In this presentation, Maureen O'Connell, CFO at Scholastic Corporation points out 3 essential steps that would benefit new CFOs regardless of the backgrounds that they come from.

2. Taking Over as a CFO
 “There is no single formula for taking over as CFO
successfully.”
 CFOs are appointed in a variety of ways: promoted from
within or hired from outside; in family-run business or
multi-national corporations. The sheer variety makes it
impossible for all new CFOs to follow a single
path. Here, I only wish to point out 3 essential steps
that would benefit new CFOs regardless of their
backgrounds.

3. Step 1- Learn
 New CFOs must start by gaining deep understanding about
the business, its strengths, imminent and long-term threats
and stakeholders.
 This learning process starts as soon as they lace their CFO
shoes on the first day and lasts for at least 3 months. The
best way to learn is also the simplest: just listen. Listening
will help you understand pain points. It may also help you
find the solutions hidden within the issues.
 Be a student, be willing to learn and accept contributions
from key stakeholders. A great by-product of this process is
that you will start forging healthy relationships with them right
from the outset.

4. Learning about Business
 The greatest challenge you need to learn to tackle will be to
adapt to the culture, both across the business and within
your team.
 Corporate literature and reports are just the starting point.
The most useful inputs will come from meetings with the rest
of the C-suite, your team, auditors and industry analysts.
 It is important for you to reconcile the analysts’ perception
and the reality expeditiously. The moment analysts and
shareholders feel confused after your communication, they
tend to distrust and neglect your business’ stock. Streamline
reporting processes such that they say exactly what the
business wants to communicate.

5. Learning about Stakeholders
 You have already listened to the perspectives shared by
the C-suite, your team and auditors by now. Also invite
inputs from other functional heads. Learning about the
challenges they are facing can help you create your
agenda of focus points. Assess the utility of all these
opinions and how they might affect your decisions.
 In addition, try to spend a large chunk of time learning
from the CEO in the days leading up to your formal
appointment. It will help you gain clarity about your
profile, stakeholders’ expectations and how you can
make a difference.

6. Learning new Skills
 A CFO’s role often puts you into unfamiliar territory, where
you need a whole new set of skills to chart your path.
 To develop these skills, you could get formal training from
experts; informal tips from former CFOs or peers; and learn
a whole lot on the job.
 Remember that no matter how talented and experienced you
may be, you cannot be an expert at everything within your
range of responsibilities.
 Thus, you must build relationships with those within your
team who can execute various tasks superlatively. The aim is
to fill up all the skill gaps to attain your corporate objectives
efficiently.

7. Step 2: Select
 It helps to remember that you represent an opportunity
for improvement.
 The second you are crowned monarch of the financial
function, you are expected to expound words of wisdom
that will transform the landscape in your organization.
 Within two quarters of the year, you will be required to
show results. The challenge lies in choosing what to do
now, what to save for later and what not to do at all.

8. Select your Victories
 Like in Step 1, this process will start with listening.
Conversations with your CEO and other executives
would reveal a list of points you should address
immediately and establish immediate victories.
 Whether it is tax savings, cost control, increased
profitability, technology implementation or talent
upgrade – the opportunities are yours to exploit.

9. Select What Not to Do
 Sit back and reflect upon tasks that have a low
probability of success.
 Perhaps some tasks will drain resources but add little or
no value. It is possible they remained undone or were
left on the back-burner intentionally.
 Weed out such tasks and make the tough decision of
letting them go. Instead, focus resources in activities
that will yield results.

10. Select your Team
 When you set about assessing the finance team, you might
be surprised to know how much bright talent remains
untapped and how much deadweight the business has been
carrying over the years. Insist on retaining only the best –
and do all you can to keep them happy and motivated.
Reshuffle the non-contributors so they can do meaningful
work, too.
 You may have to perform the unpleasant task of letting a few
of the least contributing members go – hopefully, to other
departments in which they can thrive; sometimes, out of the
business.
 If done with unambiguous vision and empathy, this exercise
could leave your team sharper and more passionate to
achieve the clearly defined goals.

11. Select your Message
 Now comes the time to make a critical move:
communicating the agenda of tasks simply and clearly
with well-defined roles for each key player.
 The more critical the task, the clearer its guideline
message needs to be.
 From time to time, redirect your team towards this
message so they remained aligned to the path you have
charted.

12. Step 3: Change
 In this step, you can optimally utilize resources and skill
sets to finally deliver your agenda of change for the
world to see.
 One of the best ways to bring about change is by
assigning the highest skilled and best performing team
members to execute the most important priorities. This
will not only improve your likelihood of attaining success
but also distinctly showcase your commitment to
improvement.

13. Step 3: Change
 The secret to effective delegation, the type that brings
desired results, is to have complete confidence in the
delegate but take complete responsibility of checking that the
task is done right. Faith and monitoring are the two scales of
a perfectly balanced, flawlessly delivered task.
 Finally, destroy the barriers to communication between
various functions. Short yet frequent face-to-face meetings
that measure progress, celebrate triumphs, rectify issues and
chart out next steps are the best way to achieve this. The
more the separate functions are involved in working towards
common goals hand-in-hand, the more transparent and
accountable they will be towards each other.

14. Finally…
 Trying to implement these 3 steps will bring never-before
demands on your time, abilities and patience.
 Give the role your all; persevere through these steps
within the short 6 months that you have to show
significant results.
 After all, nobody said taking over as CFO was going
to be easy. But, then, nothing worth achieving ever
is.

15. Maureen O'Connell
Maureen O’Connell is the current Executive VP,
CFO and CAO of Scholastic Corporation. When not
working, Maureen loves running, Skiing, Scuba
Diving or Travelling.