Here you'll find insights and templates on how to succeed once you’re in the CFO role, beyond just “owning the numbers.”
You’ll find playbooks on leading the business, running a high‑performing finance team, avoiding burnout, and turning metrics into decisions executives can act on.
Download 10 full-page prompts with the context and structure you can put to work right away. Plus:
Executive Summary Many CFOs are hired to be strategic, but their finance function remains transactional. This article explains the “evolution gap” between a strategic CFO role and finance roles...
Executive Summary Difficult board conversations become manageable when preparation removes surprise and clarifies the decision. Strong preparation includes defining the issue, writing a one-pag...
No matter the industry, and no matter how healthy the business looks today, three board conversations show up sooner or later. A number gets missed. Cash stops feeling comfortable. Or someone f...
Executive Summary A new CFO’s first 90 days should leave the company feeling, “We can finally trust the numbers and the finance leader behind them,” because you’ve spent that time learning the ...
3 Simple Ways You Can Do More Strategic Work in Finance, Despite a Packed Schedule Practical methods to add value without adding hours If you're like most finance professionals, your days are p...
In this episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast , host Wassia Kamon sits down with Dave DeFreitas , retired group CFO of Caterpillar Inc., to explore the unconventional career path that took him from staff accountant to the C-suite. Drawing on over 30 years of experience leading finance teams at one o...
Stepping into your first CFO role can feel overwhelming. In this episode, former divisional CFO and GrowCFO Mentor Kevin Appleby shares what really changes when you move from finance leader to CFO. Drawing on years of experience working with finance leaders across industries, Kevin shares why many C...
In this episode of The Diary of a CFO Podcast, host Wassia Kamon sits down with Teri Kozub, a three-time CFO with more than 33 years of experience in nonprofit finance and current CFO at Community Legal Services of Mid Florida. Teri shares how her non-linear career shaped her leadership style, why ...
What does it take to turn a traditional finance team into a true strategic business partner? In this episode, Paul Young, CFO of Liberty Bank, shares how he connected strategy, budgeting, and talent development to create a finance function built for impact.
CFOs are expected to drive transformation, lead strategy, and still deliver flawless numbers every month. In this episode of The Diary of a CFO, I sit down with Tom Hood, one of the most influential voices in finance leadership, to unpack what’s really behind the growing pressure on today’s CFOs.
Bona Allen has led finance at both public and private companies, navigated the savings and loan crisis, the 2008 crash, and COVID, and built strategies that kept projects and people moving through uncertainty. In this episode, he shares what it takes to lead finance through real estate booms, constr...
Not every CFO starts as a controller or FP&A lead. Axel Talout shares how banking and private equity shaped his journey, why your “different” background can be your edge, and how to intentionally build a team that fills your blind spots.
Mike High (CFO, NAIT; ex-Shell Deep Water CFO) shares leadership lessons from the Army to corporate finance: why the “platinum rule” beats one-size-fits-all leadership, what truly changes when you move from FP&A to the CFO seat, and how to carry a portfolio of crises without burning out.
Andrea Hecht went from audit to controller to the CFO seat at CSAA Insurance Group. In this episode she shares what actually changes at each step, how to link finance to strategy, and how to get Accounting and FP&A rowing in the same direction. We talk about the role allies play, why culture makes a...
