Over the previous decade, more CFOs have moved into CEO roles because the place evolves to incorporate higher strategic and management obligations. This pattern displays a rising demand for executives who can navigate financial volatility with monetary self-discipline.
Within the first half of 2024, 7.1% of CEOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 corporations got here from a CFO function, up from 5.3% in 2013.
However whereas many Fortune 500 CEOs have finance backgrounds, the transition will not be all the time seamless as a result of the CFO talent set doesn’t all the time align with the management, imaginative and prescient, and threat tolerance required to be an efficient CEO.
“Traditionally, CFOs are counted on to be black and white and by the numbers, when in actuality, a CEO is the one which has to navigate by way of the grey,” says Jeff Herzog, president of government recruitment agency FPC Nationwide. Profitable CEOs are capable of thrive in ambiguity—a capability that usually comes extra naturally to these with broad, cross-functional expertise somewhat than a slender monetary focus.
Hardik Sheth, who leads BCG’s Middle for CFO Excellence in North America, warns {that a} CFO’s monetary self-discipline can change into a legal responsibility in a CEO function. An over-reliance on numbers and quantitative pondering can create blind spots in areas like imaginative and prescient, expertise, and firm tradition.
Joanna Starek, chief industrial officer at management consultancy RHR Worldwide, echoes this concern, noting that many CFOs assume they’re prepared for the highest function just because they’ve labored carefully with the CEO.
“I’ve seen a variety of CFOs overestimate their readiness,” says Starek. “They sit so near the CEO that they really feel like they know what they should do to drive the success of the corporate, however they have not essentially shouldered the burden of progress as nicely.”
Watching and studying from the CEO isn’t sufficient. Those that efficiently transition from finance chiefs to the nook workplace have already taken on technique, P&L administration, and operational obligations whereas honing robust interpersonal abilities. CFOs who fail to domesticate a well-rounded enterprise background and efficient communication abilities earlier of their profession typically battle to broaden their experience retroactively.
Kathy Pattillo, managing accomplice at Boyden, emphasizes that mushy abilities—like being an attentive listener and having an attractive persona—are among the many most crucial traits of CFOs who thrive as CEOs.
“There are a variety of monetary leaders that simply plain don’t have that persona, and you may’t go to high school and study it.”
The function of the CFO as a cost-cutter somewhat than a progress driver additionally presents challenges for these moving into the CEO place. In truth, CFOs-turned-CEOs are, on average, slower to drive top-line progress in comparison with these from different backgrounds. Analysis from Spencer Stuart discovered that solely 8% of CFOs-turned-CEOs lead their corporations to top-quartile efficiency, whereas “leapfrog” CEOs—these promoted from two or extra ranges down—and divisional CEOs have considerably increased odds of outperforming.
