope of responsibility and authority.

Melissa was the CFO of a business owned by a founder who sold to a private equity buyer.  She had served the owner faithfully and had become successful partly because the owner overlooked some of her quirks, most especially her propensity for “honesty.”  Unfortunately for Melissa, this trait was perceived by the new CEO and PE Operating Partners as inappropriate. As she shared details that were perceived to be unimportant, including details about her own personal life, they began to wonder about her judgment.  In Melissa’s mind, she was “just being honest.”  Instead, the lack of an appropriate filter between what she thought and what she said that ultimately led to her not being the CFO much longer after the deal closed.

CFO LEADERSHIP COACHING TIPS:  If you sometimes find others responding with polite smiles, awkward silence, or making excuses for you, you may be mistaking your faults as virtues.  

• CONSIDER whether it’s time to take an inventory of your behaviors. What might a more professional “you” look or sound like?

• ASK yourself: “If I were able to reinvent my image, what are the qualities for which I would most like to be known?”

• “Where am I OVER-honoring a value such as “honesty” or being a “straight shooter”, at the cost of nurturing creativity on the team, connection with colleagues, and a reputation for discretion and tact?

3. “Interrupting before they’re finished just speeds things up”

Intruding, cutting others off mid-sentence because you think, “OK, I got it – I’ve heard enough” is often seen as the most passive-aggressive form of disrespect by colleagues.  As a CFO, you are likeliest fall into this trap in areas with which you are most familiar.  For instance, Chris knew how to manage working capital.  She had lived the ins and  outs of cash flows for years.  When her new Controller came along, she glossed over his ideas for improving accuracy and efficiency.  He repeatedly tried to get her attention, but she had little interest in listening. Worse, she increasingly indulged in her habit of interrupting him, conveying she already knew what he’d say and was ahead of him on this:  as if he was wasting her time.  Not listening fueled her impatience, which in turn caused members of the team to become more timid for fear of being similarly disrespected:  especially in meetings.  Team morale suffered, and so did results. 

CFO LEADERSHIP COACHING TIPS:

Be vigilant.  If  you don’t listen, you’re likely to lose out on better ideas, and you’ll alienate those who work around you as well.  For many CFOs, listening is an exercised skill that doesn’t come easily.  Make time.  Stop what you’re doing.  Resist multitasking. Be present, and be considerate.

4. “I’m just telling it like it is.”

We all make sarcastic or negative comments once in a while.  However, some of us make these comments frequently enough that they become destructive to relationships, value, and effectiveness.  What is the situation, and who are the individuals, most likely to evoke a negative response from you?

For instance, Jaime struggled with maintaining a trusted relationship with his credit and collections manager for some time. He didn’t believe the effectiveness of the manager was satisfactory.  Instead of addressing this with her individually and directly, he let it be known through overly direct comments -- in front of others, no less -- that he was displeased and wanted to make a change.

Not only was this immensely demotivating to his manager, Jaime’s organization increasingly recognized that this is how Jaime provided feedback.  Rather than working as efficiently and effectively as they could, this encouraged a spirit of rumor-mongering:  focusing on what Jaime had told other colleagues about each of them.  Jaime’s comments had become destructive to progress and wounded the effectiveness of his organization.

CFO LEADERSHIP COACHING TIPS: 

• If you find yourself talking negatively about someone in the presence of others – especially when the other person is absent --  consider what it’s costing:   Are you willing to stop?!  

• Who could you invite to hold you accountable to break this habit?  Pick at least 1 trusted colleague at work – and do the same at home.  Allow them to gently signal when this is happening:  for many of us, simply becoming aware of when it’s happening and how often is a game-changing wake-up call.  You may be telling yourself that that you’re being witty or helping others to like you more, but you’re working against yourself and making your job harder than it already is. 

By the time you’ve achieved the role of the Chief Financial Officer, you have seen a lot.  You’ve earned more accolades, recognition, and promotions than the vast majority of your peers.  But your playbook may need a few vital updates.  Some pages need to be ripped out, some new ones need to be added, and still others need to be reconfigured.  Because what got you here won’t get you there.  What can?  Equipping yourself with the tools that help you intercept your self-sabotaging behaviors as a CFO and increase your ability to lead with curiosity, empathy and creativity. 

Jeff Martini, MBA is a 5-time Chief Financial Officer and has been promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer multiple times.  He has served businesses ranging from Fortune 500 to pre-revenue startups.  His experience includes leadership in both private equity and NYSE-listed publicly held companies and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and equity funding through strategic partnering.

Edith Hamilton, MBA, CPCC is a certified executive coach for CFOs and VPs in Finance and Operations, particularly recently promoted women in the C-suite. She is a former executive of Fortune 500s, and has a background in private equity.  With over 25 years’ experience in finance, operations, and growth strategies in corporations of all sizes including middle-market and entrepreneurial, Edith is a catalyst who accelerates leadership growth using tailored coaching frameworks that typically have an ROI of 4x-6x.