Thought experiment: Your firm needs a new CFO, and
you’ve winnowed the search down to three candidates:
- one who aced the CPA exam and has a degree in
accounting from a blue-chip school but has never worked in a law firm; - one who is reasonably smart and an OK communicator
but who for the past ten years has been the CFO at a law firm nearly identical in size to yours ; and - one who has the least financial/accounting experience
of the three but who is energetic and passionate about
connecting financial measures to business realities.
Time’s up. I would take #3 every time, and so, evidently,
would CFO
Magazine. Peter Mondani, General Electric
Co.’s
manager of finance leadership development and human resources,
says it nicely:
"While talent spotters may be divided in the book-smarts-vs.-street-smarts
debate, one thing they do agree on is that future finance
stars have desire. ‘They have the passion and energy to want success,’
says Mondani."
In other words, there’s simply "no need for deep technical
skills" going in, so long as the individual is highly motivated
to learn and to succeed. As one recruiter put it bluntly: people
who were accounting majors are the ones who have the hardest
time reaching the executive suite.
So here’s your checklist: Perfectly adequate
financial/accounting skills, superior communications skills,
genuine business acumen,
and passion, passion, passion.
Don’t be nervous about making a "non-linear" choice; when
was the last time double-entry bookkeeping nailed a strategic
decision for your firm? And besides, people with passion
are just more fun to work with.
