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Why Give More than We Take?
leadership pillar
We work our whole life to acquire things. Yet, when our physical being perishes we go empty handed. I guess that is what drives many of us to believe in an afterlife. When we die, our legacy in this life becomes the yardstick we are measured by. Most of us hope our legacy includes being remembered as a giving person. My concept of a giving person is one who contributes more to society than they take. Undoubtedly, this is an imprecise definition, open to interpretation. “She was a giving person”, “He gave all of himself to the cause” or similar phrases are frequently used when people are being eulogized. To give something implies, we acquired or control whatever it is we are giving. Acquiring is pretty close to taking even if there is some type of exchange for it. Is “giving and taking” simply a zero-sum game?

Steve Rosvold

The Levers of Change
leadership pillar
I’d like to introduce you to the first management consultant, who appeared a couple of millennia ago, and who had the greatest tool. His name was Archimedes and he had a lever. I used that lever with some client executives who, with the strength of their position, were able to accomplish change ten times greater than others whose efforts were noble, but never seemed to pay off. What are the levers of change and how can you apply them to your company and your finance team ?

Rick Pay

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Governance & Controls – structure and controls.

Transaction Recording – systems, transaction processing and closing the books.

Reporting - efficient, timely and accurate information for decision making and meeting compliance requirements.

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Accounting

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Business Planning - provide the financial roadmap for the company with supporting analytics.

Financial Forecasting - integrate the company’s current performance relative to budget with the real-time business environment.

Investment Analysis - the framework to analyze new opportunities as they present themselves.

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Finance

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Cash Management - the discipline to ensure cash is available to operate the business normally.

Funding - Planning for and raising funds to meet the needs of the business.

Risk Management – Identification and mitigation of key business risks.

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Treasury

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Self-Awareness - Internal.

Team Building - External.

Strategy & Culture – Motivate people to follow you.

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Leadership

Four Pillars of Executive Expertise

CFO.University is built around the Four Pillars of CFO Success. These Pillars are supported with Core Competencies. Our framework allows you to master your role as a senior financial officer. The Four Pillars are made up of:


Accounting – Governance & Controls, Transaction Recording and Reporting

Finance – Business Planning, Financial Forecasting and Investment Analysis

Treasury – Cash Management, Funding (Capital Raising) and Risk Management

Leadership – Self Awareness, Team Building and Strategy & Culture

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