Mindy Barker of Barker Associates and Co-Chair for The CFO Leadership Council's Jacksonville chapter, has announced the release of her new book Pitching to Win: Strategies for Success. Drawing on Barker’s extensive experience working in private equity and financial management, the book offers practical advice for pitching a business to investors, including how to get a company infrastructure-ready and how to create pitch materials.  Barker recently hosted a webcast for CFOLC members, sharing her expertise on the subject. Barker developed the idea for the book after seeing the need for a broader understanding of the process of selling a business and

Being a leader is a commitment. You are charged with guiding and supporting your team through the good times and the bad. Creative leaders can make enormous contributions through a focus on concentration and self development. So what does this mean exactly? During a recent webcast with Steve Wolff, a CFO for healthcare, technology & SaaS companies, as well as co-chair of our Chicago chapter, breaks down why it’s so important for leaders to commit, contribute and concentrate. He also shares top tips for improving your leadership skills in today’s current climate. Pro tip: Leaders provide one another calculated and

This article was authored by Monica Foster, National Managing Partner of Talent Management, Tatum Associates, a proud national sponsor of The CFO Leadership Council. Many CFOs agree that finding qualified talent to join their team is their biggest constraint on growth, so investing in human capital is more important now than ever. The role of the CFO is undergoing a transformation at most organizations today: Gone are the days when the finance function existed as a backward-facing, number crunching silo. In its place is a vision of the CFO as a future-oriented, cross-functional leader capable of spearheading strategic planning to

An excerpt from the book The Transition Game, written by CFOLC member Greg Olney. For more information on Olney, scroll down.   Distractions The reason that people drive so horribly when they have cell phones next to their ear is that the cell phone cuts out the peripheral view. Someone might think that cutting out the peripheral view would lend to focus, but it doesn’t. Cutting out the peripheral diverts attention away from multiple points of view. You may need multiple points of view to properly assess your position. Without multiple vantage points, most good decisions cannot be made. Distraction

  Authored by Joseph Feldman This article is the final in a 3-part series dedicated to acquisition strategy, and authored by Joseph Feldman, President of Joseph Feldman Associates. Plenty of ink has been spilled on negotiation strategy.  Some useful, some less useful (or simply not my style).  “Getting to Yes” by Roger Fisher and William Ury is a personal favorite, though experience probably remains the most valuable resource. As such, this blog post will be limited to negotiation-related observations and recommendations useful to a CFO specific to business acquisitions, particularly private transactions in the middle (or lower middle) market.  We’ll

  Authored by Joseph Feldman This article is the second in a 3-part series dedicated to acquisition strategy, and authored by Joseph Feldman, President of Joseph Feldman Associates.  Working on a potential acquisition demands specific functional competencies, though also meeting a team’s requirement for intensity, coordination, trust, and candor.  For a company, it is perhaps the ultimate occasion for a top-tier team of internal and external experts. However, as reported by one middle market executive, “It is easier to identify the people and expertise required than it is to engage them in the task, as they usually have other full-time