EXECUTIVE COACHING OUTCOMES
Case Study 1 - Becoming a more Operations-Focused CFO
A female CFO at a $100 million PE company in the healthcare arena, initially appointed in “a battlefield promotion” from Controller at the suggestion of the departing CFO, was delivering solid results from an Accounting perspective – but FP&A was virtually nonexistent, and the PE partners lacked the necessary insights at a time performance was flat and worsening. While the Accounting team was getting the job done, Stephanie* needed to expand both her vision and theirs for where performance needed to rise in her group.
Case Study 2 – Leadership: Team & Collaboration
The young COO of this mid-size company helped quickly grow the business from a startup to a leading provider of transport services nationwide. Sam* was a hands-on doer who knew the ins and outs of the business like few others, and expected everyone to be just as fast on their feet. He “doesn’t suffer fools”, and while working for him was financially rewarding, few were willing to put up with his quick temper and loud outbursts for long. Turnover was almost 50% a year.
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Case Study 3 – Transition from Controller to Acting CFO
The Controller/VP of Finance for a 2,500 person healthcare services provider was hired by the CEO 6 months earlier with the expectation that she’d take the mantle of his retiring CFO, who was to have mentored her in the lead-up to the PE acquisition. “Wendy” started well and was initially dubbed a rock star by the CEO. She’d also impressed the PE partners as a highly capable go-getter during their due diligence process. Yet within 3 months of deal-close it was apparent that Wendy as Acting CFO was struggling to think strategically.
Case Study 4 – Leadership Presence / Communication / Influence
The VP of Revenue Cycle Management at this 1,800-person healthcare information technology services firm had risen to a role of prominence over 15 years thanks to her strategic acumen, collaborative approach and ability to get results. With a recently hired CFO and new peers, Kim* found herself in a much more competitive, fast-paced environment where both men and women began to side-line her authority. While she “knew her stuff” and was respected for her industry knowledge, her results were slipping.
Case Study 5 - Leading Change, Communicating with Impact
Tina*, a highly experienced, operations-minded Finance VP with a strong FP&A background was hired from a Fortune 500 competitor to serve as CFO of a transport company. While she was delivering results as expected on most fronts, her overly detailed communication style was creating friction both with her CEO and colleagues who often wanted just the bottom line. The feedback from the Board was that Tina needs to start with the big picture, answer the question directly, summarize context only briefly, point to root causes, and provide detail only when asked.
Case Study 6 - HOW CFO NAVIGATED A SUCCESSFUL TURN-AROUND
Soon after her company was bought by a larger PE fund, Jan (*) found herself under far more stress. After years of consistently explosive and profitable growth, the company was on its way to its first year of loss. The result would be devastating, and Jan needed to partner with the CEO and other C-level execs to turn it around -- quickly. She noticed me on LinkedIn and asked her CEO to sponsor CFO executive coaching.