This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Mark Freebairn, Partner, Head of the Board Practice, and the Financial Management Practice at Odgers Berndtson, a global executive search, interim management, talent assessment, and leadership development firm based in London. Mark talks about his current role as a CFO headhunter, his unique approach to solidifying his place as a knowledgeable expert in the finance area, and the importance of building relationships.
Mark Freebairn’s combination of current experience as a Partner, Head of the Board Practice, and Financial Management Practice has allowed him to focus on advising Odgers Berndtson’s Board as a whole and others, while maintaining the track record the Financial Management Practice has built working with the finance function to identify and develop talent. Mark led the CFO Practice for 18 years before broadening his area of focus to lead the Board Practice. He benefits from seven years of experience as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of GlobalData plc and also sits on the Remuneration Committee for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Mark talks about his current role as a CFO headhunter and how he got there, what it takes for aspiring CFOs to achieve success given how the role of the CFO has evolved over time, and finally defines the current market availability for CFO positions in a post resignation world.
Tracking out a detailed plan of action is absolutely necessary in order to reach the top of any company. Failure to do so can lead to missing out on crucial work experience that will put a dent in any plans to achieve the desired successes.
“Work out where you want to get to, and then understand the experience you need to get there. Work out the roles that give you that experience, work out how long you need to do them for, work that backwards to where you are now. If you are on that path, you're heading in the right direction, keep going.”
On top of all the fundamental qualifications, the role of the Chief Financial Officer requires incredible emotional intelligence. The CFO must be able to put the success of the business over everything, and sometimes this means losing status in the social hierarchy at work.
“You've gotta be bright, you've gotta be numerate, you've gotta be analytical, you've gotta be independent of thought, you've gotta be robust in terms of your personality because you won't always be popular.”
The role of the CFO has greatly expanded from the stereotypical view of the accountant to being, in essence, a mini-CEO. As people started to appreciate that the function had more to offer, the scope of the role began to increase. With that, the amount of experience that upcoming CFOs were expected to have also grew.
“You’ve got shareholders saying we want to broaden out the role of the CFO, because I want that person involved more. You had the CEO saying, I want the CFO involved in more because, A, they're my business partner so I want them involved in everything and, B, I can't do everything you want me to and if I’ve got to give it to someone I'm going to give it to the CFO.”
Following the Great Resignation, a shift in power related to hiring and being hired as a CFO occurred. Now that there are more available positions, people have a greater choice of companies to pick from. Companies still want the best they can get, but struggle to reach them as candidates now have a lot more bargaining power.
“Where a client has power, they hire experience. Where a candidate has power, they offer talent. And at the moment in a post resignation world, where there are more jobs being hired, where businesses are fighting furiously to keep the good people that they've got and therefore there are fewer good candidates looking for a role when there are more roles out there. What we are having to say to clients is, I know you want to hire the martian with six heads, four arms, two legs, six pink spots on their back, and so on. But you can't because they're not gonna come because they don't want to do the job you’re offering them.”
--------
01:48 Mark’s role as a CFO headhunter
04:53 Getting started at Odgers Berndtson
11:24 The evolving role the CFO
18:48 The process of becoming a CFO
29:37 Defining the current market for CFO roles
40:06 Advice for aspiring CFOs
--------
This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com
--------
The CFO Playbook Listener Survey
Thefinancial services provided to customers resident in or with registered officein a EEA country are provided by Soldo Financial Services Ireland DAC, acompany incorporated in Ireland with company number 610705 and registeredoffice at 33 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland, authorised as anElectronic Money Institution by the Central Bank of Ireland (firm registrationnumber C179925). Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles designis a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. The card is issued bySoldo Financial Services Ireland DAC pursuant to a licence issued by MastercardInternational Inc.. Soldo Financial Services Ireland DAC complies with allapplicable data protection and privacy legislation in force from time to timein Ireland including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679)and the Data Protection Acts 1988 - 2018. All communications related tofinancial services provided by Soldo Financial Services Ireland DAC shall besent to Soldo Financial Services Ireland DAC, 33 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay,Dublin 2, Ireland. The financial services provided to customers resident in orwith registered office in the UK are provided by SoldoFinancial Services Ltd., a company incorporated in the UK with company number09495650, whose registered office is 119 Marylebone Road, London, NW15PU UnitedKingdom,
authorised as an Electronic Money Institution by the Financial ConductAuthority (firm registration number 900459). Mastercard is a registeredtrademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard InternationalIncorporated. The card is issued by Soldo Financial Services Ltd pursuant to alicence issued by Mastercard International Inc.. Soldo Financial Services Ltd.(data protection number: ZA147304) complies with all applicable data protectionand privacy legislation in force from time to time in the UK and the EUincluding the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) and the DataProtection Act 2018. All communications related to financial services providedby Soldo Financial Services Ltd shall be sent to Soldo Financial Services Ltd.,119 Marylebone Road, London, NW15PU United Kingdom. All communications relatedto the website, the software and related services shall be sent to Soldo SoftwareLtd., 119 Marylebone Road, London, NW15PU. Soldo Software Ltd. (data protectionnumber: ZA 092035) complies with all applicable data protection and privacylegislation in force from time to time in the UK and the EU including theGeneral Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) and the Data Protection Act2018.
